Submit Your Paper

DevPEC 2026 Conference: April 9th-10th, 2026 at Stanford University

DevPEC 2026 Submission Deadline: February 15th, 2026 at 11:59pm PST

Link to Application

Application

We invite submissions from PhD students in economics and political science on research topics related to the political economy of development. Applied research has historically been the focus of DevPEC, though we invite theoretical work as well as papers that have both theoretical and empirical contributions. PhD students from social science fields outside of economics and political science who conduct related research are also welcome. 

To be considered for inclusion in the conference, please submit a working paper, which must be single-authored or co-authored with other students, by February 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM PST. Due to a historically high volume of submissions, late submissions will not be accepted. 

We have a strong preference for papers that are either single-authored or co-authored with other PhD students only. Papers co-authored with faculty will be considered, provided that it is evident that the primary author is a PhD student. Furthermore, preference will be given to PhD students who are currently not on the job market (i.e., the 2025–26 cycle, though historically a few job market papers have previously been accepted), in order to maximize opportunities for giving students feedback on papers before they go on the market. 

The selection committee will consist of a panel of Berkeley and Stanford junior faculty and PhD students. A decision will be made by early March. If accepted, you will have approximately one week to confirm your participation. If selected to present, you will be asked to be a discussant for one of the other selected papers and should expect to attend the full event. DevPEC is a two-day event featuring 8-10 presentations. Each presentation will be allocated a total of 35 minutes, followed by a 10-minute discussion led by another student. This year's edition will be held from April 9-10, 2026 at Stanford. 

The application can be found at the following link. (Please note that you must sign into a Google account to access the portal.)

DevPEC has some limited funding available to partially support travel and accommodation expenses for presenters who require the funds in order to present. We are unable to support all presenters, but please note if support is absolutely necessary when you apply.