Think Tanks
The descriptions of the following think tanks were extracted directly from their respective websites.
American Institute for Economic
Research (AIER)
A private, independent, scientific, and educational charitable
organization, the American Institute for Economic Research plans its
research to help individuals protect their personal interests and
those of the Nation.
American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
for Public Policy Research
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a
private, nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution dedicated to
research and education on issues of government, politics, economics,
and social welfare. Founded in 1943, AEI is home to some of
America's most accomplished public policy experts--from economics,
law, political science, defense and foreign policy studies, ethics,
theology, medicine, and other fields. The Institute sponsors
research and conferences and publishes books, monographs, and
periodicals. This website posts its publications, videos and
transcripts of its conferences, biographies of its scholars and
fellows, and schedules of upcoming events.
In response to growing concerns about understanding the impact of regulation on consumers, business, and government, the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution established the AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies. The primary purpose of the Joint Center is to hold lawmakers and regulators accountable for their decisions by providing thoughtful, objective analyses of existing regulatory programs and new regulatory proposals.
The Beijer International Institute of Ecological Economics - The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
BRIE - The Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy
The Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization
devoted to independent research and innovative policy solutions.
Brookings analyzes current and emerging issues, and their scholars
are drawn from the United States and abroad—with experience in
government and academia—and hold diverse points of view.
B R E A D Bureau for
Research and Economic Analysis of Development
B R E A D is a non-profit organization, founded in 2002, dedicated to encourage
research and scholarship in development economics.
The Cato Institute is a non-profit public policy research
foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institute is named
for Cato's Letters, a series of libertarian pamphlets that
helped lay the philosophical foundation for the American Revolution.
Topics of Interest: Privatization of Social Security for U.S. citizens
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is a progressive think-tank
dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action.
The Center for Comparative
Immigration Studies (CCIS)
The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies is an Organized
Research Unit of the University of California-San Diego. The Center
is an interdisciplinary, multinational research and training program
devoted to comparative work on international migration and refugee
movements. Its primary missions are to conduct comparative
(especially cross-national) and policy-oriented research, train
academic researchers, students, and practitioners, and disseminate
research conducted under its auspices to academics, policymakers,
and NGOs through research seminars, conferences, publications, the
internet, and the mass media. The Center is also committed to
actively collaborating with other academic institutions,
governmental and non-governmental organizations, and the local
community.
Center for the Economic Study of Religion
The Center for the Economic Study of Religion at George Mason University.
Center for Economic Policy Analysis -- New School for Social Research
Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Center for Full Employment and Price Stability -- University of Missouri - Kansas City
CGD is an independent think tank that works to reduce global poverty and inequality by encouraging policy change in the U.S. and other rich countries through rigorous research and active engagement with the policy community.
Center for Immigration Studies
Center for
Migration and Development (CMD) -- Princeton University
The Center for Migration and Development (CMD) promotes scholarship,
original research, and intellectual exchange among faculty and
students with an interest in international migration and national
development. Of particular interest to CMD research is the
relationship between immigrant communities in the developed world
and the growth and development prospects of the sending nations.
Established in 1998 with a founding grant from the Woodrow Wilson
School of Public and International Affairs, the Center is part of
the Department of Sociology at Princeton University from which it
promotes sociological and interdisciplinary research and exchange in
its topical areas.
The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
Conducts research on retirement issues.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities conducts research and
analysis to inform public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to
help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered
in these debates. The Center also develops policy options to alleviate poverty,
particularly among working families.
In addition, the Center examines the short- and long-term impacts
that proposed policies would have on the health of the economy and on the
soundness of federal and state budgets. Among the issues the Center explores are
whether federal and state governments are fiscally sound and have sufficient
revenue to address critical priorities, both for low-income populations and for
the nation as a whole.
The Century Foundation
The Century Foundation is a nonprofit public policy research
institution committed to the belief that a mix of effective government, open
democracy, and free markets is the most effective solution to the major
challenges facing the United States.
Commission on Growth and Development
The Concord Coalition
Concord Coalition is a nationwide, non-partisan, grassroots
organization advocating fiscal responsibility while ensuring Social
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are secure for all generations.
