The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is a private, non-profit, and non-partisan research group that aims to enhance the understanding of how the economy functions. It shares economic research with public policymakers, business experts, and the academic community.
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Many of the top scholars in economics and business across the country are also researchers at NBER. They concentrate on four main areas of empirical research: creating new statistical measures, estimating quantitative models of economic behavior, evaluating how public policies impact the U.S. economy, and forecasting the outcomes of different policy proposals. As of 2021, thirty-eight individuals who are either current or former members of the NBER board, as well as research affiliates, have received the Nobel Prize in Economics.
As stated by the organization, “The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is a private, nonpartisan group that promotes innovative research and analysis on significant economic topics. They share their research results with scholars, decision-makers in both the public and private sectors, and the general public by publishing over 1,200 working papers and hosting more than 120 academic conferences annually.”
The Role In Economics
Over 1,600 economists working as NBER researchers are top experts in their areas. Most of these researchers are either Faculty Research Fellows (FRFs) or Research Associates (RAs). Faculty Research Fellows are usually early-career scholars. Research Associates, who get their appointments greenlit by the NBER Board of Directors, have tenured roles at their respective institutions.
The NBER gets its funding from research grants provided by government bodies and private foundations, along with investment earnings, and donations from both individuals and companies.
The group earned $32 million for the year that ended on June 30, 2020, as stated in its financial report.
Economist Paul Krugman, in his piece for the New York Times, described the NBER as “essentially the old-boy network of economics come to life. While there are a few NBER offices, they’re quite small; the organization is primarily made up of its associates and their activities. In numerous sub-fields of economics, nearly everyone who is recognized in the field is an NBER research associate; it’s common for these associates to publish new findings as NBER working papers.
The purpose of these papers is to quickly share research so that other economists can engage in discussions about it, including critiques. For economists in the field, the NBER WP series serves as a convenient hub for the latest advancements in their area.