With support from the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI), 21 University of Chicago undergraduate students attended the 2023 American Economic Association (AEA) Annual Meeting in New Orleans on Jan. 6-8. The three-day conference featured sessions from many of the field’s foremost economists, including several from the University of Chicago.
“The AEA Conference this year was a fantastic opportunity for me to explore areas of economics I had learned briefly about in class and see the frontier of what researchers are doing in these fields,” said Matthew Zhao, a third-year student and the Academic Director for Oeconomica. “I especially enjoyed the panel on Treatment Effects where Alexander Torgovitsky and other researchers presented their research at the forefront of empirical methodology. Overall, I had an amazing time at the conference and feel further inspired to learn more about all that economics has to offer.”
The students, members of the University of Chicago’s undergraduate economics research society Oeconomica, attended paper and panel sessions and heard economists from around the world share research and methods shaping the field.
“I had the opportunity to meet economists whose papers I’ve read in my classes, and I was able to attend sessions with labor economists presenting new research on unpaid domestic labor, which I’m writing my thesis on,” said fourth-year student Amani Mryan. “It was helpful to talk to the presenters, troubleshoot challenges I’m experiencing in my research, and prepare for the types of questions I might receive in future presentations.”
Each year, the AEA, in conjunction with 64 associations in related disciplines known as the Allied Social Science Associations (ASSA), holds the three-day meeting to present papers on general economics topics. The meeting is the premier conference for the field, offering a unique opportunity to network and learn about emerging topics.
“Attending the AEA conference was an incredibly rewarding experience. I was able to delve deeper into topics related to my thesis and general research interests as well as get exposed to new topics,” said Matthew Benavides, a fourth year student. “It was a great opportunity to get exposed to cutting edge economics research and has given me insight into what topics I would enjoy researching.”
This is the third year that BFI has supported UChicago student participation in the annual AEA meeting, a tradition we plan to continue in future years.