Research Programs

The research agenda and recommendations of Brookings’s experts are rooted in open-minded inquiry and represent diverse points of view. Research topics cover foreign policy, economics, development, governance, and metropolitan policy.

Centers
Projects and Initiatives

Governance Studies

Economic Studies

Foreign Policy

Global Economy and Development

Brookings Metro

Centers

Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking

The Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking aims to inspire public, private, and civic sector leaders to make transformative place investments that generate widespread social and economic benefits.

Brown Center on Education Policy

The Brown Center on Education Policy produces and promotes high-quality, independent research to inform education policy and practice in the United States.

Center for Asia Policy Studies

The Center for Asia Policy Studies conducts research, analysis, and exchange on issues facing Asia and the United States in the region.

Center for Community Uplift

Brookings’ Center for Community Uplift (CCU) is an initiative that seeks to increase economic security and well-being for people across racial and geographic lines. Through innovative public policy research, CCU aims to dismantle discrimination, racism, and exclusion. Rather than focus on racial disparity, CCU’s research explores how diversity and inclusion can yield better outcomes for all by building upon the assets and strengths in cities and neighborhoods.

Center for Economic Security and Opportunity

The Center for Economic Security and Opportunity (formerly the Center on Children and Families) produces data-driven, non-partisan analysis to address the United States’ most challenging social policy questions.

Center for Effective Public Management

The Center for Effective Public Management (CEPM) at Brookings is a research organization focused on identifying and solving political and governance challenges in 21st century America.

Center for Middle East Policy

The Center for Middle East Policy is dedicated to the formulation of more effective and sustainable U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

Center for Sustainable Development

The Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) generates cutting-edge research and empowers collaborative action to tackle the world’s interwoven economic, social, and environmental challenges in all societies and at all scales.

Center for Technology Innovation

The Center for Technology Innovation (CTI) at Brookings delivers research to inform public debate and policymaking on technology innovation in the U.S. and globally.

Center for Universal Education

For over two decades, the Center for Universal Education has been at the forefront of global policy research focused on inclusive education and skills development.

Center on Health Policy

The Center on Health Policy produces rigorous evidence and analysis to inform health care policy debates.

Center on Regulation and Markets

The Center on Regulation and Markets at Brookings provides independent, non-partisan research on regulatory policy, applied broadly across microeconomic fields. It creates and promotes independent economic scholarship to inform regulatory policymaking, the regulatory process, and the efficient and equitable functioning of economic markets.

Center on Social Dynamics and Policy

The Brookings Center on Social Dynamics and Policy applies complex systems science to the study of social dynamics and their implications for policy, mainly through the use of computational modeling and simulation.

Center on the United States and Europe

The Center on the United States and Europe’s mission is to offer research and recommendations on developments in Europe and global challenges that affect trans-Atlantic relations.

John L. Thornton China Center

The John L. Thornton China Center develops timely, independent analyses and policy recommendations to address long-standing challenges related to U.S.-China relations and China’s internal development.

Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology

The Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology researches U.S. grand strategy, foreign policy, and military affairs as well as transnational threats and arms control amid the changing international order.

The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy

The mission of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy is to improve the quality and efficacy of fiscal and monetary policies and public understanding of them.

Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center

The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center (TPC) aims to provide independent analyses of current and longer-term tax issues and to communicate its analyses to the public and to policymakers in a timely and accessible manner.

Projects and Initiatives

17 Rooms

A partnership between the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings and The Rockefeller Foundation, 17 Rooms is an experimental method for advancing the economic, social, and environmental priorities embedded in the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Africa Growth Initiative

The Africa Growth Initiative works to inform new policies and models for better development outcomes in Africa through rigorous research and analyses, convenings featuring African voices, and direct engagement with African partners.

Africa Security Initiative

The Africa Security Initiative is intended to highlight key issues concerning military, social, and human security in Africa.

Anti-Corruption, Democracy, and Security (ACDS)

The Anti-Corruption, Democracy, and Security (ACDS) project at Brookings tackles the world’s thorniest anti-corruption problems—the ones that most profoundly impact global democracy and security. Learn more about the ACDS project.

Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative

The Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative brings multidisciplinary strengths to bear on the critical challenges of arms control and non-proliferation.

Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative

The Brookings Institution’s Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative aims to advance good governance of transformative new technologies.

Brookings Initiative on Climate Research and Action

Climate change is a pressing global challenge, demanding transformative leadership and economic re-imagining. The Brookings Initiative on Climate Research and Action (BICRA) unites experts to develop practical solutions, empowering leaders to address climate challenges and capitalize on opportunities for resilient growth worldwide.

Brookings Papers on Economic Activity

The Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA) is a semi-annual academic conference and journal that pairs rigorous research with real-time policy analysis to address the most urgent economic challenges of the day. Working drafts of the papers are presented and discussed at conferences typically held twice each year, and the final versions of the papers and comments along with summaries of the general discussions are published in the journal several months later.

Brookings Schaeffer Initiative on Health Policy

Center for Universal Education at Brookings: 20 Years

For over two decades, the Center for Universal Education (CUE) has been at the forefront of global policy research focused on inclusive education and skills development. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfQiN1nwN0c As CUE celebrates 20 years of impact—and looks ahead to the future—we aim to deepen our commitment to working with those on the front lines of education…

Climate and Energy Economics Project

The Climate and Energy Economics Project was created to develop and promote environmentally sound, economically efficient approaches to reducing human-induced risks to the earth’s climate. The Project ran from 1997 to 2021 and focused on the economics of potential domestic climate policies, how U.S. commitments might play into a global agreement, and the design of state-level carbon pricing policies. For more recent related research, please visit the Center on Regulation and Markets and Brookings Initiative on Climate Research and Action.

Digital Economy and Trade Project

The Digital Economy and Trade Project examines digital trade through three lenses: Maximizing the opportunities of the internet and data for economic growth and engagement, the development of international trade rules and norms, and the impact of regulation on digital trade.

Election ’24: Issues at Stake

Election ’24: Issues at Stake aims to bring public attention to consequential policy issues confronting voters and policymakers in the run up to the 2024 election. This includes equipping leaders with insights and policy ideas to help them govern in 2025 and beyond.

Energy Security and Climate Initiative

The Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings encourages the development, discussion and dissemination of high-caliber energy and climate research.

Family, School, and Community Engagement in Education

Building strong family, school, and community partnerships that support student learning and development and thriving schools and communities

Gender equality in and through education

Working toward more gender equal outcomes through collaborative and participatory approaches to education research, policy, and practice

Global China Project

The Global China Project focuses on advancing recommendations for how the United States should respond to China’s actions that implicate key American interests and values.

Great Lakes Economic Initiative

Helping communities make the most of historic public investment

Brookings Metro is helping state and local leaders make the most of generational federal investments to build inclusive regional economies, advance competitiveness and inclusion through infrastructure, and accelerate equitable climate action.

Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors

The Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors analyzes the behavior of international nonstate armed actors to inform and prepare policymakers to address emerging and persistent threats.

John Hazen White Global Manufacturing Initiative

The John Hazen White Global Manufacturing Initiative seeks to address some of the most pressing challenges facing the manufacturing industry, including those related to energy costs, regulation, standard-setting processes, and workforce development.

Knowing-Doing Network Leadership Coalition

The KDNLC is a global network of civil society organizations working to understand how education systems transformation occurs in local education ecosystems, with the goal of improving holistic learning for children and young people globally.

Learning and Action Alliance for Girls’ Agency

The Learning and Action Alliance for Girls’ Agency (LAAGA) envisions a world that values the knowledge and dignity of girls and young women, listens to their voices, and supports them in taking action to shape their own lives and those of their communities.

Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption

Grounded in rigorous evidence and field work, the LTRC Initiative is a global initiative from The Brookings Institution and Results for Development aiming to craft and disseminate effective practices for reducing corruption along the natural resource value chain. Read more about our work here.

Local Leadership on the Sustainable Development Goals

The Local Leadership on the Sustainable Development Goals project explores the bottom-up approach cities and communities are taking to drive local progress that contributes to global change.

Millions Learning

The Millions Learning project at the Center for Universal Education focuses on scaling quality education innovations and initiatives for all children and youth.

Moving to Access

A joint initiative of Brookings Metro and Global Economy and Development Program, Moving to Access aims to inform and promote a more socially focused, access-first approach to urban transportation policy, planning, investment, and services.

