Harvard's Growth Lab

Economic Research and Development Policyharvard.edu

Harvard's Growth Lab is a non-profit research and policy center at Harvard Kennedy School conducting research, policy engagement, and teaching on economic growth and development for governments, policymakers, and development practitioners.

Company typePrivate
Founded-
HeadquartersCambridge, United States
Headcount—
GTM typeB2B
OfferingServices

What Harvard's Growth Lab does

Harvard's Growth Lab is a non-profit research and policy center operating within Harvard University's Center for International Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Growth Lab conducts research, engages in policy work, develops analytical tools, and teaches on topics related to economic growth and development. Its public-facing presence is anchored at growthlab.hks.harvard.edu, built on a standard web platform using Google Analytics, Chartbeat, and third-party integrations (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud plug-ins). The Growth Lab serves governments, policymakers, multilateral institutions, development practitioners, and academic researchers engaged in economic growth and development work.

The Growth Lab operates within Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university founded in 1636 and one of the most resource-rich academic institutions globally. The broader Harvard ecosystem includes 12 graduate and professional schools, over 3,700 courses, 6,600 undergraduates, a 98% graduation rate, 450+ student-run organizations, 42 varsity athletic teams, 27+ specialized libraries, and faculty including 41 current and former science Nobel laureates. Harvard maintains cross-registration arrangements with MIT and offers study-abroad programs, supporting a global student and research community.

The Growth Lab's revenue model aligns with Harvard's broader research-funding structure: research grants and contracts (federal and private), endowment income, and tuition-related revenue. Harvard's distribution architecture spans each of the 12 schools with independent admissions, plus Harvard Online and Harvard Extension School for continuing education and lifelong learners. Marketing and outreach occur through the Harvard Gazette, the In Focus editorial collections, the harvard.edu website, and a broad social media presence (Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube), enabling the Growth Lab to disseminate research outputs to a worldwide audience.

Harvard's Growth Lab firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Harvard's Growth Lab
Legal name: The President and Fellows of Harvard College
Website: https://harvard.edu
Company type: Private
Operating status: Operating
Short description: Harvard's Growth Lab is a non-profit research and policy center at Harvard Kennedy School conducting research, policy engagement, and teaching on economic growth and development for governments, policymakers, and development practitioners.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Harvard's Growth Lab industry classification

Industry

Product category: Economic Research and Development Policy
NAICS: Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)
SIC: Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
akta.pro primary industry: Business & Management Research Universities (EDAHABAE)

Keywords

Economic growth research
Development policy advisory
Growth diagnostics methodology
Economic complexity analysis
Policy engagement tools

Where Harvard's Growth Lab is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Cambridge
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

Harvard's Growth Lab business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

Tuition and fees: Revenue from undergraduate and graduate tuition, fees, and related educational services.
Endowment and donations: Harvard University endowment income and charitable donations support operations and financial aid.
Research grants and contracts: Federal and private research grants and contracts fund academic research activities.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Subscription	Annual	Full tuition coverage for low-income families
Subscription	Annual	Tuition-free for middle-income families

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Harvard's Growth Lab product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Harvard's Growth Lab is a research center that conducts research, policy engagement, develops analytical tools, and delivers teaching on economic growth and development. It operates as part of Harvard's Center for International Development, producing research outputs and advisory work aimed at understanding and supporting economic growth trajectories.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

Harvard Business School: Graduate business education school
Harvard Law School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Kennedy School
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Harvard Divinity School
Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Harvard Radcliffe Institute
Harvard Division of Continuing Education
Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Harvard Arts Medal

Products and services

Economic Growth Research

Companies that use Harvard's Growth Lab

Customer profile

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Harvard's Growth Lab technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Harvard's Growth Lab partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Harvard's Growth Lab competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Direct peers

J-PAL (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab): Global research center based at MIT focused on reducing poverty through evidence-based policy. Comparable in mission and evidence-driven development research, with strong overlap in randomized evaluations and country-level engagement.
Center for Global Development: Independent policy think tank focused on international development and economic growth. Highly comparable to the Growth Lab in research areas, policy engagement model, and target audience of finance ministries and donor agencies.
Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR): University-based research institute at Stanford focused on economic policy research. Highly comparable structure to the Growth Lab as a Stanford/Harvard-affiliated policy research center publishing working papers and policy briefs.
World Bank Development Research Group: Conducts frontier research on development policy and growth economics at the World Bank. Directly comparable in focus on empirical growth research and policy advice to developing-country governments.
NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research): Private, nonpartisan research organization that disseminates economic research. Comparable as a producer of influential economic research used by policymakers, though operates at broader scope across economic topics.
Peterson Institute for International Economics: Nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution dedicated to studying international economic policy. Directly comparable to the Growth Lab as a research-driven organization producing policy analysis on global growth and development.

Emerging players

Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) at MIT: MIT-based initiative focused on education innovation and economic development in emerging economies. Partially overlaps with the Growth Lab on cross-border development research and country partnerships.

Broad incumbents

RAND Corporation: Major policy research institution that conducts research on economic, social, and security issues. Overlaps with the Growth Lab in policy-driven economic research, though broader in mandate.
IMF Research Department: Produces economic research and analysis on global macroeconomics, growth, and development. Overlaps with the Growth Lab on growth diagnostics and country-level analysis for finance ministries.
Brookings Institution: Large, established public policy research organization with multiple programs covering economic development and global economics. Broader scope than the Growth Lab, but overlaps materially on international development research.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Harvard's Growth Lab financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Harvard's Growth Lab leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Harvard's Growth Lab subsidiaries and ownership

Company hierarchy

Subsidiaries16 records

Harvard's Growth Lab funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Harvard's Growth Lab M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Harvard's Growth Lab

What does Harvard's Growth Lab do?

Is Harvard's Growth Lab a public or private company?

Harvard's Growth Lab is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.

When was Harvard's Growth Lab founded?

Harvard's Growth Lab was founded in -1.

Where is Harvard's Growth Lab based?

Harvard's Growth Lab is headquartered in Cambridge, United States, in the North America region.

How does Harvard's Growth Lab make money?

Three revenue lines are on record. Tuition and fees are the primary driver. The others are endowment and donations and research grants and contracts.

Who are Harvard's Growth Lab's main competitors?

Direct peers on record are J-PAL (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab), Center for Global Development, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), World Bank Development Research Group, NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) and Peterson Institute for International Economics. Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL) at MIT is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are RAND Corporation, IMF Research Department and Brookings Institution.

Does Harvard's Growth Lab have an API?

No public API is recorded for Harvard's Growth Lab.

What industry is Harvard's Growth Lab in?

Harvard's Growth Lab's product category is Economic Research and Development Policy. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAHABAE, Business & Management Research Universities. Its NAICS code is 54172 and its SIC code is 8731.