2026 Affiliate Fellows Conference
September 17-18, 2026
Booth 455 - Chicago
As part of the Affiliate Fellows program at the Stigler Center, fellows will come to Chicago to attend an annual, invite-only, in-person conference aimed at discussing and improving their early research ideas. The goal of this conference will be to bring together academics from different backgrounds to exchange experiences and spur new collaborations that will shape the future of the field of political economy broadly defined. Full details forthcoming.
Learn more about the current cohort here.
Note: This conference is by invitation only.
| Thursday, September 17, 2026 | |
| 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. | Breakfast | Stigler Welcome Rachel Piontek, Executive Director, Stigler Center |
| 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. |
Panel 1 Lisa Liu — Mandatory CSR Disclosures and Real Asset Regulatory Leakage David Samuel — Taxes, Branch Location, and the Pass-through of Bank Tax Savings Dhruv Aggarwal — Value over Values: Evidence from State Pension Funds Discussant: João Granja, University of Chicago |
| 10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. | Break |
| 10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. |
Panel 2 Felix Montag — Mergers and the Demand for Protectionism Silvia Vannutelli — Managers, Remote Work and Productivity in the Public Sector Bo Cowgill — Optimal Contracts for Decision-Relevant Beliefs Discussant: Chad Syverson, University of Chicago |
| 11:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Break |
| 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Lunch | Fellow Brainstorming |
| 1:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. | Break |
| 1:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. |
Panel 3 Max Posch — Cultural Similarity and the Diffusion of Development Camille Urvoy — Competing for Attention: The Entry of YouTube Shorts Aljoscha Janssen — Patriotic Spots: Bud Light's Advertising Elasticity During a Nationwide Boycott Discussant: Brad Shapiro, University of Chicago |
| 2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Break |
| 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. |
Panel 4 Giovanna Invernizzi — Governing Through Division Milena Djourelova — Machine or Paper: Trust and the Adoption of Voting Technology Barton Lee — Market Power is Power Discussant: Anthony Fowler, University of Chicago |
| 4:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. | Break |
| 4:45 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. |
Panel 5 Suhas Sridharan — Information Disclosure in Conduit Municipal Bond Offerings Max Kagan — Taking Sides: When Can Firms Politically Mobilize Their Employees? Pablo Balán — A Judge in the Family: The Value of Kinship Ties Between Judges and Law Firms Discussant: Christopher Berry, University of Chicago |
| 6:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. | Transition to Gleacher Center (450 N. Cityfront Plaza Dr., directly across the street) |
| 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Reception |
| 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. | Dinner |
| Friday, September 18, 2026 | |
| 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. |
Panel 6 Emilie Aguirre — Prediction Markets Anna Tzanaki — Innovating Merger Control for the Digital Economy Filippo Lancieri — Should We Presume that Mergers Regularly Lead to Efficiencies? Amit Zac — Amazon's Sustainability Paradox Discussant: Jonathan Masur, University of Chicago |
| 10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. | Break |
| 10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. |
Panel 7 Anya Nakhmurina — The Impact of Detailed Cost Allocation on School Outcomes under ESSA Simcha Barkai — Democrats Increasingly Hold the Entire Party Line Discussant: Derek Neal, University of Chicago |
| 11:45 a.m. – 11:55 a.m. | Break |
| 11:55 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. | Lunch |
| 12:40 p.m. – 12:50 p.m. | Break |
| 12:50 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. |
Panel 8 Brian Jabarian — Agentic Monoculture under Firm Competition: Evidence from AI Interviews Michele Fioretti — Do Environmental NGOs Compete? Media Attention and Donations to Greenpeace and WWF Mario Leccese — Common Ownership, Employment and Worker Mobility: Evidence from Venture Capital Discussant: Marianne Bertrand, University of Chicago |
| 2:20 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Break |
| 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. |
Panel 9 Jorge Ale-Chilet — Patients' and Providers' Incentives in Out-of-Network Emergency Visits Luca Maini — Insurance Design and the Passthrough of Nominal Drug Prices Discussant: Joshua Gottlieb, University of Chicago |
| 3:30 p.m. | Conference Adjourns |
Conference Organizers
- Luigi Zingales, Robert C. McCormack Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance & Charles M. Harper Faculty Fellow, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- Filippo Lancieri, Associate Professor of Law, Georgetown University; Research Fellow, Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- Matthew Lucky, Senior Assistant Director – Research, Stigler Center, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
For more information, contact:
stiglercenter@chicagobooth.edu