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Becker Friedman Institute for Economics
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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...
        • 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.
        • Pre-Doctoral Research Professionals
          The Predoctoral Research in Economics Program (PREP) is intended to serve as a bridge between college and graduate school for students interested in empirical economics. The program offers unique research and professional training opportunities at the University of Chicago.
        • Expanding Discovery in Economics+
          Expanding Discovery in Economics+ (EDE+) brings together a diverse group of early undergraduate students to hone their research abilities and technical skills.
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        • Never Enough: Dynamic Status Incentives in Organizations
          Leonardo Bursztyn, Ewan Rawcliffe, and Hans-Joachim Voth

          We study the ability of a firm to elicit repeated effort from workers by creating a “rat race” of hierarchical status-based incentives. We examine performance using data on over 5,000 German air force pilots during World War II. Pilots’ effort...

          A Few Bad Apples? Academic Dishonesty, Political Selection, and Institutional Performance in China
          Zhuang Liu, Wenwei Peng, and Shaoda Wang

          Honesty is perceived as fundamental to societal functioning, motivating education systems worldwide to enforce strict oversight and heavy penalties for dishonest behavior. Yet much academic misconduct remains unexposed, and its broader consequences are further obscured by the sorting of individuals...

          Occupation-Specific Education Requirements and Occupational Silos: Evidence from CPA Licensing Rules
          Anthony Le and Parth Shah

          We study the e!ect of licensing-induced, occupation-specific education requirements on workers’ occupational mobility and earnings. We study this question in the context of Certified Public Accountants’ (CPAs) licensing rules, exploiting the staggered intro-duction of a change in the number and...

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          Closed Visas Trap Temporary Foreign Workers in Worse Jobs
          Time-Based Competition Defines Digital Markets: Field Experiments Show Breaking Up Meta Would Harm Users
          Direct Lenders Make Inroads into Middle Market Banking, but the Market Still Belongs to Traditional Providers
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          Unlocking the Power of Markets as a New Tool for Regulating Pollution
          Explore Historical Manufacturing Data
          The Hidden Volatility of American Workers’ Paychecks
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          Venezuela After Maduro: What Comes Next?
          Why Banks Exist and Why They Fail: Douglas Diamond on Runs, Regulation, and the Risks of Short-Term Debt
          At What Age Does Family Income Most Shape Your Future? Timing and Intergenerational Mobility
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          2026 Conference on Budget Analysis and Public Policy

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          How Economists Could Help Inform Economic and Budget Analysis Used by the US Congress

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          Winter 2026 Behavioral Economics Seminar Series

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BFI Data Studio·Aug 1, 2025

Building Costs and House Prices​

New research challenges the common belief that construction costs drive housing prices, showing their impact has been modest — and declining — for decades.

View the Interactive Brief

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© 2026 Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago

  • 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...
        • 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.
        • Pre-Doctoral Research Professionals
          The Predoctoral Research in Economics Program (PREP) is intended to serve as a bridge between college and graduate school for students interested in empirical economics. The program offers unique research and professional training opportunities at the University of Chicago.
        • Expanding Discovery in Economics+
          Expanding Discovery in Economics+ (EDE+) brings together a diverse group of early undergraduate students to hone their research abilities and technical skills.
        • Visitors & Fellows
        • Our Team
        • BFI Employment Opportunities
        • Contact
  • Network
        • Research Initiatives
          • Big Data Initiative
          • Chicago Experiments Initiative
          • Health Economics Initiative
          • Industrial Organization Initiative
          • International Economics and Economic Geography Initiative
          • Macroeconomic Research Initiative
          • Political Economics Initiative
          • Price Theory Initiative
          • Public Economics Initiative
          • Ronzetti Initiative for the Study of Labor Markets
          • Socioeconomic Inequalities Initiative
        • View All caret-right
        • Global Initiatives
          • BFI-China
          • BFI-Latin America
          • Tata Centre for Development
        • View All caret-right
        • Programs & Centers
          • Expanding Discovery in Economics+ (EDE+)
          • Development Economics Center
          • Global Center for Economic Growth - Growth Academy
          • Macro Finance Research Program
          • Program in Behavioral Economics Research
          • TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health
        • View All caret-right
  • Scholars
    • UChicago Scholars
    • Visiting Scholars
    • Saieh Family Fellows
    • Predoctoral Research Professionals
  • Research
        • Never Enough: Dynamic Status Incentives in Organizations
          Leonardo Bursztyn, Ewan Rawcliffe, and Hans-Joachim Voth

          We study the ability of a firm to elicit repeated effort from workers by creating a “rat race” of hierarchical status-based incentives. We examine performance using data on over 5,000 German air force pilots during World War II. Pilots’ effort...

          A Few Bad Apples? Academic Dishonesty, Political Selection, and Institutional Performance in China
          Zhuang Liu, Wenwei Peng, and Shaoda Wang

          Honesty is perceived as fundamental to societal functioning, motivating education systems worldwide to enforce strict oversight and heavy penalties for dishonest behavior. Yet much academic misconduct remains unexposed, and its broader consequences are further obscured by the sorting of individuals...

          Occupation-Specific Education Requirements and Occupational Silos: Evidence from CPA Licensing Rules
          Anthony Le and Parth Shah

          We study the e!ect of licensing-induced, occupation-specific education requirements on workers’ occupational mobility and earnings. We study this question in the context of Certified Public Accountants’ (CPAs) licensing rules, exploiting the staggered intro-duction of a change in the number and...

        • View All caret-right
  • Insights
        • Research Briefs

          Closed Visas Trap Temporary Foreign Workers in Worse Jobs
          Time-Based Competition Defines Digital Markets: Field Experiments Show Breaking Up Meta Would Harm Users
          Direct Lenders Make Inroads into Middle Market Banking, but the Market Still Belongs to Traditional Providers
        • View All caret-right
        • BFI Data Studio

          Unlocking the Power of Markets as a New Tool for Regulating Pollution
          Explore Historical Manufacturing Data
          The Hidden Volatility of American Workers’ Paychecks
        • View All caret-right
        • Podcasts

          Venezuela After Maduro: What Comes Next?
          Why Banks Exist and Why They Fail: Douglas Diamond on Runs, Regulation, and the Risks of Short-Term Debt
          At What Age Does Family Income Most Shape Your Future? Timing and Intergenerational Mobility
        • View All caret-right
        • Videos

          BFI Youtube Channel external
          Captivating and informative videos on the latest insights and trends as well as the tested stock of knowledge in economics from leaders in academia, policy, business, and the media.
  • Events
        • Upcoming Events

          Jan 29

          2026 Conference on Budget Analysis and Public Policy

          Jan 30

          How Economists Could Help Inform Economic and Budget Analysis Used by the US Congress

          Feb 2

          Winter 2026 Behavioral Economics Seminar Series

        • View All caret-right
  • News
    • BFI News
    • Media Mentions
    • Press Releases
  • Info For
    • Scholars
    • Students
    • Media
    • Pre-Doctoral Research Professionals
  • Subscribe
    • Join Our Weekly Briefing Newsletter
    • Newsletter Archive
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