We study disease spread on a social network where individuals adjust contacts to avoid infection. Susceptible individuals rewire links from infectious individuals to other susceptibles, reducing infections and causing the disease to only become endemic at higher infection rates. We...

Because neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) afflict the world’s poorest people and can cause decades-long health problems, combating them could reduce inequality, the intergenerational transmission of poverty, and burdens on healthcare systems in developing economies. We show that these novel benefits...

We study the extension of Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits to groups of workers typically excluded from the UI system—new entrants, the self-employed, and gig workers—implemented as part of the United States policy response to the 2020 COVID-19 crisis. Although enacted...

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...

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.

University of Chicago faculty members and other accomplished economists set the goals and direction of the Institute.

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