Center for Economic Studies

The Center for Economic Studies (CES) is an economic research group at the U.S. Census Bureau, established over twenty-five years ago to encourage and support the analytic needs of researchers and policy makers throughout government, academia, and business. The CES research program -- carried out both by CES permanent staff and approved research associates -- is centered on the empirical analysis of internal microdata collected in the Census Bureau's surveys and censuses. The research associates -- Census Bureau customers and data users with analytical interests -- carry out research projects at one of a number of secure Bureau facilities located nationwide. By providing access to these data, CES creates a constructive interchange among the Census Bureau, researchers, survey sponsors, and other major data users and policy makers in the government, business, and academic research communities. CES economists also interact with outside researchers through our seminar series, conferences, and as coauthors. The use of economic microdata at Census Bureau facilities for analytic research documents limitations of the data, provides guidance for improvement of Census Bureau’s surveys and data products, and helps the Census Bureau to develop new data products.