The Andrew and Betsy Rosenfield Program in Economics, Public Policy, and Law fosters interdisciplinary research into pressing social issues.
This program:
- supports empirical economic studies using Chicago Price Theory
- funds experiments in economics, to address pressing problems in fields as diverse as education, environmental and health care policy, and crime
- complements the Law School’s Coase-Sandor Institute for Law and Economics with collaborative programming
- promotes collaboration among scholars in the Department of Economics, the Law School, the Chicago Booth School of Business, and the Harris School of Public Policy Studies.
In addition to these lines of inquiry, the program also supports the work of the Becker Friedman Institute, including its activities at the University of Chicago Center in Beijing, and provides discretionary funds for the chairman of the institute.
The program was established in 2011 with a gift of $25 million to the Becker Friedman Institute from Andrew and Betsy Rosenfield. The gift builds upon the Rosenfields’ deep connections with the University. A trustee of the University since 1996, Andrew Rosenfield, JD’78, also is a senior lecturer in the Law School, where he has taught for more than 25 years. Betsy Rosenfield, the daughter of alumni of the College, also has close ties to the University, having attended the Laboratory Schools from pre-K through high school.
The program ensures continuing innovation in the tradition of evidence-based research on fundamental problems in the areas of economics, law, and policy, and particularly in Chicago Price Theory—one of the most influential intellectual traditions at the University. The program continues to strengthen that tradition and ensure that the next generation of economists is exposed to the power of these tools.
Chicago economists Steve Levitt and Kevin Murphy serve as the codirectors of the program. Under their leadership, the program supports cutting-edge research on some of today’s most difficult policy issues, including income inequality, education, health care, and the need to expand productivity and develop human capital in modern economies.