The Political Economy Workshop is a forum for theoretical and empirical research at the intersection of economics and political science. The workshop draws presenters from around the world and participants from around the University with a wide range of substantive interests.

The Political Economy Workshop meets on Thursdays from 12:30 p.m.-1:50 p.m. in Room 1022 at Harris Public Policy, Keller Center (1307 East 60th Street).  The faculty organizer is Alex Fouirnaies.

Please note:  Some of the PE Workshops may be virtual.

2023-2024 Workshops

Autumn 2023

October 5

David Broockman (University of California-Berkeley) - "Ideology, Idiosyncrasy, and Instability in the American Electorate (co-authored with Ben Lauderdale)."

 

October 12

Dan Alexander (University of Rochester) - "Electoral Contests over Voter Beliefs"

 

October 19

Jessica Trounstine (Vanderbilt University) - " Political Protection of Privilege:  How Land Use Regulations Preserve Exclusivity"

 

October 26

Pam Ban (University of California-San Diego) - "Efficacy of Congressional Oversight"

 

November 2

Anna Denisenko (University of Rochester)

 

November 9

Vincent Pons (Harvard University)

 

November 16

Mike Olson (Washington University-St. Louis)

 

November 30

Keith Schnakenberg (Washington University-St. Louis)

 

December 7

Brad Harstad (Stanford University)

 

2022-2023 Workshops

Winter 2023

February 16

Andrew McClellan (UChicago Booth) - "Intraparty Politics and Dynamic Policy Polarization"

February 23

Antonio Nicolo (University of Padova) - "Learning it the Hard Way: Conflicts, Economic Sanctions and Military Aid"

Spring 2023

March 23

Matilde Bombardini (University of California, Berkeley Haas) - "Investing in Influence:  Investors, Portfolio Firms and Political Giving" (M. Bertrand, M. Bombardini, R. Fisman, F. Trebbi and E. Yegen)

March 30

Ray Fisman (Boston University) - "Measuring Government Openness Through Freedom of Information Request (with Eyub Yegen)"

April 13

Andy Hall (Stanford University) - "Cable News, Fundraising and Legislator Polarization"  Co-authored by Janet Malzahn and Dan Thompson

May 4

Benjamin Marx (BU Sciences Po in Paris) - "The Dynamic Consequences of State-Building:  Evidence from the French Revoluation" (with Cedric Chambru and Emeric Henry)

May 11

Andrew Little (University of California, Berkeley) - "Biased Learning from Elections" by Andrew Little, Andrew Mack and Thomas Pepinsky

May 18

Stephane Wolton (London School of Economic and Political Science) - "Unmasking the Enemies:  A Theory of Denunciations in Autocracies" (Joint work with Tinghua Yu from Birbeck University)

May 25

Lucia Motolinia (Washington University of St. Louis) - "When Reelection Increases Unity and Cohesion:  Evidence from Parties in Mexico"

June 1

Gabe Lenz (University of California, Berkeley) - "Why Voters Who Value Democracy Participate in Democratic Backsliding"

Workshop Archive

Political Economy Lunches

The Political Economy Lunch meets on the first Friday of every month, and on additional Fridays as needed from 12:00 p.m.-1:20 p.m. in Room 2112 of Harris Public Policy, Keller Center (1307 East 60th Street. The lunch is an informal setting in which graduate students and faculty can present and receive feedback on early stage and ongoing research. We welcome empirical or theoretical work linked in any way to politics or political economy. The PE lunch is also an excellent venue for practice job talks. Graduate students and faculty from any part of the University are welcome to attend, please contact us in advance if you haven't been a regular.

Please note:  The PE Lunch is primarily for faculty, PhD students, post-docs and visiting researchers. 

Contact May Woodard-Hickey at mwoodard@uchicago.edu.