St. Louis Fed-WashU Human Capital Conference

Registration is required to attend and has closed (Oct. 1, 2026; 5:00 PM CST).

Presenters: 
Titan Alon, University of California, San Diego
Damien Capelle, International Monetary Fund
Julieta Caunedo, Cornell University
Klaus Desmet, Southern Methodist University
Burhan Kuruscu, University of Toronto
Alexander Ludwig, European University Institute
Hannes Malmberg, University of Minnesota
Kjetil Storesletten, University of Minnesota

Thursday, October 8, 2026
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
River Room
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch (St. Louis Room)
1:30 – 2:15 p.m. Burhan Kuruscu, University of Toronto
“Book-Value Wealth Taxation, Capital Income Taxation, and Innovation,” with Fatih Guvenen, Gueorgui Kambourov, and Sergio Ocampo Diaz
2:15 – 2:30 p.m. BREAK
2:30 – 3:15 p.m. Damien Capelle, International Monetary Fund
“The Direction of University Research and Teaching,” with Titan Alon and Kazushige Matsuda
3:15 – 3:30 p.m. BREAK
3:30 – 4:15 p.m. Klaus Desmet, Southern Methodist University
“Human Capital Accumulation Across Space,” with Dávid Krisztián Nagy and Esteban Rossi-Hansberg
4:15 – 4:30 p.m. BREAK
4:30 – 5:15 p.m. Alexander Ludwig, European University Institute
“A Spatial Quantitative Model of Intergenerational Mobility in Developing Countries,” with Alex Monge and Nicholas Syrichas
5:15 – 6:45 p.m. Reception (St. Louis Room)
7:30 p.m. Dinner (by invitation only)

Friday, October 9, 2026
Washington University in St. Louis
Location Harry and Susan Seigle Hall, room 301
8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00 – 9:45 a.m. Julieta Caunedo, Cornell University
“Constructing Structural Change,” with Mayara Felix and Kristina Manusheva
9:45 – 10:00 a.m. BREAK
10:00 – 10:45 a.m. Hannes Malmberg, University of Minnesota
“Economic Development According to Chandler,” with Niklas Engbom, Tommaso Porzio, Federico Rossi, and Todd Schoellman
10:45 – 11:00 a.m. BREAK
11:00 – 11:45 a.m. Kjetil Storesletten, University of Minnesota
“China's Economic Slowdown: A Firm-Level Perspective,” with Loren Brandt, Ruochen Dai, Gueorgui Kambourov, Zhenjie Qian, and Luhang Wang
11:45 p.m. Lunch, Location Harry and Susan Seigle Hall, room 306