Schumpeter@100: Firm Dynamics, Growth, and Heterogeneity
To mark 100 years since Joseph A. Schumpeter joined the University of Bonn (Wintersemester 1925/26), the Center for Advanced Studies: Finance and Inequality (CASFI) will host the conference „Schumpeter@100: Firm Dynamics, Growth, and Heterogeneity“, to be held February 19–20, 2026 at the University of Bonn.
The conference will bring together researchers from macroeconomics, finance, and economic history to discuss new insights into firm dynamics, growth, and inequality. The program will consist of two half-day sessions, providing ample opportunity for presentations and discussions.
Confirmed speakers include Marc J. Melitz (Harvard University) as keynote, along with scholars from around the world.
Date
Thursday, February 19, 2026
12 - 6 pm
Friday, February 20, 2026
8:45 am - 4 pm
Location
Universitätsclub Bonn e.V.
Konviktstraße 9
D-53113 Bonn
Agenda
Format: 25 minutes presentation, 10 minutes discussion including a non-presenting discussant.
Non-presenting discussants are Lukas Boehnert (University of Oxford), Alexander Donges (University of Mannheim), Seho Kim (Denmarks Nationalbank), Moritz May (University of Bonn), Chengzi Yi (European University Institute)
12:00 – 12:30
Welcome & Refreshments
12:30 – 12:45
Schumpeter in Bonn: An Introduction by Thomas Hintermaier (University of Bonn)
12:45 – 14:30
Session 1 - Chair: Christian Bayer
- Shihan Shen (Rice University): Search Frictions, Customer Acquisition, and Business Dynamism
- Jacob Weisdorf (Sapienza Università di Roma, CEPR): Tragedy of the Anticommon: Evidence from the Electrification of Switzerland
- Alessandro Ferrari (Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona School of Economics (BSE), CREI, CEPR), Igli Bajo (University of Zurich & SFI), Frederik H. Bennhoff (University of Zurich): Not-So-Cleansing Recessions
14:30 – 14:50
Coffee break
14:50 - 16:35
Session 2 - Chair: Sergio de Ferra
- Petr Sedláček (UNSW Sydney, CEPR): Bang for the Buck: Aggregate Impact of Firm-Level R&D Incentives
- Kaspar Zimmermann (Kiel Institute / University of Hamburg): Superstar Firms through the Generations
- Seula Kim (Pennsylvania State University), Jane Olmstead-Rumsey (London School of Economics and CEPR) and Honghao Wang (Northwestern University): Ideas and Firm Dynamics when It Takes Two to Tango
16:35 – 16:45
Short break
16:45 - 18:30
Session 3 - Chair: Carsten Burhop
- Tetsuji Okazaki (Meiji-Gakuin University), Daiji Kawaguchi (The University of Tokyo), Xhuanli Zhu (Keio University): Factory Automation, Labor Demand, and Market Dynamics
- Jonas Overhage (IIES, Stockholm University), Isabella Maassen (IIES, Stockholm University), Filip Mellgren (IIES, Stockholm University): Monopsony Power and Creative Destruction
- Elena Korchmina (University of Bologna), Marvin Suesse (Trinity College Dublin & CEPR): Minorities and Industrialisation: Evidence from the Russian Empire
19:30 - 21:30
Conference Dinner
8:45 – 10:30
Session 4 - Chair: Thomas Hintermaier
- Jochen Streb (University of Mannheim), Alexander Donges (University of Mannheim): Industrial Policy and Technological Change in Nazi Germany
- Harun Alp (Federal Reserve Board of Governors), Ufuk Akcigit (University of Chicago), Jeremy Pearce (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) and Marta Prato (Bocconi University): Transformative and Subsistence Entrepreneurs: Origins and Impacts on Economic Growth
- Lidia Smitkova (University of Oxford), Björn Brey (Norwegian School of Economics), Karolina Hutkova (London School of Economics): Export Subsidies as Industrial Policy: the Case of the 19th Century Sugar Industry
10:30 – 10:45
Coffee break
10:45 - 12:30
Session 5 - Chair: Federica Romei
- Basile Grassi (Bocconi University, CEPR): The EU Miracle: When 75 Million Reach High Income
- Alessandro Nuvolari (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Pisa, CEPR): Rethinking the British Industrial Revolution: an Innovation System perspective
- Florin Bilbiie (University of Cambridge, CEPR): A Product-Innovation New Keynesian Model with Heterogeneous Firms" (with Marc Melitz)
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch break
13:30 – 16:00
Session 6 - Chair: Christian Bayer
13:30 – 14:30
Keynote Lecture by Marc Melitz (Harvard University, CEPR): Industrial Policies for Multi-Stage Production
14:30 – 16:00
- Martin Kornejew (Bocconi University), Shohini Kundu (University of California, CEPR), Karsten Müller (National University of Singapore): Credit Cycles and Creditor Rights
- Assaf Abraham (University of Mannheim): One Hundred Years of Manufacturing: Long-run Consequences of the Indiana Gas Boom
16:00 – 16:10
Farewell
