New research shows that people are strikingly bad at predicting how good it feels to connect with a stranger. In this episode of The Pie, Nick Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the Universit...

Description The US and countries around the world are spending a substantial and rising share of income on health care. The care that is delivered today and the innovation available tomorrow are drive...

While the decline in manufacturing employment has received ample attention, the healthcare industry has rather quietly become the nation’s dominant employer. Indeed, the increase in healthcare employm...

How is artificial intelligence (AI) going to change social science and how is social science going to change how AI is used? This cross-disciplinary conference will facilitate dialogue and generate insights into innovative methodologies, novel datasets, and emerging technologies that can reshape our understanding of the world and push the boundaries of knowledge across disciplines Read more...

Residential segregation of marginalized groups is a well-established driver of persistent inequality in wealthy countries. Segregated communities tend to have worse access to employment networks, public services, and social capital, and face more entrenched stereotypes in the broader population.1 Most existing research, however, focuses on the United States and Europe. This research gap is significant Read more...

In 1992, then presidential candidate Bill Clinton’s political strategist, James Carville, famously coined a phrase to keep his candidate on message, which tidily summarizes the long-held view that voters care most about pocketbook issues: “It’s the economy, stupid.” While that assessment still holds, this research suggests that Carville’s maxim could be rephrased as, “It’s the Read more...

The latest commentary and analysis from BFI’s leading scholars in shorter, digestible forms.

This work begins with a simple statement with big implications: “Institutions act through people.” It follows that the discretionary behavior of those in power matters, and when those people, be they CEOs, judges, academic leaders, managers, politicians, and others, act dishonestly, condemnation is often swift, though some escape retribution. This is especially true in the Read more...

Many firms face a fundamental challenge regarding employee performance: How to effectively and efficiently incentivize workers. Financial rewards are effective but costly, and their motivating power can diminish over time. In this paper, the authors ask whether status-based rewards such as medals, awards, and titles can fill this gap by tapping into people’s innate desire Read more...

The latest commentary and analysis from BFI’s leading scholars in shorter, digestible forms.

Sharing research in progress—and refining it through rigorous discussion and debate—is a hallmark of scholarship at the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics.

Why did the United States choose to intervene militarily in Iran, how much of it relates to global energy markets, and what does war look like in today’s increasingly interconnected world? In this Policy Outlook panel, learn how the conflict that removed Iran’s Supreme Leader and top government officials is reverberating throughout the region and Read more...

Measuring price indices is notoriously challenging because the mix and quality of products change over time. To address this problem, researchers have tried to collect increasingly granular data on pr...

LISTEN/SUBSCRIBE Economists are always talking about The Pie – how it grows and shrinks, how it’s sliced, and who gets the biggest shares. Join host Tess Vigeland as she talks with leading economists from the University of Chicago about their cutting-edge research and key events of the day. Hear how the economic pie is at Read more...