SI 2026 Development of the American Economy
Organized by Leah Platt Boustan, William J. Collins, Shari Eli, James J. Feigenbaum, and Eric Hilt
Supported by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
July 13-16, 2026
Royal Sonesta Hotel, 40 Edwin H. Land Blvd., Cambridge, MA
Room: Skyline ABC
Format: Authors will be given the full 50 minutes of each session, with questions during the presentation.
Monday, July 13
8:30 am
Coffee and Pastries
8:50 am
Welcome
9:00 am

Colleges, Assortative Mating, and Intergenerational Mobility in the United States

Ran Abramitzky, Stanford University and NBER
Santiago Pérez, University of California, Davis and NBER
Joseph Price, Brigham Young University and NBER
9:50 am
Break
10:00 am

Learning by Mail: The Impact of Correspondence Schools in Early 20th Century America

Daniela Vidart, University of Connecticut and NBER
10:50 am
Break
11:00 am

Southern Academies: The Proliferation of All-White Private Schools after Brown and Their Legacy for Students

Danielle C. Graves Williamson, Stanford University
Jennifer R. Withrow, The College of New Jersey
11:50 am
Lunch
Egg Timer Presentations:
1:00 pm

Immigration Restrictions and Natives' Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence from the 1920s US Quota Acts

James J. Feigenbaum, Boston University and NBER
Yi-Ju Hung, National Chung Cheng University
Marco Tabellini, Harvard University and NBER
Monia Tomasella, Stanford University
1:10 pm

For Richer or Poorer? Marriages of the Extremely Wealthy in American History (slides)

Gregory Niemesh, Miami University and NBER
Zachary Ward, Baylor University and NBER
1:20 pm

Migration, Diffusion of Ideas and the Rise of the American Labor Movement: Evidence from the American Civil War (slides)

Pablo Zarate, University of Mannheim
1:30 pm

Where Marriage Ends: The Geography of Divorce in America

Hui Ren Tan, National University of Singapore
1:40 pm
Break
2:00 pm

Finance and the Slave Trade (slides)

Abe De Jong, University of Groningen
Tim Kooijmans, National Taiwan University
Peter Koudijs, New York University
2:50 pm
Break
3:00 pm

Political Appointments, Careers, and Performance in the Public Sector: Evidence from U.S. Federal Judges

Carlo Medici, University of California, Los Angeles
Massimo Pulejo, University of Milan
3:50 pm
Adjourn
Tuesday, July 14
8:30 am
Coffee and Pastries
9:00 am

The Making of a National Mortgage Market

Victoria Angelova, Harvard University
Leonardo D'Amico, The University of Chicago
9:50 am
Break
10:00 am

Regulation in Crisis: Bank Failures and Entry Barriers

Sarah Quincy, Vanderbilt University and NBER
Chenzi Xu, University of California, Berkeley and NBER
10:50 am
Break
11:00 am

Monetary Policy Shocks and Financial Stability: Evidence from the Great Depression (slides)

Matthew S. Jaremski, Utah State University and NBER
Kris James Mitchener, Santa Clara University and NBER
Gary Richardson, University of California, Irvine and NBER
Angela Vossmeyer, Claremont McKenna College and NBER
11:50 am
Lunch
Egg Timer Presentations
1:10 pm

The Beginning of American Agricultural Grants: The AAA and Cotton Agriculture During the Great Depression

Price V. Fishback, University of Arizona and NBER
Paul Rhode, University of Michigan and NBER
Shawn Kantor, Florida State University and NBER
Keith A. Meyers, U.S. Department of Transportation
Briggs Depew, University of Arizona
Todd Sorensen, University of California, Riverside
1:20 pm

Displacement and Infrastructure Provision: Evidence from the Interstate Highway System (slides)

Pablo A. Valenzuela-Casasempere, Yale University
1:30 pm

The Success of the Embedded State in England (slides)

