The National Bureau of Economic Research's (NBER) research activities are mostly identified by 20 research programs on different subjects and 14 working groups.

The research programs are:

• Aging
• Asset pricing
• Children
• Corporate Finance
• Development of the American Economy
• Economics of Education
• Economic Fluctuation and Growth
• Energy and the Environment
• Health Care
• Health Economics
• Industrial Organization
• International Finance and Macroeconomics
• International Trade and Investment
• Labor Studies
• Law and Economics
• Monetary Economics
• Political Economy
• Productivity
• Public Economics