The Behavioral Economics Annual Meeting (BEAM) was co-founded in 2009 by Nicholas Barberis from Yale University, Ulrike Malmendier from the University of California, Berkeley, and Ted O’Donoghue from Cornell University. Their goal was to create a conference venue for experts in the field of behavioral economics field, where all could all start with a common understanding and appreciation of the discipline and thus move quickly to presentations and discussions of frontier research in the field.
The Behavioral Economics Annual Meeting (BEAM) returns to UC Berkeley from May 27-30, 2025, with additional programming beyond the traditional 1.5 days added on for the 27th and 30th of May. Since its founding, BEAM has been a flagship conference in behavioral economics and rotates annually between Yale, Cornell, and Berkeley. The conference plays a critical role in shaping the field by fostering academic research and influencing policymakers. Now in its 16th year, BEAM continues to bring together leading researchers.
Agenda
A New Format: Four Days of BEAM
Thanks to the generous support of Bob and Sue O’Donnell, BEAM will, for the first time, expand from its traditional 1.5-day format to a four-day conference. The expanded agenda will include a dedicated session for students conducting research in behavioral economics who plan to enter the job market in 2025, a segment focused on close discussions between policymakers and researchers, and a day of exploring the most novel topics and innovative research approaches(i.e. Behavioral Economics Ideas Hub 3.0), allowing for deeper discussions and participation.
May 27 | Tuesday
Job Market Student Day – A platform for PhD students
| 2:00 PM | Workshopping Ph.D. Student Job Market Papers |
| 5:00 PM | Women at BEAM Happy Hour |
| 6:00 PM | General Welcome Reception |
May 28-29 | Wednesday - Thursday (AM)
BEAM Conference
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
| 8:30 – 9:00 AM | Breakfast Buffet On Site |
| 9:15 – 9:30 AM | Opening Remarks |
| 9:30 – 10:15 AM | Muriel Niederle: “Decomposing the Winner’s Curse” (joint with Lea Nagel and Emanuel Vespa) |
| 10:15 – 11:00 AM | Kirby Nielsen: “When Are Decisions Improvable? An Evaluation of Diagnostic Methods” joint with Douglas Bernheim, Aldo Lucia, and Charles Sprenger) |
| 11:00 – 11:30 AM | Break |
| 11:30 – 12:15 AM | Spencer Kwon: “Beliefs from Cues” (joint with John Conlon) |
| 12:15 – 2:00 PM | Lunch On Site |
| 2:00 – 2:45 PM | Egon Tripodi: “Talking across the Aisle” (joint with Luca Braghieri and Peter Schwardmann |
| 2:45 – 3:30 PM | Alex Imas: “In their Shoes: Empathy through Information” (joint with Marianne Andries, Leonardo Bursztyn, Thomas Chaney, and Milena Djourelova) |
| 3:30 – 4:00 PM | Break |
| 4:00 – 4:45 PM | Ulrike Malmendier: “Information Resonance” (joint with Ryan Oprea and Laura Veldkamp) |
| 6:45 PM | Conference Dinner (Donkey & Goat Winery) |
Thursday, May 29, 2025
| 8:30 – 9:00 AM | Breakfast Buffet On Site |
| 9:00 – 9:45 AM | Charlie Rafkin: “Social Preferences and Bargaining Failure in Eviction” (joint with Evan Soltas) |
| 9:45 – 10:30 AM | Joshua Dean: “Demand for Urban Exploration: Evidence from Nairobi” (joint with Gabriel Kreindler and Oluchi Mbonu) |
| 10:30 – 11:00 AM | Break |
| 11:00 – 11:45 AM | Marina Agranov: “Complex for Whom? An Experimental Approach to Subjective Complexity” (joint with Andrew Schotter and Isabel Trevino) |
| 11:45 AM – 12:30 PM | Ned Augenblick: “Model Uncertainty and Overprecision: Theory and Evidence” (joint with Matthew Backus, Andrew Little, and Don Moore) |
| 12:30 – 2:00 PM | Lunch On Site (To-Go Option) |
May 29 | Thursday (PM)
Policymakers Day
A two-way conversation around specific economic policy issues where translational behavioral research can contribute to better solutions. Policymakers can benefit from learning about behavioral insights and their practical applications. Researchers will benefit from exposure to real-world problems that need behavioral solutions.
Policymaker Event
| 2:00 – 3:00 PM | Consumer Protection in the New Federal Landscape, featuring Neale Mahoney, Aviv Nevo, and Brian Shearer |
| 3:00 – 3:15 PM | Break |
| 3:15 – 4:15 PM | Reforming Social Security and Pension Systems in the Face of Consumer and Politician Bias, featuring Jörg Kukies, Ulrike Malmendier, Monika Schnitzer, and Martin Werding |
| 4:15 – 4:30 PM | Break |
| 4:30 – 5:30 PM | Working with Government, featuring Elizabeth Linos and Mattie Toma |
May 30 | Friday
Intensive Brainstorming Workshop
A session inspired by the O’Donnell Center’s Behavioral Economics 3.0 Ideas Hub for collaborative innovation on topics that push the boundaries of behavioral economics research and explore new, disruptive approaches.
Ideas Hub: Life History, Early Experiences, and Later Economic Outcomes: What Can Economists Learn from Evidence on Experience-Dependent Changes in Learning and Decision-Making?
| 9:00 | Breakfast |
| 9:20–9:30 | Opening remarks from Colin Camerer |
| 9:30–10:30 | Linda Wilbrecht (UC Berkeley) |
| 10:30–11:00 | Break |
| 11:00–12:00 | Willem Frankenhuis (Max Planck Institute/University of Amsterdam) |
| 12:00–12:30 | Break |
| 12:30–1:30 | Anna Aizer (Brown University) |
| 1:30–2:00 | Synthesis: Where do we go from here? |
Organized in collaboration with Colin Camerer
Funding for BEAM 2025 provided by the O’Donnell Center for Behavioral Economics
Some times/details may be subject to change