Immigration Economics
By Byron Gangnes Immigrants have always been an important part of America’s population. But for just as long there have been concerns about the impact…
Migration Effects of the Maui Wildfires: Early Indicators from State Tax Filings
By Dylan Moore and Baybars Karacaovali (Office of Tax Research and Planning, Hawai’i Department of Taxation)* Executive Summary: An analysis of state income tax filing…
Maui Wildfire Exposure Study and Registry Workshop
By Ruben Juarez and Alika Maunakea Enhancing Resilience: Building Sustainable Health Registries for Disaster-Affected CommunitiesDecember 4-7, 2024, Lahaina, MauiWorkshop Summary, Lessons Learned, and Steps Forward…
A Honolulu Empty Homes Tax: Impacts on Housing Supply and County Revenue
By Justin Tyndall Honolulu faces an acute housing shortage, yet tens of thousands of homes sit empty. Bill 46 would create a new property tax…
How I know we’re Not in a Recession. (And when we’ll know if we are.)
By Byron Gangnes Try to tell people that we are not in a recession, and you will get a lot of pushback. After all, jobs…
Carbon Benefits of Agroforestry Transitions on Fallow Agricultural Lands – New UHERO Environment publication in Scientific Reports
New UHERO Environment publication in Scientific Reports demonstrates important carbon benefits of transitioning fallow agricultural lands into varying agroforestry systems across Hawaiʻi. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-87891-y
City partners with UHERO to launch Subsidized Housing Tracker
Addressing Oʻahu’s housing shortage and its impact on affordability, the City and County of Honolulu’s Office of Housing, in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi…
UHERO’s Carl Bonham and Colin Moore on Spotlight Now
UHERO Executive Director Carl Bonham and Associate Professor Colin Moore appeared on Hawai‘i News Now’s Spotlight Now to reflect on the major economic and legislative…
New Study on Transfer of Development Rights and Sea Level Rise
The City and County of Honolulu Resilience Office recently featured a report coauthored by UH ISR’s Alice McLean and UHERO’s Kimberly Burnett, Makena Coffman, Justin Tyndall, Kaila Ronquilio, and…
Governor Green Announces SNAP Rule Changes Following UHERO Study
Governor Josh Green has announced that Hawai‘i will implement changes to its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), following recommendations from a UHERO study co-authored by…
Considerations for understanding water availability in West Maui
This piece intends to highlight some of the inherent tradeoffs that make managing water in West Maui especially challenging. In particular, subtracting current/authorized use from…
Wealth by Association? How Social Networks Drive Inequality in Hawaii
Studies show that economic connectedness, a poor individual’s share of wealthy friends, significantly impacts economic mobility. Hawaii ranks highly in this metric compared to other…
Taxing Tourists to Generate Revenue to Address the Negative Impacts of Climate Change on Hawai‘i Natural Resources
There is widespread agreement among Hawai‘i residents that the state government needs to spend more money on natural resource stewardship. A critical question is how…
Brief: Dissolving the Hawaii Tourism Authority
Summary Blog By Paul Brewbaker, Frank Haas, and James Mak State lawmakers in the 2023 state legislature are bashing the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA)…again! This…
Public Campaign Financing: Evidence and Opportunities for Hawai‘i
By Colin Moore Concerns about the corrupting influence of money in politics have led to renewed interest in public campaign financing. Some argue that using…
UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaiʻi: Federal cuts raise risk of Hawaii downturn
Hawaii’s economic growth is threatened by federal disruptions. While tax cuts may provide some stimulus this year, the Administration’s actions—including tariffs, mass deportations, and spending…
UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaiʻi: Outlook more uncertain as federal policy changes loom
Hawaii’s economic expansion continues, but slowly. Now the incoming Trump Administration introduces uncertainty. Under the assumption of policy changes that are sharp but limited in…
UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaiʻi: Lagging Maui recovery, slower speed limit for Hawaii growth
Hawaii’s economic outlook continues to be a story of two economies: a Maui economy that will only gradually recover from its post-wildfire downturn, and the…
UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaiʻi: Expansion intact, but counties poised for slower growth
Hawaii’s economy will continue to grow, but at a slower pace than in past years. Maui rebuilding and the incremental return of international travelers will…
UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaiʻi: Near-term slowing expected as pandemic recovery ends
Hawaii’s economy has been sustained by a resilient US and the gradual return of international visitors. With the Islands’ post-pandemic recovery now largely complete, the…
Investigating and Tackling Barriers and Needs for Small Business Success in Honolulu
This report examines the state of small businesses in Honolulu in 2024, using both quantitative data and qualitative insights to identify key needs, challenges, and…
Aging and Hawai‘i’s Generational Economy
Hawai‘i’s population is aging rapidly. By 2035 one in four people will be 65 or older according to the most recent projections. The purpose of…
One year after the wildfires: Rising poverty and housing instability point to ongoing gaps in assistance
The Maui Recovery Survey: Housing & Jobs monitors the housing and economic recovery of fire-impacted households on Maui. This initiative, launched one year after the…
A Proposal for Real-Time Pricing Tariffs for Large Electricity Customers
As Oahu’s electric grid transitions to clean energy, characterized by variable wind, solar, and storage resources, the marginal cost of electricity will become increasingly variable…
Rural Health Disparities in Hawai‘i
This report examines the health disparities between rural and non-rural areas in Hawai‘i, using data from the June 2023 UHERO Rapid Survey. While rural areas…
New Study Reveals Food Insecurity as a Major Driver of Mental Health Challenges in Hawaiʻi
A study published today in Frontiers in Public Health provides a comprehensive examination of how socioeconomic factors, particularly food insecurity, shape mental health outcomes among…
Carbon benefits through agroforestry transitions on unmanaged fallow agricultural land in Hawaiʻi
There are growing efforts to incorporate agroforestry into ecosystem service incentive programs. Indigenous and other place-based multi-strata agroforestry systems are important conservation and agricultural strategies,…
Co-Production of Knowledge at Sumida Farm Trains a New Generation of Community-Engaged Scientists
A collaboration between the University of Hawai‘i (UH), Hawai‘i Sea Grant, and the fourth generation of Sumida farmers focuses on training a new generation of…
Threshold regressions for more objective urban and regional policies
Abstract: Achieving policy goals often requires different policies for different places, but the assignment of places to policies is often arbitrary, political, or based on…
Male-biased sex ratios, marriage, and household composition in early twentieth-century Hawai‘i
Abstract: Immigration to Hawai‘i between 1870 and 1930 led to a more than six-fold increase in population and high and rapidly varying sex ratios in…