Latest Insights

Research Briefs·Apr 17, 2025

Economic Shocks and Healthcare Capital Investments

Recessions restrain IT investments while expansion policy indirectly stimulates them. These effects occur in a symmetrical manner. For example, in the healthcare industry, economic downturns restrain hospitals’ investments while hospitals exposed to a Medicaid expansion purchase more IT.
Podcasts episode·Apr 15, 2025

War Economies: How Ukraine and Russia Are Adapting in Year Three

More than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war continues to reshape not only geopolitical alliances but also the economies of both countries. In this episode of The Pie, host Tess Vigeland is joined by Konstantin Sonin,...
Research Briefs·Apr 9, 2025

Why Has Regional Income Convergence in the U.S. Declined?

Income gaps between states have stopped narrowing at the same time that rising housing costs—linked to increased zoning restrictions—have reshaped who can afford to live in high-wage places.
Research Briefs·Apr 2, 2025

The Social Construction of Race during Reconstruction

During the United States’ Reconstruction Era (1865-77), people with the same physical skin tone were more likely racialized as White or Mulatto if they were wealthier or literate. This historical finding underscores the fluidity of socially constructed racial classifications and...

Latest Frontier Research

BFI Working Paper·Apr 22, 2025

The Law and Economics of Lawyers: Evidence from the Revolving Door in China’s Judicial System

This paper examines how power lawyers shape judicial and economic outcomes by studying the “revolving door” between judges and lawyers in China’s judicial system—namely, former judges who quit the bench to practice law. In otherwise identical lawsuits, revolving-door lawyers deliver...
BFI Working Paper·Apr 22, 2025

The Invention of Corporate Governance

The analysis of corporate governance begins with a central feature of modern capitalism—the separation of ownership and control in large corporations—first empirically documented by Berle and Means (1932). Such separation entails several agency problems reflecting conflicts between managers and shareholders,...
BFI Working Paper·Apr 22, 2025

Option Value Neglect: Evidence from Centralized College Admission

Sequential choices are ubiquitous in daily life, yet making optimal decisions in such settings—where properly accounting for option value is crucial—can be challenging. This paper provides field experimental evidence on the neglect of option value in high-stakes decisions and quantifies...

Past Events

Apr 21
Workshops·Apr 21, 2025, 12:00 PM·Charles M. Harper Center | Room C03

Spring 2025 Behavioral Economics Seminar Series

by Leonardo Bursztyn and Alex Imas
Apr 18
Workshops·Apr 18, 2025, 12:30 PM·Saieh Hall for Economics, Rm 021 , 5757 S. University, Chicago, IL, United States, 60637

Development Lunch Workshop – Spring 2025

by Fiona Burlig, Joshua Dean, and Erin M. Kelly
Apr 15
Event·Apr 15, 2025, 5:00 PM·David Rubenstein Forum | University A-B, 2nd Floor

BFI Public Event – AI, the Economy, and Public Policy

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Upcoming Events

Apr 25
Academic Conferences·Apr 25, 2025, 9:00 AM·David Rubenstein Forum, Room 601

2025 Conference on Rational Inattention

Organizers: Doron Ravid and Benjamin Hébert
Apr 25
Academic Conferences·Apr 25, 2025, 9:00 AM·Saieh Hall 112

2025 Micro and Macro Foundations of Labor Markets Conference

Organizers: Erik Hurst, Patrick Kehoe, Magne Mogstad, Simon Mongey, and Elena Pastorino
Apr 25
Workshops·Apr 25, 2025, 12:30 PM·Saieh Hall for Economics, Rm 021 , 5757 S. University, Chicago, IL, United States, 60637

Development Lunch Workshop – Spring 2025

Organizers: Fiona Burlig, Joshua Dean, and Erin M. Kelly
View All

About BFI

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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.

Our Team

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