Financial Institutions and Economic Growth (FIEG) Workshop

This two-day workshop brings together economists, historians, and business scholars to examine how financial intermediaries have shaped and been shaped by American economic growth over the last two centuries. The workshop investigates whether and how financial institutions including banks, insurance companies, investment trusts, pension funds, money market funds, and other intermediaries have enabled or disrupted economic growth over the past 200 years in the United States and the Americas. Papers may examine various mechanisms such as capital allocation, credit constraints, asset price volatility and real investment decisions, financial crises, and the financing of innovation. We welcome research on both banking and nonbanking institutions, though we particularly encourage submissions on the latter. Papers should explore either long-run trends in American financial architecture or critical periods of institutional change.

We seek submissions at the work-in-progress stage: substantial drafts with developed arguments and meaningful evidence, but still in a form where workshop discussion can substantively shape the final version. The workshop operates in the Cliometric tradition: all participants read papers in advance, and each session is devoted primarily to rigorous discussion rather than presentation.

The workshop will run from Friday morning through Saturday. Approximately eight papers will be selected for presentation. Selected authors will be notified of acceptance by the end of November and asked to submit a complete draft two weeks prior to the workshop. Each session will devote roughly 50 minutes to a paper, with the presenter giving a brief five-minute opening statement and the remainder devoted to questions and discussion among all participants. Attendance of the full workshop is required, and all participants must read all papers in advance. The conference will provide support for two nights of lodging for those selected to present.

Submission deadline: November 10th, 2026