Economics of Culture and Institutions
Organized by Paola Giuliano and Alberto Bisin
May 2, 2026
Royal Sonesta Hotel, 40 Edwin H. Land Blvd., Cambridge, MA
Presentation: 25 minutes; Discussion: 10 minutes; Questions from the floor: 15 minutes
Friday, May 1
6:00pm
Dinner, Royal Sonesta Hotel
Saturday, May 2
8:00am
Breakfast
8:30am

The Success of the Embedded State in England

Leander Heldring, Northwestern University and NBER
Davis Kedrosky, Northwestern University
James A. Robinson, The University of Chicago and NBER
Matthias Weigand, Harvard University

Discussant:
Noam Yuchtman, London School of Economics
9:20am

Mobility, Competition, and the Scope of Trust: Evidence from Transhumant Pastoralism

Etienne Le Rossignol, University of Namur
Sara Lowes, University of California, San Diego and NBER

Discussant:
Jacob Moscona, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NBER
10:10am
Break
10:30am

War and Nation-Building: Evidence from Ukraine

Serhii Abramenko, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF)
Vasily Korovkin, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Alexey Makarin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Moses Shayo, Hebrew University

Discussant:
Vasiliki Fouka, Stanford University and NBER
11:20am

The Rise of the Knowledge Economy

Matteo Cervellati, Università di Bologna
Sara Lazzaroni, University of Bologna
Gianni Marciante, University of Bologna
Paolo Masella, University of Bologna

Discussant:
Felipe Valencia Caicedo, Brown University
12:10pm
Lunch
1:30pm

De-Polarizing Politics: Faith Meets Science in the French Third Republic

Gianandrea Lanzara, University of Bologna
Mara P. Squicciarini, Bocconi University
Nico Voigtländer, University of California, Los Angeles and NBER

Discussant:
Jared Rubin, Chapman University
2:20pm

Parental Leave: Economic Incentives and Cultural Change

James Albrecht, Georgetown University
Per-Anders Edin, Uppsala University
Raquel Fernández, New York University and NBER
Jiwon Lee, New York University
Peter Thoursie, Stockholm University
Susan Vroman, Georgetown University

Discussant:
Philip Rosenbaum, Copenhagen Business School
3:10pm
Break
3:30pm

Cultural Remittances and Modern Fertility

Mickael Melki, Paris School of Business
Hillel Rapoport, Paris School of Economics and CEPR
Enrico Spolaore, Tufts University and NBER
Romain Wacziarg, University of California, Los Angeles and NBER

Discussant:
Marco Tabellini, Harvard University and NBER
4:20pm
Adjourn