The Conference Board
The Conference Board is the world's preeminent business membership
and research organization. Best known for the Consumer Confidence
Index and the Leading Economic Indicators, The Conference Board has,
for over 90 years, equipped the world's leading corporations with
practical knowledge through issues-oriented research and senior
executive peer-to-peer meetings.
The Cowles Foundation -- Yale University
The Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics at Yale University
has as its purpose the conduct and encouragement of research in
economics and related fields. The Cowles Foundation seeks to foster
the development and application of rigorous logical, mathematical,
and statistical methods of analysis.
The ESRC Centre for Economic Learning and Social Evolution (ELSE)
An interdisciplinary research center at University College London to study issues at the intersection of economics and psychology.
Employee Benefit Research Institute
The mission of the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) is to
contribute to, to encourage, and to enhance the development of sound
employee benefit programs and sound public policy through objective
research and education.
Economic
Policy Institute
The Economic Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank
that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous
and fair economy.
The Employment Policies Institute is a non-profit research
organization dedicated to studying public policy issues surrounding
employment growth. In particular, EPI focuses on issues that affect
entry-level employment.
Among other issues, EPI research has quantified the impact of new
labor costs on job creation, explored the connection between
entry-level employment and welfare reform, and analyzed the
demographic distribution of mandated benefits. EPI sponsors
nonpartisan research which is conducted by independent economists at
major universities around the country.
Foundation for Economic Education
The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), one of the oldest
free-market organizations in the United States, was founded in 1946
by Leonard E. Read to study and advance the freedom philosophy.
FEE's mission is to offer the most consistent case for the "first
principles" of freedom: the sanctity of private property, individual
liberty, the rule of law, the free market, and the moral superiority
of individual choice and responsibility over coercion.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Focuses on health care issues.
The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institute - a think tank - whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
Hoover Institution -- Stanford University
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, is a public policy research center devoted to advanced study of politics, economics, and political economy—both domestic and foreign—as well as international affairs.
Institute of Economic Affairs
A free market think tank in the UK.
Institute for Empirical Research in Economics (IERE) -- University of Zurich
The Institute for Empirical Research in Economics (IERE), founded in 1970, pursues an interdisciplinary approach of integrating sociological and socio-psychological findings into modern economics. The Institute applies econometric as well as experimental methods.
Institute for International
Economics
The Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics is a
private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to the
study of international economic policy. Since 1981 the Institute has
provided timely and objective analysis of, and concrete solutions
to, a wide range of international economic problems. It is one of
the very few economics think tanks that are widely regarded as
"nonpartisan" by the press and "neutral" by the Congress, and it is
cited by the quality media more than any other such institution.
Institute for Research
on Labor and Employment (IRLE) -- University of California, Berkeley
IRLE brings together faculty from several academic departments and
supports multidisciplinary research about labor and employment
relations.
Institute for Research on Poverty -- University of Wisconsin, Madison
The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) is a university-based center for research into the causes and consequences of poverty and social inequality in the United States. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan.
Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR)
The Institute for Women's Policy Research conducts rigorous research and disseminates its findings to address the needs of women, promote public dialogue, and strengthen families, communities, and societies. IWPR focuses on issues of poverty and welfare, employment and earnings, work and family issues, health and safety, and women's civic and political participation.
IZA - Institute for the Study of
Labor
IZA is a private, independent research institute, which conducts
nationally and internationally oriented labor market research.
IIEP: Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) is a non-profit, non-partisan research and education organization that works on government taxation and spending policy issues.
International Association for the Study of the Commons
The International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) is a nonprofit Association devoted to understanding and improving institutions for the management of resources that are (or could be) held or used collectively by communities in developing or developed countries.
Joint Center for Poverty Research
(JCPR) -- Northwestern University/University of Chicago
The Northwestern University / University of Chicago Joint Center for
Poverty Research (JCPR) supports academic research that examines
what it means to be poor and live in America. JCPR
concentrates on the causes and consequences of poverty in America
and the effectiveness of policies aimed at reducing poverty. The
Center's goal is to advance what is known about the economic, social
and behavioral factors that cause poverty, and to establish the
actual effects of interventions designed to alleviate poverty.
