Economics of Health Program Meeting
Organized by Christopher S. Carpenter, Yiqun Chen, Amy Finkelstein, Ethan M.J. Lieber, Matthew J. Notowidigdo, and Maggie Shi
February 19-20, 2026
Gleacher Center, Room 100, 450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive, Chicago, IL, Zoom
Thursday, February 19
8:00 am
Continental Breakfast
8:30am
Welcome, Introductions
8:45 am

Missing Markets for Innovation: Evidence from New Uses of Existing Drugs

Eric Budish, University of Chicago and NBER
Maya M. Durvasula, Stanford University
Benjamin N. Roin, Independent Researcher
Heidi L. Williams, Dartmouth College and NBER
9:30 am
Break
Egg Timer Session
9:45 am

Improving Productivity in Healthcare: \\ The Case of Ambulatory Surgical Centers

Angela T. Chen, University of Pennsylvania
Atul Gupta, University of Pennsylvania and NBER
Amol S. Navathe, University of Pennsylvania
9:55 am

Negative Product Disclosure and Innovation

Colleen M. Cunningham, University of Utah
Jennifer L. Kao, University of California, Los Angeles
10:05 am

The Rise of Healthcare Jobs

Joshua D. Gottlieb, University of Chicago and NBER
Neale Mahoney, Stanford University and NBER
Kevin Rinz, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
Victoria Udalova, U.S. Census Bureau
10:15 am
Break
10:45 am

Driving a Bargain: Negotiation Skill and Price Dispersion

Kristine Hankins, University of Kentucky
Tong Liu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Denis Sosyura, Arizona State University
11:30 am
Break
11:45 am

Race-Specific Provider Performance: Evidence from Black Lives Matter Protests

Haizhen Lin, Indiana University and NBER
Yanhao Wang, University of Alberta
Jia Xiang, Indiana University
12:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm

Gender Mix and Team Performance: Evidence from Obstetrics

Ambar La Forgia, University of California, Berkeley and NBER
Manasvini Singh, Carnegie Mellon University
2:15 pm
Break
Egg Timer Session
2:30 pm

Demographic Divergence: The Legacy of the Opioid Epidemic

Carolina Arteaga, University of Toronto and NBER
Victoria Barone, University of Notre Dame
Stephen Claassen, University of Toronto
2:40 pm

Family Spillovers of Dementia

Onur Altindağ, Bentley University
Jane Greve, The Danish Center for Social Science Research (VIVE)
Yulya Truskinovsky, Syracuse University and NBER
2:50 pm

Time for Mental Healthcare: Evidence from Paid Sick Leave Mandates

Matthew D. Eisenberg, Johns Hopkins University
Yimin Ge, Johns Hopkins University
Ezra Golberstein, University of Minnesota
Johanna Catherine Maclean, George Mason University and NBER
3:00 pm
Break
3:30 pm

Labor and Product Market Power, Endogenous Quality, and the Consolidation of the US Hospital Industry

Bradley Setzler, The Pennsylvania State University and NBER
4:15 pm
Break
4:30 pm

Trading Goods for Lives: The Effect of NAFTA on Mortality

Amy Finkelstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NBER
Matthew J. Notowidigdo, University of Chicago and NBER
Steven X. Shi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
5:15 pm
Adjourn
5:30 pm
Reception and Dinner
Friday, February 20
8:00 am
Continental Breakfast
8:30 am

Government Monitoring of Health Care Quality: Evidence from the Nursing Home Sector

Yiqun Chen, University of Illinois Chicago and NBER
Marcus Dillender, Vanderbilt University and NBER
9:15 am
Break
Egg Timer Session
9:30 am

Selection into Medicine

Diane E. Alexander, University of Pennsylvania and NBER
Molly Schnell, Northwestern University and NBER
9:40 am

How Do Habits Form? Experimental Evidence from Health Screenings

Damon Jones, University of Chicago and NBER
David Molitor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and NBER
Julian Reif, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and NBER
9:50 am

Local Prosecutors and Public Health

Panka Bencsik, Vanderbilt University
Tyler Giles, Wellesley College
10:00 am
Break
10:30 am

The Risk Protection Value of Moral Hazard

Victoria Marone, Yale University and NBER
Angelique Acquatella, Toulouse School of Economics
11:15 am
Break
11:30 am

Moral Hazard under Liquidity Constraints

Keith Marzilli Ericson, Boston University and NBER
Johannes G. Jaspersen, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Justin R. Sydnor, University of Wisconsin - Madison and NBER
12:15 pm
Adjourn and Boxed Lunches