Private Sector Global Health R&D Project

Launched in 2016, the Brookings Private Sector Global Health R&D Project seeks to identify financial incentives to spur private sector investment in medications for developing countries in Asia and Africa.

Promoting equitable and effective climate action in every community

Brookings Metro is bringing together government, business, civic, and community leaders, as well as policy advocates and technical experts, to find the most effective and equitable ways cities and regions can rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while helping our communities become more resilient to the impacts of a changing climate. Our work is part of the Brookings Initiative on Climate Research and Action, an institution-wide effort to strengthen global as well as domestic solutions.

Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative

The Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion (RPI) Initiative at Brookings aims to advance concrete policy solutions that combat systemic racism and build a more equitable society for all Americans, with a particular focus on poor, low-income and communities of color.

Retirement Security Project

The Retirement Security Project is dedicated to promoting common sense solutions to improve the retirement income prospects of millions of American workers. Nearly half of all workers do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan or a traditional pension. Among workers who do have access to such a plan, the shift from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans makes it even more important for individuals to save for their own retirement. To address these trends, RSP proposes research-based policy solutions aimed at helping middle- and low-income Americans to better prepare for a financially secure retirement.

Shared Prosperity Partnership

Strengthening Pedagogical Approaches for Relevant Knowledge and Skills

SPARKS explores how mindsets, values, experiences, systems, structures, and other intangible factors influence pedagogy in local contexts through collaborative research.

The AI Equity Lab

The AI Equity Lab is housed in the Center for Technology Innovation (CTI) at Brookings and is focused on advancing inclusive, ethical, nondiscriminatory, and democratized artificial intelligence (AI) models and systems throughout the United States and the Global South, including the African Union, India, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. To learn more, visit the About page.

The American Well-Being Project

The American Well-Being Project seeks to understand the causes and symptoms of social ill-being in the United States. The initiative encompasses scholarship from the Brookings Institution and Washington University in St. Louis.

The Financial and Digital Inclusion Project

Launched in 2014, the Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP) aims to identify the degree to which financial inclusion efforts are working, and why.

The Forum for Cooperation on Artificial Intelligence

The Forum for Cooperation on Artificial Intelligence (FCAI), a collaboration between the Brookings Institution and the Centre for European Policy Studies, hosts regular AI dialogues among high-level officials from seven governments (Australia, Canada, EU, Japan, Singapore, U.K., and the U.S.) as well as experts from industry, civil society, and academia, aimed at identifying opportunities for international cooperation on AI regulation, standards, and research and development. Many of the ideas and policy recommendations from the dialogues are reflected in FCAI reports and blogs.

The Hamilton Project

The Hamilton Project offers a strategic vision and produces innovative policy proposals on how to create a growing economy that benefits more Americans.

The Katzmann Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Government

The Katzmann Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Government monitors the health of the three branches, examines the relationship between the courts and Congress, and fosters civic education. The Initiative honors judge, law professor, and political scientist Robert A. Katzmann (1953-2021) who joined the Governance Studies program at Brookings from 1981 to 1999.

The Primaries Project

The Primaries Project offers insights into what’s happening in the Republican and Democratic parties—and where the future of American politics is headed.

The Privacy Debate

“The Privacy Debate” at Brookings brings together pre-eminent thought leaders on privacy, information security, and the digital economy to inform the growing national debate about individual privacy.

The Section 230 Project

The Section 230 Project convenes pre-eminent thought leaders to inform the current policy debate on whether Section 230 rules inadvertently enable harassing or abusive speech and behavior and whether the absence of legal liability is still a desirable policy.

The Technology-Productivity-Inequality Nexus

Exploring the paradox of slowing productivity growth amid booming technology and the concurrent rise in income inequality. A joint research project of the Global Economy and Development Program at Brookings and the Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership.

The Turkey Project

The Turkey Project fosters informed public consideration, high‐level private debate, and policy recommendations focusing on developments in Turkey.

USMCA initiative

The USMCA initiative measures the effectiveness and implementation of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, as well as its impact on the policies and economies of the partner nations through forward-looking research, data, and analyses.

Wellness in Black Life

Wellness in Black Life (#WIBL) focuses on community-driven definitions of well-being, highlighting the vibrant experiences and contributions of Black men and boys in the U.S.

Research Programs

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