Public Economics Program Meeting
Organized by Manasi Deshpande and Youssef Benzarti
October 22-23, 2026
Royal Sonesta Hotel, 40 Edwin H. Land Blvd.,Cambridge, MA
Thursday, October 22
8:55 am
Breakfast
9:25 am

Wealth Taxation and Portfolio Allocation

Ségal Le Guern Herry, Aix-Marseille University
10:00 am

Equality of Opportunity vs Equality of Outcomes: A Theory of Optimal Predistribution

Raj Chetty, Harvard University and NBER
Henrik Kleven, Princeton University and NBER
Damián Vergara, University of Michigan and NBER
Danny Yagan, University of California, Berkeley and NBER
10:35 am
Break
10:50 am

The Value of Automatic Enrollment: Evidence from the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment

Nathaniel Ruby, University of Virginia
Daniel V. Kwiatkowski
11:25 am

Long-Run Intergenerational Effects of Social Security

Daniel K. Fetter, Dartmouth College and NBER
Lee Lockwood, University of Virginia and NBER
Paul Mohnen, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
12:00 pm
Lunch
1:00 pm

A Sin Ban, Not a Sin Tax? Consumption and Incidence of SNAP Soda Restrictions

Crossan Cooper, Yale University
Katja Seim, Yale University and NBER
Jintaek Song, University of Florida
1:35 pm

Price Discrimination Against Voucher Tenants

Konhee Chang, Federal Reserve Board
2:10 pm
Break
2:25 pm

Incomplete and Endogenous Take-Up of Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Casey C. McQuillan, Brown University
Brendan Moore, University of Michigan
3:00 pm

Takeup and Behavioral Responses of Expanding Unemployment Assistance: Evidence from Rideshare and Taxi Drivers

Dmitri K. Koustas, The University of Chicago
James A. Parrott, The New School
Michael Reich, University of California, Berkeley
3:35 pm
Break
3:50 pm

Is a Dollar a Dollar? How Transfer Design Shapes Household Spending

Therese Bonomo, Northwestern University
Krista J. Ruffini, Georgetown University and NBER
Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, Georgetown University and NBER
4:20 pm

Policing for profit? Evidence from Post-Ferguson Reforms in Missouri

Jesse Bruhn, Brown University and NBER
Brian G. Knight, Brown University and NBER
Nathan M. Schiff, University of Alberta
4:50 pm

When Resources Meet Relationships: The Returns to Personalized Supports for Low-Income Students

Benjamin Goldman, Cornell University and NBER
Jamie Gracie, Harvard University
Sonya Porter, U.S. Census Bureau
5:20 pm
Adjourn
6:00 pm
Dinner
Remarks by Douglas Elmendorf, Harvard University and NBER
Friday, October 23
Morning Session will be joint with Economic Analysis of Business Taxation
8:55 am
Breakfast
9:25 am

What Should We Tax When We Tax AI?

Giacomo Brusco, University of Barcelona
Francesco Capozza, University of Barcelona
10:00 am

How do Firms Behave in Simplified Tax Regimes?

Javier Feinmann, Paris School of Economics
Roberto Hsu Rocha, Nova School of Business and Economics
Pierre Bachas, The World Bank
Rafael Bressan, Receita Federal
10:35 am
Break
10:50 am

Tax Policy and Capital Maintenance

Jackson Mejia, University of Texas at Austin
11:25 am

Business and Tax Consequences of Marital Dissolution

Terry Moon, University of British Columbia
Linda A. Wu, University of Michigan
12:00 pm
Lunch
12:20 pm
Option to attend
Book Talk: The Everywhere Millionaire
Eric Zwick, The University of Chicago and NBER
1:00 pm

Cash Transfers and Productive Inclusion: Evidence from Bolsa Familia

Michael C. Best, Columbia University and NBER
Felipe Lobel, Stanford University
Valdemar Pinho Neto, Fundacao Getulio Vargas
1:35 pm

Entrepreneurship on a Safety Net: Evidence from the World's Largest Cash Transfer Program

Murillo Campello, University of Florida and NBER
Guilherme Junqueira, University of Florida
Spyridon Lagaras, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2:10 pm
Adjourn