Our Story
A lab built around the workers globalization left out of the ledger.
The Lab for Globalization and Shared Prosperity at Georgetown University studies how open markets can be made to work for people without a four-year degree.
Mission
We advance research on how open markets can enhance upward mobility for all workers — especially those without a college degree — to guide public policy toward a more inclusive future.
Motivation
For decades, workers without college degrees bore the costs of economic disruption while the benefits went elsewhere. The Lab exists because this doesn't have to be the story.
Goals
Our findings aim to foster dialogue on policy reform and empower individuals and communities with information about the evolving economy.
Where ADAPT fits
The Lab's first major initiative is to create an American Dream Achievability and Progress Tracker (ADAPT) that ranks cities and counties based on their ability to leverage globalization to improve the lives of the median voter. ADAPT captures how local fiscal policies — particularly investments in K-12 and vocational education — have supported local economies and promoted upward mobility (or not) for non-college educated workers, specifically in the wake of trade shocks. Ultimately, the Lab hopes to expand ADAPT into a Global Index for Shared Prosperity.
In tandem with ADAPT, the Lab also produces focused research on the relationship between globalization and labor, social investment, gender, race, and climate.