Behavioral Economics Design Initiative launches with inaugural BEDI conference, September 24 and 25.
The department’s Behavioral Economics Design Initiative (BEDI) launched with its inaugural conference on September 24 and 25. It brought together scholars from all over the world, and counted many of Pitt's faculty and PhD students among its over 60 participants.
The conference centered on research on BEDI's five focus areas--women's advancement, charitable giving, health economics, labor markets, and market design—and represented a tangible culmination of BEDI's past and present work.
“BEDI is currently working with organizations to equalize the opportunities given to male and female employees,” Lise Vesterlund, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Economics and BEDI Director, told the university in September. “This is done through institutional changes in how work is allocated and rewarded, and through efforts to develop less biased performance evaluations. Common to many of BEDI’s institutional designs is that they come at limited costs to stake holders and yet reap substantial benefits.”
Attendees gathered on Friday evening at the historic Frick Fine Arts Cloisters for an opening reception, where they were welcomed by BEDI Director Vesterlund, BEDI Associate Director David Danz, and BEDI PhD students Marissa Lepper and Garrett Kohno.
The conference began in earnest on Saturday, September 24, with a welcome by Vesterlund and opening remarks by Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Ann E. Cudd, who earned a Master's degree in Economics from our department. “I hope that this weekend for all of you is fruitful and leads to great ideas, great collaborations," Cudd told attendees. “We're thrilled to host it here.”
BEDI faculty members provided introductions for each of the four focus areas discussed on Saturday: Lise Vesterlund on Gender, Stephanie Wang on Health, David Huffman on Labor Markets, and Alistair Wilson on Market Design. Charitable Giving and a "Grand Finale" comprised Sunday's programming. Registrants capped off Saturday evening with a dinner at Churchview Farm, a sustainable farmette just south of the city. The full 2022 program, with information on the nearly 30 presentations, is available on the BEDI Conference website.
Several PhD students whose research interests intersect with behavioral economics participated as well, and noted the impact of BEDI and the benefits of this inaugural conference.
"I think the BEDI conference was a wonderful way to get visibility for our brag-worthy research group at Pitt as well as the diversity of research fields that we have within our group," writes Neeraja Gupta, who is on the job market this year. "At a personal level, I benefitted a lot from networking opportunities provided by the social events at the conference wherein I was able to introduce myself to professors from other universities and talk about my research. I also appreciated the plenary design of the conference and liked the discussions during and after the talks which in turn have motivated me to think of new puzzles."
"I am grateful for the opportunity to attend the BEDI conference and learn about the cutting-edge research going on in the field of behavioral economics," writes Daniel Banko-Ferran, a fourth-year PhD student. "Not only were the presentations insightful and thought-provoking, the conversations outside of the seminars were inspiring, informative, and fun. I came away from the discussions with new ideas for my own research. It is such a privilege that Pittsburgh attracts and is home to so many researchers working on these topics who share ideas across departments, and BEDI exemplifies this collaborative spirit well."
Plans are underway for a 2023 conference next fall, with more details to be shared next year.