Quantitative Research Intern - Economic and Social Policy Studies

To be considered for this role, you must apply directly through our online application. 

Overview

The Economic and Social Policy Studies team conducts empirical research on immigration, labor markets, social insurance, demographics, and regulation — with a focus on rigorous quantitative analysis using large government microdata sets. 

Alex Nowrasteh and Krit Chanwong's recent work includes analyzing immigration and incarceration using American Community Survey microdata, evaluating terrorism risk using the Global Terrorism Database, and modeling Social Security using overlapping-generations methods and SSA demographic assumptions. 

Interns assist both researchers with complex data and research tasks that directly contribute to published policy analyses, congressional testimony, and public commentary.

Responsibilities

• Perform statistical analysis of economic and social policy data using R or Python, including data cleaning, transformation, and reproducible documentation of methods and results.
• Develop and manage ETL pipelines and data automations to gather, process, and refresh datasets for ongoing research projects.
• Review, debug, and revise existing analytical code — including model simulations — to fix errors and update assumptions.
• Conduct comprehensive literature reviews on economic and social policy topics, clearly and accurately summarizing relevant research for ongoing and new projects.
• Identify and summarize policy reports, working papers, and datasets to assist scholarly research.
• Assist with editing policy research publications and preparing materials for media appearances and testimony.

Required Qualifications

• Demonstrated knowledge of and genuine interest in US economic and social policy — including immigration economics, labor markets, social insurance, and demographics — grounded in and aligned with Cato's principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.
• Strong quantitative research skills, including data hygiene, clear code documentation, and careful interpretation of statistical results.
• Proficiency in R or Python for statistical analysis and data work — applicants should be comfortable working independently with packages like tidyverse or pandas on large datasets.
• Clear, concise policy writing with accurate citations to primary sources and datasets.
• Professionalism, reliability, and attention to detail — data projects require careful troubleshooting, and accuracy in both analysis and written output is essential.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous research experience with large microdata sets such as ACS, CPS, administrative records, or similar sources gained through a research assistantship, policy organization internship, published or submitted paper, or independent project with verifiable results.
• Familiarity with the team's active research areas, including immigration and crime, terrorism risk analysis, or Social Security actuarial modeling; applicants are encouraged to review the team's recently published work before applying.
• Experience with overlapping-generations modeling or other structural economic simulation techniques.
• Advanced coursework or independent projects in econometrics, applied statistics, or computational social science.

Finalists may be asked to complete a brief technical exercise to assess proficiency for data analysis tasks representative of the team's work.

The Cato Internship Program

Cato’s paid internships are available for undergraduates, recent graduates, graduate students, law students, and early-career professionals who are strongly committed to individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace—principles that together form libertarianism, also known as “classical liberalism,” “market liberalism,” or, to many of our international friends, simply “liberalism.” 

All Cato interns participate in the same intensive seminar series, which covers a wide range of history, philosophy, policy, and professional development topics. Interns also assist with events and occasionally support Cato staff with other daily tasks. 

Interns receive competitive pay. Part-time roles are adjusted accordingly and require a minimum of 25 hours per week. Program participants must be able to attend in person in Washington, DC.

For more information about the internship program and experience, we encourage you to explore our website. If you have any questions, email studentprograms@cato.org.