SI 2026 Political Economy
Organized by Stelios Michalopoulos, Vincent Pons, Enrico Spolaore, and Stefanie Stantcheva
July 21-22, 2026
Royal Sonesta Hotel, 40 Edwin H. Land Blvd., Cambridge, MA and Zoom.us
Room: Parkview
Format: 25 minutes for authors, 15 minutes for discussants, remaining 20 minutes will be left for authors to respond to discussants and Q&A
Tuesday, July 21
8:30 am
Coffee and Pastries
9:00 am

Legislation, Regulation and Litigation: Demand for U.S. Legal Services in Historical Perspective

Ariell Reshef, Université Paris 1 - Panthéon Sorbonne
Cailin R. Slattery, University of California, Berkeley

Discussant:
Peter Q. Blair, Harvard University and NBER
10:00 am
Break
10:15 am

How Do Reforms Happen

Simeon Djankov, London School of Economics
Edward L. Glaeser, Harvard University and NBER
Andrei Shleifer, Harvard University and NBER

Discussant:
Elias Papaioannou, London Business School
11:15 am
Break
11:30 am

Leviathan Denied

John Joseph Wallis, University of Maryland, College Park and NBER

Discussant:
Martin Fiszbein, Boston University and NBER
12:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm

The Business of the Culture War

Aakaash Rao, Harvard University
Shakked Noy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Discussant:
Diego Ramos-Toro, Dartmouth College
2:30 pm
Break
2:45 pm

GenAI Misinformation, Trust, and News Consumption: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Filipe R. Campante, Johns Hopkins University and NBER
Ruben Durante, National University of Singapore
Felix Hagemeister, SZDM
Ananya Sen, Carnegie Mellon University

Discussant:
Jennifer Allen, New York University
3:45 pm
Break
4:00 pm

A Dynamic Model of Political Narratives and the Rise of Neoliberalism

Timothy J. Besley, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Adam Brzezinski, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Discussant:
Federica Izzo, Vanderbilt University
5:00 pm
Adjourn
Wednesday, July 22
8:30 am
Coffee and Pastries
9:00 am

The Geopolitics of Industrial Policy: Evidence from Export Credits

Adrien Matray, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Karsten Müller, National University of Singapore
Chenzi Xu, University of California, Berkeley and NBER
Zekai Shen, Bocconi University

Discussant:
Jeffry Frieden, Columbia University
10:00 am
Break
10:15 am

Immigration and the Political Behavior of Naturalized and Hispanic Americans

Vasiliki Fouka, Stanford University and NBER
Marco Tabellini, Harvard University and NBER
Ernesto Tiburcio, University of California, Berkeley

Discussant:
Jacob R. Brown, Boston University
11:15 am
Break
11:30 am

Securing European Borders? Enforcement, Politics and Externalization

Francesco Fasani, University of Milan
Tommaso Frattini

Discussant:
Cecilia Testa, University of Nottingham
12:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm

Religious Messaging and Adaptation to Water Scarcity: Evidence from Jordan

Giulia Buccione, Brown University

Discussant:
Matt Lowe, University of British Columbia
2:30 pm
Break
2:45 pm

How Market Access Shapes Wellbeing and Values: Experimental Evidence from the D.R. Congo

Marina Ngoma, The World Bank
Clara Sievert, CERGE-EI
Xavier Jaravel, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Nathan Nunn, University of British Columbia and NBER
Jonathan L. Weigel, University of California, Berkeley and NBER

Discussant:
Devesh Rustagi, University of Warwick
3:45 pm
Break
4:00 pm

Pay-to-play: Political Contributions and Long-term Distortions in Public Procurement

Saad Gulzar, University of Notre Dame
Juan Felipe Riano, Georgetown University
Juan Felipe Ladino, Stockholm University

Discussant:
Carlos Fernando Avenancio-León, University of California, San Diego and NBER
5:00 pm
Adjourn