FRONTIER RESEARCH, GLOBAL IMPACT.

UChicago's Hub for Economic Research and Analysis

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Latest Insights

The latest economic commentary from UChicago's leading scholars, fellows, and special guests. Featuring Research Briefs, Interactive Charts, Videos, Podcasts, and more.
Podcasts episode·Nov 10, 2026

Faster Food: Why Restaurant Productivity Finally Surged

For three decades, the number of meals a U.S. restaurant worker served per shift barely changed. Then, after a brief drop during the COVID shutdowns, productivity jumped about 15 percent and has remained elevated. In this episode, Chad Syverson, Chicago...
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Research Briefs·Nov 4, 2026

Gains from Trade in Gun Policy: A Compensation-Based Benchmark

Paying prospective first-time handgun buyers to choose a long gun or no gun at all could avert up to 220 homicides a year, at a net cost of $5.5 to $5.9 million per life saved, well below the $13 million...
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Research Briefs·Oct 28, 2026

Capital-Skill Complementarity Beyond Firm Boundaries

New machinery raises demand for workers with STEM degrees, though not at the firms purchasing the machinery, but instead at the outside suppliers that install, integrate, and service the machines.
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Research Briefs·Oct 27, 2026

Crime in Covid Times

Between 2019 and 2021, a nationwide increase in gun homicides pushed the U.S. murder rate up by a third, before it fell almost as quickly. This COVID-era swing has been hard to explain because it defies the canonical economic model...
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Latest Frontier Research

The BFI Working Paper Series disseminates current research in economics to encourage comments and discussion.
BFI Working Paper·Nov 10, 2026

When Food Stamps Became Free: Impacts and Implications of Removing the Purchase Requirement

We analyze the food stamp program both as a potential investment in children’s health capital and as a redistributive tool by studying the 1979 reform that made food stamps free. We leverage geographic variation in exposure to the reform, which...
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BFI Working Paper·Nov 10, 2026

Policy Evaluation Beyond Significance Testing: Evidence from Chicago’s ShotSpotter Contract

Program impact estimates that are not statistically significant are often treated as providing little guidance for policy choice, even when economically important effects remain plausible. In such cases, the decision-relevant task is not simply to test whether the effect differs...
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BFI Working Paper·Nov 5, 2026

The Economics of Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels: A Contribution to the COP30 Presidency Roadmap

At COP28 in Dubai, 198 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels (TAFF) in energy systems “in a just, orderly and equitable manner” (UNFCCC 2024). The COP30 Presidency has developed a roadmap of concrete actions towards this goal, with...
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Past Events

Nov 10
Becker Brown Bag·Nov 10, 2026, 12:00 PM·Harper Center CO6

BFI x Sadie Collective Student Lunch Series: Race, Labor Market Inequality, and the Future of Work

Nov 9
Workshops·Nov 9, 2026, 12:00 PM·Charles M. Harper Center | Room 3B

Fall 2026 Behavioral Economics Seminar Series

by Francesca Bastianello and Avner Strulov-Shlain
Nov 5
Becker Brown Bag·Nov 5, 2026, 12:00 PM·Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, Breasted Hall

BFI Student Lunch Series – How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy with Soumaya Keynes

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Upcoming Events

Nov 10
Becker Brown Bag·Nov 10, 2026, 12:00 PM·Harper Center CO6

BFI x Sadie Collective Student Lunch Series: Race, Labor Market Inequality, and the Future of Work

Nov 13
Workshops·Nov 13, 2026, 12:45 PM·Saieh Hall for Economics, Rm 021 , 5757 S. University, Chicago, IL, United States, 60637

Fall 2026 Development Lunch Workshop

Organizers: Erin M. Kelley, Gregory Lane, and Eduardo Montero
Nov 16
Workshops·Nov 16, 2026, 12:00 PM·Charles M. Harper Center | Room 3B

Fall 2026 Behavioral Economics Seminar Series

Organizers: Francesca Bastianello and Avner Strulov-Shlain
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About BFI

BFI serves as a hub for cutting-edge analysis and research across the entire University of Chicago economics community.
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About the Becker Friedman Institute

The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) serves as a hub for cutting-edge analysis and research across the entire University of Chicago economics community, uniting researchers from the Booth School of Business, the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics, the...
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Our Legacy

Inspired by our namesakes, Nobel Laureates Gary Becker and Milton Friedman, who believed that economics research could help improve the world, BFI works with the Chicago Economics community to turn its evidence-based research into real-world impact.
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University of Chicago faculty members and other accomplished economists set the goals and direction of the Institute.
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