About the Becker Friedman Institute
The Gary Becker Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics was established in June 2011, joining the strengths of the three-year-old Friedman Institute and the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory.
The Institute is an intellectual destination for the world’s best economists and scholars in related fields. It builds bridges across disciplines and subfields in economics, fostering conversations and collaborations that sharpen research and spark new ideas.
A collaboration of the University of Chicago Department of Economics, the Booth School of Business, and the Law School, the Institute provides multilayered support for the research activities of faculty and students. Its activities enhance the vibrant research environment that characterizes economics at the University of Chicago.
The Institute is named for two UChicago Nobel laureates in Economic Sciences, University Professor Gary S. Becker and his mentor, the late Milton Friedman—two iconoclasts who became icons in the field. While they pursued very different paths, Becker and Friedman shared a fundamental belief that economics, grounded in rigorous, empirical research, is a powerful tool to understand the world and address serious problems.
Joining the work of the Becker Center with the Friedman Institute allows these two successful centers to leverage complementary activities and forge powerful linkages between microeconomics and macroeconomics as well as other areas.
Building on UChicago’s long tradition of world-changing ideas in economics, the Institute supports a range of activities to generate and share new perspectives. These include topical research conferences, a robust Visiting Fellows program, and a Research Scholars program that attracts both promising new postgraduates and accomplished senior scholars. The Institute also works to cultivate the next generation of economists through events and research experiences for graduate and undergraduate students.
The Institute also supports a range of more durable but flexible initiatives on dedicated topics or research approaches. These currently include inquiry on price theory, law and economics, systemic risks in the global economy, long-term fiscal imbalance, economics and the family, and investment in human capital and other topics.
Through all these activities, the Becker Friedman Institute creates an environment of exploration and discovery that will stimulate innovative, cutting-edge economic research, enhancing Chicago’s position as a preeminent center for research in economics.
