Research

As voters across the United States head into the 2026 primary season, a familiar claim is once again taking center stage in political debate: that primary elections push elected officials toward ideological extremes and fuel polarization.

New research from Harris scholars finds that “personalist” autocracies underperform economically compared to democracies and institutionalized dictatorships

Based on BFI Working Paper No. 2025-129, “Closing Early Math Gaps by Parental Education with Technology at Home”

New research from Associate Professor Peter Ganong and coauthors reveals that most U.S. workers experience large month-to-month fluctuations in earnings—even when they stay in the same job.

A new paper co-authored by Steven Durlauf examines how social and economic opportunity has shifted across generations in China and Russia during their historic transitions from centrally planned economies to market systems.

More than two-thirds of adults think poverty (68%) and homelessness (83%) have increased nationwide in the last 25 years, and most say the government has a responsibility to address the issues, according to a new UChicago Harris/AP-NORC Poll.