2026 IOG Fall Conference
The Institutions, Organizations, and Growth (IOG) Program, in partnership with the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago (BFI), invites leading scholars and IOG members to convene three times annually for research conferences and academic exchange. The IOG Program aims to move beyond the limits of traditional economic approaches and provide new frameworks for understanding why some nations succeed economically while others continually fail; why institutions that foster wealth and well-being in one culture, location, or historical period may be less effective in another; and what policies will create the greatest potential for progress. The IOG Program has a long tradition of fruitful interdisciplinary interactions among scholars from a wide range of analytical perspectives in the social sciences.
Participation in IOG-BFI conferences is by invitation only. Scholars who study topics related to institutions, organizations, and growth across a wide variety of disciplines are invited.
For questions, please contact bfi-events@uchicago.edu.
PHOTO GALLERY
Agenda
Registration and Breakfast
Room 501-502
Diverging Values in a Connected World - Room 504
Joshua Jackson, University of Chicago
Break
The Economic Determinants of Taiwanese Sentiments towards Reunification with Mainland China
Nancy Qian, Northwestern University
Lunch
Room 501-502
Ray of Hope? China and the Rise of Solar Energy
John Van Reenen, London School of Economics
Reception
Conference Adjourns
Breakfast
Room 501-502
Ideas and Political Change: Evidence from England
Leander Heldring, Northwestern University
Break
Labor Unions and Pro-Democracy Resistance
Virginia Minni, University of Chicago
Lunch
Room 501-502
The Banality of Corporate Evil
Luigi Zingales, University of Chicago
Conference Adjourns
Conference Dinner
By invitation only.
Breakfast
Room 501-502
IOG Business Meeting – Room 504
Program Members and BFI Senior Staff
The Causal Effects of Peer Exposure vs. Friendship on Economic Mobility
Matthew Jackson, Stanford University
Break
Narratives and the Size of Government: Party and Incumbency Effects in Parliament and Congress
Tim Besley, London School of Economics
Conference Concludes
Boxed lunches provided