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Research Briefs

Research Briefs·Feb 11, 2026

Fast Action for Floods: Why Timing Matters in Humanitarian Cash Transfers

Erin M. Kelley and Gregory Lane
Households in Nepal and Bangladesh who are randomly assigned to receive cash assistance within days of a flood experience overall gains in food security and psychosocial well-being compared to households who are randomly assigned to receive assistance 1-1.5 months after...
Research Briefs·Feb 4, 2026

Who Chooses and Who Benefits? The Design of Public School Choice Systems

Christopher Campos, Eric Chyn, Jesse Bruhn, and Antonia Vazquez
District-run choice schools are effective, generating achievement gains equivalent to roughly one grade level. Opt-in participation, however, prevents these benefits from reaching the students who need them most, as students least likely to apply are those who would gain the...
Research Briefs·Feb 3, 2026

FinTech Firms Spend Much More on Sales and Marketing Than Traditional Financial Firms

Bianca He, Lauren Mostrom, and Amir Sufi
FinTech firms spend three times more on sales and marketing than traditional financial companies, an investment that builds valuable customer capital. The gap is not explained by sector or firm age, but by the distinct demands of building trust, acquiring...

BFI Data Studio

BFI Data Studio·Nov 6, 2025

Unlocking the Power of Markets as a New Tool for Regulating Pollution

Michael Greenstone, Rohini Pande, Nicholas Ryan, and Anant Sudarshan
How the world’s first particulate pollution market in India reduced pollution and increased industry profits.
BFI Data Studio·Nov 5, 2025

Explore Historical Manufacturing Data

Richard Hornbeck, Anders Humlum, and Martin Rotemberg
In this project, UChicago and NYU economists Richard Hornbeck, Anders Humlum, and Martin Rotemberg have led efforts to digitize the surviving historical records on American manufacturing establishments during the second Industrial Revolution, making it easily accessible to researchers and the...
BFI Data Studio·Sep 11, 2025

The Hidden Volatility of American Workers’ Paychecks

Most US workers experience substantial month-to-month fluctuations in pay, even within ongoing employment relationships, leading to fluctuating household consumption and an increased propensity to quit.

Podcasts

Podcasts episode·Feb 3, 2026

Who Really Paid for the Tariffs? Brent Neiman on Liberation Day’s Economic Aftermath

Tess Vigeland and Brent Neiman
Who bore the cost of 2025’s sweeping tariffs? UChicago economist Brent Neiman returns to The Pie to discuss his new research with co-author Gita Gopinath examining the effects of last year’s tariffs. Neiman reveals a gap between statutory rates and...
Podcasts episode·Jan 20, 2026

Venezuela After Maduro: What Comes Next?

Tess Vigeland, Chris Blattman, Ryan Kellogg, and Paul Poast
Days after the Trump administration’s surprise military operation captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, a panel of UChicago scholars gathered to make sense of what it means for Venezuela, the United States, and the region. Professor Christopher Blattman, Deputy Dean Ryan...
Podcasts episode·Jan 13, 2026

Why Banks Exist and Why They Fail: Douglas Diamond on Runs, Regulation, and the Risks of Short-Term Debt

Benjamin Krause and Douglas W. Diamond
Financial crises are “everywhere and always” a problem of short-term debt. In this Extra Slice of The Pie, Nobel laureate Douglas Diamond explains his groundbreaking research on why banks exist in the first place, and why they’re vulnerable to runs....

Initiative Insights

Initiative Insight·Aug 18, 2025

Reframing the Safety Net: Manasi Deshpande on the Unseen Impacts of Disability Policy

Sydney Turner
Economic theories often frame safety net debates in terms of work incentives, but Manasi Deshpande’s research reveals a more complex reality. Using linked administrative data, she shows how programs like Supplemental Security Income affect not just employment, but crime, mental...
Initiative Insight·Jul 31, 2025

What Two Years of Predoctoral Research Taught One Aspiring Economist

Maia Rabenold and Sydney Turner
Through the BFI Predoctoral Research in Economics Program program, Jialing Zhang tackled real-world economic challenges using machine learning and spatial data, helping build tools for GDP estimation in data-scarce regions. Zhang discusses how her journey through economics, mentorship, and discovery...
Initiative Insight·Aug 11, 2024

The Surgeon Shuffle: How Moving Doctors Across Hospitals Can Save Lives

Abby Hiller
WATCH VIDEO Video by Ava Gomez Pauline Mourot has an idea that could save more than 800 lives a year. All it would require? Switching cardiac surgeons between hospitals. The proposal combines a classic idea from labor economics— worker sorting...
Topics: Health care

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COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

Ava Gomez

Marketing and Digital Media Specialist, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics

Eric Hernandez

Senior Officer of Digital Media and Data Visualization, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics

Abby Hiller

Senior Manager of Research Translation and Impact, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics

Maia Rabenold

Senior Multimedia Specialist, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics

Sydney Turner

Multimedia Coordinator, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics