For the 2027 Lois and Robert Resek Conference, the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will host a one-day workshop on April 2, 2027 focused on social protection and cash transfer programs in high- and low-income countries. Our goal is to bring together researchers working across these contexts and encourage discussion about similarities and differences in the questions asked, methodological approaches used, and results found in these different settings--with an eye toward informing future research and policy.
The following senior colleagues have confirmed attendance and will present research papers and join a panel discussion on how research in high- and low-income countries can better speak to one another:
Greg Duncan (UC, Irvine)
Rema Hanna (Harvard)
Dean Karlan (Northwestern)
Adriana Lleras-Muney (UCLA)
We are also hoping to have shorter research talks and lightning talks and invite you to submit a paper by November 1, 2026 if you are interested in presenting. Submissions should be emailed to Richard Akresh (akresh@illinois.edu) and Alex Bartik (abartik@illinois.edu).
Details about the conference including lodging and schedules will be provided in the fall.
Robert Resek (1935-2024), was a University of Illinois undergraduate, a longtime faculty member in the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University Vice President, and devoted Urbana-Champaign community member. He and his wife Lois generously endowed the semi-annual Lois and Robert Resek Conference.