Projects in this sub-program study universities and groundbreaking industries, specifically regarding human capital development and applications of information technology.  Research topics include: the productivity of the scientific enterprise; labor markets for scientists and engineers; patterns of scientific publication, collaboration, and intellectual property protection; markets for scientific equipment and instrumentation; the economics of digitization; new developments in U.S. productivity dynamics and measurement; the economics of artificial intelligence, robotization, and other autonomous technology; and the social returns on investments in research and development.

Projects in this sub-program study economic researchers, specifically with regard to their needs, opportunities, incentives, and professional practices.  Research topics include:  causal inference; persistent identifiers; data citation standards; identification and tracking systems for scholars; federal statistics; smart disclosure platforms for obfuscated markets; data and metadata management protocols; the mathematics of privacy; access to social science datasets containing sensitive information; the replicability of empirical research; and the economics of knowledge contribution and distribution.

Sloan, with help from a few other foundations, has begun funding “Administrative Data Research Facilities” (ADRF’s) to serve as intermediaries between data producers, like government or companies, and data users, like researchers or statistical agencies. Sloan is also funding projects that provide services to these ADRF’s, ranging from conference convening to technology planning, and from privacy solutions to training and credentialing for researchers seeking access to ADRF data.