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies is the only public policy institution whose work focuses exclusively on issues of particular concern to African Americans and other people of color. For over three decades, our research and information programs have informed and influenced public opinion and national policy to benefit. The Joint Center's current research and analyses address critical issues in three key areas: political participation; economic advancement; and health policy.
The Levy Economics Institute of
Bard College
The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, is a nonprofit,
nonpartisan public policy research organization. The Institute is
independent of any political or other affiliation, and encourages
diversity of opinion in the examination of economic policy issues
while striving to transform ideological arguments into informed
debate.
The Mission of the Manhattan Institute is to develop and
disseminate new ideas that
foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility.
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., has been known for its
high-quality, objective research to support decisions about the nation's most
pressing social policy problems. The firm conducts studies of health care,
welfare, education, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and
programs in the United States.
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is an independent, nonpartisan,
nonprofit think tank in Washington, DC dedicated to the study of the movement of
people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development, and evaluation of
migration and refugee policies at the local, national, and international levels.
It aims to meet the rising demand for pragmatic and thoughtful responses to the
challenges and opportunities that large-scale migration, whether voluntary or
forced, presents to communities and institutions in an increasingly integrated
world.
Milken Institute
Milken Institute's researchers work in diverse but related economic
fields with one common goal: to improve the lives and economic
conditions of diverse populations in the U.S. and around the world
by helping business and public policy leaders identify and put into
practice innovative ideas for creating broad-based prosperity.
Missouri Budget Project
The Missouri Budget Project is a statewide nonpartisan, nonprofit
organization that analyzes and informs the public about Missouri
budgetary and fiscal policy options, provides timely, accurate
analysis of complex policy issues and their impact on moderate and
low-income Missourians, and informs public debate and ensures that
advocates, policy makers and the public have the information they
need to create sound fiscal policies that protect the state's most
vulnerable citizens.
National Poverty Center -- The
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
The National Poverty Center (NPC) is a university-based, nonpartisan
research center. They conduct and promote multidisciplinary,
policy-relevant research on the causes and consequences of poverty.
OMB Watch
OMB Watch exists to increase government transparency and
accountability; to ensure sound, equitable regulatory and budgetary
processes and policies; and to protect and promote active citizen
participation in the U.S. democracy.
Political Economy Research Institute -- University of Massachusetts Amherst
Population Studies Center (PSC)
-- University of Pennsylvania
The Population Studies Center's research activities are diverse and
can be classified in terms of the demographic triad, population
composition, and crosscutting approaches to both population
processes and population composition. Most PSC Research Associates
work on the basic demographic triad, which includes: mortality,
fertility, and migration.
Public Policy
Institute of California (PPIC)
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) is a private,
nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public policy in
California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research.
RAND Corporation
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve
policy and decision-making through research and analysis. The
name RAND was derived from a contraction of the term research and
development.
Founded in 1968, Reason advances a free society by developing, applying, and promoting individual liberty, free markets, and the rule of law. Reason Foundation's nonpartisan public policy research promotes choice, competition, and a dynamic market economy.
Resources for the Future (RFF)
RFF is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that conducts
independent research -- rooted primarily in economics and other
social sciences -- on environmental, energy, and natural resource
issues. Although RFF is headquartered in Washington, D.C., its
research scope comprises programs in nations around the world.
The Tax Foundation is a nonpartisan tax research group based in Washington, D.C.
Urban Institute
To promote sound social policy and public debate on national
priorities, the Urban Institute gathers and analyzes data, conducts policy
research, evaluates programs and services, and educates Americans on critical
issues (such as problems facing America's cities and their residents) and
trends.
W.E. Upjohn Institute for
Employment Research
The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, a nonpartisan,
not-for-profit research organization, researches the causes and effects of
unemployment and measures for the alleviation of unemployment.
List of Think Tanks -- College of the Holy Cross
A list of additional think tanks.