Economics of Artificial Intelligence
Organized by Ajay K. Agrawal, Joshua S. Gans, Avi Goldfarb, and Catherine Tucker
Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Microsoft, and the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society
September 23-24, 2026
The Conference Centre at the University of Toronto, 89 Chestnut Street, Toronto, ON M5G 1R1, Canada
Format: 20 minutes for presentation, 10 minutes for discussion, and 15 minutes for Q&A.
Wednesday, September 23
12:00 pm
Lunch
1:00 pm
Introductions
1:15 pm

How Does AI Accelerate Drug Development: A Global Perspective

Panle Jia Barwick, University of Wisconsin - Madison and NBER
Hongyuan Xia, Cornell University
Tianli Xia, University of Rochester
Jing Yi, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Discussant:
Benjamin Jones, Northwestern University and NBER
2:00 pm

Now Hiring: Firm-Level Adoption of Generative AI in China

Lixing Li, Peking University
Zhencen Liu, World Bank
Anqi Wang, Peking University
He Wang, World Bank
Shu Yu, World Bank

Discussant:
Kristina McElheran, University of Toronto
2:45 pm
Break
3:15 pm
PANEL 1
Yinuo Geng, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Zilan Qian, Oxford China Policy Lab
Jon Lindsay, Georgia Institute of Technology
Moderator: Janice Gross Stein, University of Toronto
4:15 pm
Break
4:30 pm

Tracking China's Growing AI Innovative Capacity Using Publications, Patents, and People

Sagar V. Baviskar, Carnegie Mellon University
Lee G. Branstetter, Carnegie Mellon University and NBER
Cameron Drayton, Carnegie Mellon University
Douglas Hanley, University of Pittsburgh
Eduard Hovy, Carnegie Mellon University
Lei Li, Carnegie Mellon University
Xibao Li, Tsinghua University
Prasanna Tambe, University of Pennsylvania
Jiarui Wu, Carnegie Mellon University
Liujie Wu, Carnegie Mellon University
Huiyan Zhang, Tsinghua University

Discussant:
Daniel Trefler, University of Toronto and NBER
5:15 pm
Adjourn
6:00 pm
Group Dinner
Thursday, September 24
8:00 am
Breakfast
8:30 am

U.S. Policies Unintentionally Accelerated China’s Open AI Ecosystem

James Evans, The University of Chicago
Wang Jin, Chapman University
Nadav Kuniesky, The University of Chicago
Bowen Lou, University of Southern California
Tianshu Sun, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business

Discussant:
Martin Beraja, University of California, Berkeley and NBER
9:15 am
PANEL 2 (speakers to be announced)
10:15 am
Break
10:30 am

Generative AI and the Pre-Match Labor Market: Evidence from Job Postings, Applications, and Callbacks

Hanming Fang, University of Pennsylvania and NBER
Jiayin Hu, Peking University
Jiaqi Zhao, Peking University
Yu Miao, Peking University

Discussant:
Lindsey Raymond, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
11:15 am
Break
11:30 am
PANEL 3 (speakers to be announced)
12:30 pm
Adjourn