Research Assistant, Economic Studies

Overview

Join one of the most influential, most quoted, and most trusted think tanks!

The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Our mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national, and global level.

We bring together leading experts in government and academia from all over the world, rooted in open‑minded inquiry and representing diverse points of view, who provide the highest quality research, policy recommendations, and analysis. Research topics cover a full range of public policy issues in economics, foreign policy, development, governance, and metropolitan policy.

With fair and transparent business practices, clear communication, mutual respect, and a collaborative atmosphere that offers both professional and personal development opportunities, Brookings offers an inclusive and welcoming workplace that values the efforts of all contributors.

About the Economic Studies Program
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The Economic Studies program analyzes current and emerging economic issues facing the United States and the world and, based on that research, provides innovative, practical policy recommendations. ES’s work covers a broad array of economic issues, including economic growth, economic opportunity and mobility, the labor market, regulation, health policy, the environment, tax policy, retirement policy, and fiscal and monetary policy.

Economic Studies scholars influence key economic policies by conducting rigorous and relevant research and then disseminating and communicating their findings to the policy community and to the broader public.

Position Location
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This position is hybrid. Hybrid positions combine regular in‑person presence at our Washington, DC office with the option of two days of remote work each week.

Ready to contribute to Brookings success?

The Research Assistant undertakes research and policy analysis on a range of economic issues for the Vice President and Director of Economic Studies, with a particular focus on macroeconomics, public finance, and economic statecraft topics. Duties for this position include a) general research assistance; b) drafting materials and working papers, blogs and other publications; d) fact‑checking, literature searches, and other research‑adjacent activity;

and e) assisting the fellow and other staff with the management of projects.

Preferred start date is January or February 2026. The starting annual salary is $58,000.

More information about being a research assistant in Economic Studies may be found here.

• Works jointly with senior scholars, prepares and revises programming code, simulation macros, database files and regression estimates.
• Analyze data, using statistical packages and spreadsheets.
• Prepares tables and graphs output from model simulations.
• Updates and checks existing databanks; assembles, consolidates, and checks data from new sources.

• In collaboration with senior research staff, drafts material summarizing research results on specific topics as assigned, for incorporation into working papers and project publications.
• Provides analytical reviews and summaries of existing literature pertinent to the projects.
• Locates and collects relevant documents and data from sources such as electronic databases, libraries, and government publications.
• Compiles, reads, abstracts, and organizes written material into bibliographic form and summaries.
• Maintains electronic bibliography files.
• Assist with special projects and perform other duties as assigned.

• Update web pages in support of the scholar’s area of interest.
• Write and edit summaries to be posted on pages relating to scholar's work.
• Gather related bibliographic, link and current event information in support of pages to be created for a scholar's topic area.
• Work with ES communications team to prepare, lay out, and post scholar’s work for publication on the web site.
• Coordinate with ES communications team on scholar’s publication schedule.
• Assist designated…