Microeconomic Studies Division

Where public policy meets private markets

The Microeconomic Studies Division produces balanced and objective analyses and applied research on issues important to the Congress in a wide range of policy areas, including:

• Telecommunications
• International trade
• Federal personnel
• Disaster policy
• Regulation of commerce
• Intellectual property, R&D, and science policy
• The private sector impact of federal mandates
• The environment, energy, and natural resources
• Pharmaceutical markets and pricing
• Transportation and other public investment

The Microeconomic Studies Division has two primary responsibilities: conducting applied economic research on behalf of the Congress and analyzing the impact of federal mandates on the private sector. The division's economic research focuses on issues being considered by the Congress in which market forces are used or altered to achieve a public goal. In that work, analysts apply economic principles and sophisticated empirical techniques to evaluate the efficiency and equity of policy proposals compared with current policy and other alternatives. The division's reports, like all of CBO's publications, are provided to the Congress; distributed to policy analysts, the academic community, and the press; and made available to the public.

The Microeconomic Studies Division also prepares estimates of the economic impact on the private sector of potential mandates being considered by the Congress. Many such proposals are at the forefront of public debate because they could have a broad impact or could be costly to implement. A required part of the legislative process, the results of those analyses are reported directly to the Congress for consideration during its deliberations, as well as made available publicly.

Most analysts doing economic research have a Ph.D. or equivalent experience in economics or a related field. Analysts working on mandate issues typically have advanced training or experience in public policy analysis. Besides researching and writing studies for the Congress, division staff prepare testimony for Congressional hearings, brief Members of Congress or their staff on CBO's research, and provide information for CBO's analyses of the cost of proposed legislation.

The Microeconomic Studies Division offers a collegial environment. New analysts are often teamed with more experienced staff members during their first research projects. At seminars in CBO, analysts discuss their work in progress and comment on the work of others. Many analysts also present their research at meetings of professional associations, and some regularly contribute to academic journals. Like the rest of CBO, the division provides an intellectually stimulating environment for analyzing issues that inform the debate over national policy.