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...
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.
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+ (EDE+) brings together a diverse group of early undergraduate students to hone their research abilities and technical skills.
Brent R. Hickman, John List, Ian Muir, and Gregory K. Sun
We study identification and optimal policy design in a broad class of principal-agent models. We show that the most common empirical framework within the literature is equivalent to an unstructured potential-outcomes model augmented with three specific assumptions: the Law of...
John List, Matthias Rodemeier, Sutanuka Roy, and Gregory K. Sun
Behavioral interventions have become central to modern public policy, but their empirical promise remains contested because estimated treatment effects often appear small. We argue that a policy response is economically meaningful only relative to the response generated by alternative policies....
Consider a referee report containing the sentence: “Assignment to treatment was voluntary, though the authors acknowledge this as a limitation in the conclusion.” The Editor would summarily reject. Now replace “assignment to treatment” with “entry into the experimental sample,” and...
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.
Held-to-Maturity (HTM) accounting allows banks to avoid using current market prices to value securities on their balance sheet. During 2022, the HTM portfolios of U.S. banks grew from $2 to $2.75 trillion while their overall holdings of securities remained constant at $6 trillion. U.S. banks transferred $.9 trillion to their HTM portfolios by relabeling securities as HTM. Accounting rules determine that banks must have not only the intent but also the ability to hold securities to maturity when using HTM accounting. I find that banks with lower capital ratios, higher share of run-prone uninsured depositors, and more exposed to interest rate risks were more likely to reclassify securities to HTM during 2021 and 2022.
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...
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.
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+ (EDE+) brings together a diverse group of early undergraduate students to hone their research abilities and technical skills.
Brent R. Hickman, John List, Ian Muir, and Gregory K. Sun
We study identification and optimal policy design in a broad class of principal-agent models. We show that the most common empirical framework within the literature is equivalent to an unstructured potential-outcomes model augmented with three specific assumptions: the Law of...
John List, Matthias Rodemeier, Sutanuka Roy, and Gregory K. Sun
Behavioral interventions have become central to modern public policy, but their empirical promise remains contested because estimated treatment effects often appear small. We argue that a policy response is economically meaningful only relative to the response generated by alternative policies....
Consider a referee report containing the sentence: “Assignment to treatment was voluntary, though the authors acknowledge this as a limitation in the conclusion.” The Editor would summarily reject. Now replace “assignment to treatment” with “entry into the experimental sample,” and...
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.
