NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH

About the NBER

Founded in 1920, the National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. The NBER is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research in a scientific manner, and without policy recommendations, among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community.

NBER History

Over the years the NBER's research agenda has encompassed a wide variety of issues that confront our society. Early research focused on the aggregate economy, examining in detail the business cycle and long-term economic growth. Simon Kuznets' pioneering work on national income accounting, Wesley Mitchell's influential study of the business cycle, and Milton Friedman's research on the demand for money and the determinants of consumer spending were among the early studies done at the NBER. A summary of the NBER's early development can be found at:
Toward a Firmer Basis of Economic Policy: The Founding of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Solomon Fabricant, 1984

The NBER Today

The NBER is the nation's leading nonprofit economic research organization. Twenty-four Nobel Prize winners in Economics and thirteen past chairs of the President's Council of Economic Advisers have been researchers at the NBER. The more than 1,300 professors of economics and business now teaching at colleges and universities in North America who are NBER researchers are the leading scholars in their fields. These Bureau associates concentrate on four types of empirical research: developing new statistical measurements, estimating quantitative models of economic behavior, assessing the economic effects of public policies, and projecting the effects of alternative policy proposals. The NBER is supported by research grants from government agencies and private foundations, by investment income, and by contributions from individuals and corporations. Our corporate associates are acknowledged below

Organization of the NBER

The NBER is governed by a Board of Directors with representatives from the leading U.S. research universities and major national economics organizations. Other prominent economists from business, trade unions, and academe also sit on the Bureau's Board. James Poterba is the NBER's President and Chief Executive Officer. In addition to the Research Associates and Faculty Research Fellows, the Bureau employs a support staff of 45. The Bureau's main office is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It has a branch office in New York City.

NBER Governance Documents

NBER By-Laws
Directors and Officers Conflict of Interest Policy
Certificate of Incorporation

NBER Financial Information

NBER Summary Financial Statement
NBER's Supporters: Corporate and Individual Contributors

NBER Offices

Main Office:
1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge MA 02138-5398
(617) 868 3900

New York Branch Office:
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16th Floor, Suite 1602
New York, NY 10004-2630
(917) 261-3648
 
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