Leander Heldring, Northwestern University and NBER
Davis Kedrosky, Northwestern University
James A. Robinson, The University of Chicago and NBER
Matthias Weigand, Harvard University
1:40 pm
Break
2:00 pm

Tariffs and State Capacity: A Specific Story (slides)

Erik Madsen, New York University
Martin Rotemberg, New York University
Sharon Traiberman, New York University and NBER
Shizhuo Wang, New York University
2:50 pm
Break
3:00 pm

Railroads and the Silver Shoes of Populism: The Rise and Fall of the People's Party in 19th-Century America

Massimo Anelli, Bocconi University
Massimo Morelli, Bocconi University
Marvin Pappalettera, University of Zurich
3:50 pm
Adjourn
Wednesday, July 15
8:30 am
Coffee and Pastries
9:00 am

Factories of Ideas? Big Business and the Golden Age of American Innovation (slides)

Pier Paolo Creanza, Swarthmore College
9:50 am
Break
10:10 am

Network Competition and Exclusive Contracts: Evidence from News Agencies

Quan Le, Harvard University
11:00 am
Break
Egg Timer Presentations
11:20 am

The Effects of Coerced Sterilization: Evidence from Native American Women

Arcangelo Dimico, Queen's University Belfast
Gaia Narciso, Trinity College Dublin
11:30 am

Contagious Cargo: Health Externalities from Livestock Trade during Early Globalization

Grant Goehring, University of California, Merced
11:40 am

Caminante, Si Hay Camino: Networks in the First Transatlantic Migration, 1492-1540

Leticia Arroyo Abad, City University of New York
José-Antonio Espín-Sánchez, Yale University
Yannay Spitzer, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Ariell Zimran, Vanderbilt University and NBER
11:50 am

The Industrial Revolution and Forced Labor in Colonial Africa

Julian Marenz, London Business School
Stelios Michalopoulos, Brown University and NBER
Elias Papaioannou, London Business School
12:00 pm
Lunch
Egg Timer Presentations
1:00 pm

World War II and the 20th-Century Transformation of Biomedicine

Daniel P. Gross, Duke University and NBER
Bhaven N. Sampat, Johns Hopkins University and NBER
1:10 pm

Separation of Powers or Division of Labor? Patent Interference Disputes, the Grand Narrative, and the History of the Administrative State, 1790-1940

Rebecca Eisenberg, University of Michigan
Naomi R. Lamoreaux, Yale University and NBER
1:20 pm

Innovation Nation: The Impact of Broadening Access to Doctoral Education on Ph.D. and Patenting Outcomes

Francisca M. Antman, University of Colorado Boulder
Kirk B. Doran, University of Notre Dame
Xuechao Qian, Ball State University
Bruce A. Weinberg, The Ohio State University and NBER
1:30 pm
Break
1:40 pm

Public Data Infrastructure and Agricultural Development: Historical Evidence from Soil Mapping

Yiyu Xing, University of California, Los Angeles
2:30 pm
Break
2:40 pm

Investing in Angels: The Impacts of Lottery Grants to State Clergy (slides)

Benjamin Milner, University of Alberta
Matt Lowe, University of British Columbia
Cory B. Smith, University of Maryland, College Park and NBER
3:30 pm
Adjourn
Thursday, July 16
8:30 am
Coffee and Pastries
9:00 am

Moral Regulation and Cultural Production: Evidence from Hollywood

Ruixue Jia, University of California, San Diego and NBER
David Strömberg, Stockholm University
9:50 am
Break
10:00 am

A Nation of Emigrants: Transatlantic Emigration and Italian National Identity

Davide M. Coluccia, University of Bristol
Giampaolo Lecce, University of Bergamo
Laura Ogliari, University of Bergamo
10:50 am
Break
11:00 am

Religious Competition and Public Service Provision

Ashrakat Elshehawy, University College London
Mohamed Saleh, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
11:50 am
Adjourn and Lunch