Development Day 2026
University of Notre Dame, December 12 2026
The BIG Lab invites you to join us for Development Day 2026. This small conference hosts faculty and graduate students from seven schools across the Midwest in a showcase of the latest research in development economics. The conference seeks to develop community among a growing network of development economists in the Midwest, and to give graduate students a chance for face-to-face interaction with each other and with faculty across a range of schools.
REGISTER HERE
Saturday, December 12
Location: Hesburgh Center for International Studies C-103 for presentations, Hesburgh Center Great Hall for meals & breaks.
Note: There is also a Hesburgh Library on campus. That is not the same as the Hesburgh Center for International Studies. If the building you're headed toward has Touchdown Jesus on the outside you're in the wrong place.
Keep in mind that the University of Notre Dame is in the Eastern time zone.
8:30-9:00 Breakfast
9:00-10:00 University of Chicago
Jun Wong: Do Informal Markets Expand Electricity Access?
Emma Zhang: Do small businesses avoid the bank, or do loan officers not want to lend?
Zachary Kuloszewski: The Labor Market between Firms: Informal Labor Sharing in Urban Uganda
10:00-11:00 University of Notre Dame
Virna Vidal Menezes
Coleson Weir
11:00-11:30 Coffee
11:30-11:45 Lightning Talks
Xinyi Li
11:45-12:30 Northwestern University
Mansa Saxena
12:30-1:30 Lunch
1:30-2:30 University of Michigan
Aneesha Parvathaneni
Nathan Sunday
2:30-3:30 University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
Lovepreet Singh
Madison Levine
Hannah Kim
3:30-4:00 Coffee
4:00-5:00 University of Illinois, Chicago
So Yoon Ahn
5:00-6:00 Michigan State University
Prabhat Barnwal: Managers and Offices: Location-Based Determinants of Bureaucratic Effectiveness in India
Maitri Punjabi: Electricity Prices and the Demand for Cooling: Evidence from India
Parking
Campus parking can be found on this campus map. The visitor lots closest to the conference venue are Walsh, Compton, and Joyce. Parking is free on Saturdays when there are no major events.
More information can be found at the University's Guest & Visitor Parking webpage.
Dinner & Lodging
Bagged snacks will be available for those leaving immediately after the conference. Dinner at a restaurant will be organized for those who wish to stay, sponsored by Lakshmi Iyer.
Recommended hotels near campus (at your own expense):
Sponsorship
With many thanks, Development Day 2026 is generously supported by the Kellogg Institute.