NBER Summer Institute, Cambridge, MA 2000-2002

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The NBER Summer Institute brings together economists from universities, government, and international organizations for a few days, or a few weeks of seminars, workshops, conferences and collaborative research. The 1998 Summer Institute included 939 economists from 201 universities and nonacademic institutions, 61 percent of these participants were not affiliated with the NBER. An effort is made to reach out to new participants, and 20 percent of the 1998 participants were attending Summer Institute for the first time. The Summer Institute provides a unique opportunity for economists to work closely with others in their areas of specialty for extended and intense periods of research. There are many opportunities at various conferences for researchers to spend an hour or two interacting with colleagues, but the NBER Summer Institute is unique in that it lasts long enough to allow serious collaboration among economists from several institutions. While there are, of course, presentations of work nearing completion, emphasis is placed on the "workshop" aspects of the program, where new ideas are raised, preliminary research ideas are developed, and plans for joint or coordinated research efforts are established. The Summer Institute is organized into twelve programs, or areas of study: economic fluctuations, economic history, monetary economics, corporate finance, asset pricing, industrial organization, health and aging, international studies, labor studies, productivity, and taxation. Each program has its own group of participants, and its own group structure. Although there is considerable variation among the programs, a typical Summer Institute program will last for one to three weeks, with seminars each morning, and afternoons devoted to research. Programs may include a variety of subjects or they may be organized around specific topics.