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 in 2009 by Nicholas Barberis (Yale), Ulrike Malmendier (UC Berkeley), and Ted O’Donoghue (Cornell), BEAM has been a flagship conference in behavioral economics and rotates annually between Yale, Cornell, and Berkeley. BEAM has played a critical role in shaping the field by fostering academic research and influencing policymakers. Now in its 16th year, the conference continues to bring together leading researchers.
During the 2017 BEAM, which was held at UC Berkeley, participants celebrated the university’s role as the birthplace of teaching behavioral economics 30 years earlier (1987), when George Akerlof and Daniel Kahneman launched the first PhD class in the field. At the same conference, Bob O’Donnell participated and became more deeply engaged with the research.
UC Berkeley has emerged as a leader and hub for behavioral economics research and teaching, as well as the home of the O’Donnell Center.
