Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at University of Chicago — Frontier Research, Global Impact.

Frontier Research, Global Impact.

UChicago’s Hub for Economic Research and Analysis

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Announcing Wealth250

In 1776, Adam Smith asked what causes the wealth of nations - and changed the world. BFl marks the 250th anniversary of The Wealth of Nations with a yearlong series of events, essays, and scholarly inquiry into the foundation, frontier, and future of economics.

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·Mar 10, 2026

Eugene Fama on 60 Years of Finance Research, Index Funds, and Market Efficiency

If you have money in an index fund, you are benefiting from Eugene Fama’s work. In this Extra Slice of The Pie, the Nobel laureate and “father of modern finance” reflects on a career that reshaped how trillions of dollars...

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Research Briefs·Mar 9, 2026

California’s Firearm Excise Tax is Almost Fully Passed on to Consumers

Following California’s implementation of an 11% excise tax on firearms, prices increased by almost the full taxed amount, implying a near perfect passthrough rate in the market for firearms.

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Research Briefs·Mar 9, 2026

Diversionary Escalation: Theory and Evidence from Eastern Ukraine

The Russian government strategically employed proxy-initiated separatist violence in Eastern Ukraine to divert attention from domestic unrest and opposition-led protest.

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Podcasts episode·Mar 3, 2026

The Transformation of Capitalism: 250 Years After Adam Smith

Two hundred fifty years after The Wealth of Nations, capitalism looks nothing like Adam Smith imagined (and nothing like Karl Marx predicted, either). Smith envisioned small, decentralized producers, while Marx foresaw concentration dominated by the rich. In this lecture, Yueran...

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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·Mar 10, 2026

Work from Home and Fertility

We investigate how fertility relates to work from home (WFH) in the post-pandemic era, drawing on original data from our Global Survey of Working Arrangements and U.S. Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes. Realized fertility from 2023 to 2025 and...

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BFI Working Paper·Mar 6, 2026

Efficiency, Insurance, and Redistribution Effects of Government Policies

This paper decomposes welfare measures of policy reforms into parts attributable to redistribution and parts due to efficiency. We further decompose efficiency into subcomponents such as gains from better insurance against idiosyncratic and aggregate risk. Our decomposition of welfare measures...

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BFI Working Paper·Feb 23, 2026

Multidimensional Signaling and the Rise of Cultural Politics

In turbulent times, political labels become increasingly uninformative about politicians’ true policy preferences or their ability to withstand the influence of special interest groups. We offer a model in which politicians use campaign rhetoric to signal their political preferences in...

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Past Events

Event·Mar 5, 2026, 12:00 PM·SAIEH HALL ROOM 201

BFI Student Event: Celebrating the Foundations of Economics

Academic Conferences·Mar 2, 2026, 12:00 PM·Charles M. Harper Center | Room 3B

Winter 2026 Behavioral Economics Seminar Series

by Francesca Bastianello and Avner Strulov-Shlain

Academic Conferences·Feb 23, 2026, 12:00 PM·Charles M. Harper Center | Room 3B

Winter 2026 Behavioral Economics Seminar Series

by Francesca Bastianello and Avner Strulov-Shlain

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Upcoming Events

Academic Conferences·Mar 20, 2026, 9:00 AM·University of Chicago | David Rubenstein Forum | Room 504 | 1201 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637

2026 IOG Spring Conference

Organizers: Marianne Bertrand, Oeindrila Dube, Roger Myerson, Torsten Persson, and Francesco Trebbi

Workshops·Mar 23, 2026, 12:00 PM·Charles M. Harper Center | Room 3B

Spring 2026 Behavioral Economics Seminar Series

Organizers: Francesca Bastianello and Avner Strulov-Shlain

Workshops·Mar 27, 2026, 12:30 PM·Saieh Hall for Economics, Rm 021 , 5757 S. University, Chicago, IL, United States, 60637

Spring 2026 Development Lunch Workshop

Organizers: Joshua Dean, Erin M. Kelley, and Eduardo Montero

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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.

About

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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About

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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