Abbreviation BHI Focus State tax policy | Type Nonprofit think tank Location Boston, MA | |
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Formation 1991; 26 years ago (1991) Headquarters 8 Ashburton Place on Beacon Hill | ||
The Beacon Hill Institute (BHI) is the research arm of the Department of Economics at Suffolk University in Boston. It was founded in 1991 by businessman Ray Shamie. The institute, which conducts fiscally conservative research, draws on faculty and student resources to analyze issues. They distribute research to interested citizens and to opinion leaders and policy makers through various print and electronic media, including its quarterly newsletter, BHI NewsLink; policy studies; BHI FaxSheets; policy forums; opinion editorials; radio and TV interviews; and its web site.
Contents
The institute describes itself as "grounded in the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets".
Activities
BHI specializes in the development of economic and statistical models for policy analysis. These include STAMP and LAMP, computer generalized equilibrium models, that are frequently used in BHI analysis of state and local tax policy issues.
The Beacon Hill Institute produced reports on the projected economic impact of proposed clean energy policies in Maine. The reports were cited by Maine Governor Paul LePage, and criticized by some environmental advocacy groups.
BHI submitted a grant proposal to the Searle Freedom Trust in 2013 to study climate regulations. Suffolk University issued a statement saying BHI had not consulted its host university about the grant proposal and that it would not have authorized the grant proposal as conceived by BHI. However the university continues to support BHI's efforts by approving similar grant applications resulting in similar studies.
Relationship with Suffolk University
In December 2015, it was announced that the Beacon Hill Institute and Suffolk University would end their relationship at the end of 2016. BHI's director, director, David Tuerck, said it decided to cut ties with the university because Suffolk had "made its work impossible by denying research proposals and imposing fund-raising rules that limited from whom it could take money."