Past Conference Schedules
See the following schedules from past years' Mountain West Ecomomics History Conferences.
2025 Schedule (February 21-22)
Distinguished Chairs: Charles Calomiris (Columbia University), Ann Carlos (University of Colorado-Boulder) Karen Clay (Carnegie Mellon University), Price Fishback (University of Arizona), Carolyn Moehling (Rutgers University)
Friday– Feb. 21
| 2:00-2:15pm | Introduction and Welcome |
| 2:15-3:00pm | Randall Walsh (University of Pittsburgh), H. Spencer Banzhaf (North Carolina State University), William Mathews (University of Pittsburgh) – “Hell With the Lid Off: Racial Segregation and Environmental Equity in America's Most Polluted City” |
| 3:00-3:15pm | Break |
| 3:15-4:00pm | Cameron LaPoint (Yale University) and Gustavo Cortes (University of Florida) - “Housing Is the Financial Cycle: Evidence from 100 Years of Local Building Permits” |
| 4:00-4:15pm | Break |
| 4:15-5:00pm | Lorena Keller (University of Pennsylvania), Ricardo Pique (University of Pennsylvania) – “Trade Liberalization and Local Economic Activity: Evidence from the Savoy Great Free Zone” |
| 5:00-5:15pm | Break |
| 5:15-6:00pm | James Harrison (US Naval Academy), Saunok Chakrabarty (Purdue University), Mario Crucini (Purdue University) – “A Forensic Analysis of US Ad-Valorem and Legislated Tariff Rates, 1916-1933” |
| 6:15pm | Dinner |
Friday– Feb. 22
| 8:00-9:45am | Breakfast |
| 8:45-9:30am | Craig Palsson (Utah State University), Parker Sonnenberg (Florida State University) – “Incomplete Property Rights and Farm Size: Evidence from Haiti” |
| 9:30-9:45am | Break |
| 9:45-10:00pm | Haley Wilbert (University of Notre Dame) – “Intergenerational Mobility and Family Size: Evidence from the Census Tree” |
| 10:00-10:15pm | João Tampellini (Vanderbilt University) – “Labor Shocks, Market Adjustments, and Racial Inequality: World War I and the Origins of the Great Migration” |
| 10:15-10:30am | Jacob Van Leeuwen (Texas A&M University) – “The long run effects of anti-immigrant institutional discrimination: Evidence from Philadelphia” |
| 10:30-10:45am | Noah MacDonald (Emory University) – “The Effectiveness of Doxxing: Evidence from the Second Ku Klux Klan” |
| 10:45am-11:00am | Break |
| 11:00-11:15am | Jian Qi Tan (University of Pittsburgh) – “Resource Shocks and University Expansion in the United States” |
| 11:15m-11:30am | Levi Edwards (University of California, Irvine) – “Public Investment and the Benefits of Antebellum Canals” |
| 11:30-11:45am | Yujing Huang (University of California, Los Angeles) – “Religion and Conflict: Evidence from China, 1860–1911” |
| 11:45am-12:00pm | Jacob Greenspon (University of Oxford) – “Getting workers ‘on board’ with automation: Evidence from shipping container adoption” |
| 12:00-1:45pm | Lunch |
| 1:45-2:30pm | Taylor Jaworski (University of Colorado, Boulder), Carl Kitchens (Florida State University), Luke Rodgers (Florida State University) – “Human Capital Decisions in Resource Booms: Evidence for the Role of Dynamic Complementarities” |
| 2:30-2:45pm | Break |
| 2:45-3:30pm | Nicolas Ziebarth (University of Missouri), Price V. Fishback (University of Arizona), Chris Vickers (Auburn University), Yiyu Xing (University of California, Los Angeles) – “Beyond Clock: Labor Market Effects of Lifting Gender-Specific Hours Restrictions” |
| 3:30-4:00pm | Extended Break |
| 4:00-4:45pm | Daniela Vidart (University of Connecticut), Remy Levin (University of Connecticut) – “Lifetime Wage Experiences and the Decline of Male Labor Force Participation in the United States” |
| 4:45-5:00pm | Break |
| 5:00-5:45pm | Andreas Ferrara (University of Pittsburg), Madison Arnsbarger (Weber State University), Paige Montrose (University of Pittsburg) – “The U.S. Civil War’s Impact on Women’s Work and Political Participation” |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
2024 Schedule (February 23-24)
Friday– Feb. 23
| 2:15-2:30pm | Introduction and Welcome |
| 2:30-3:15pm | Steven Smith (Colorado School of Mines), Eric Alston (University of Colorado, Boulder), Bryan Leonard (Arizona State University), Joseph Price (BYU) – "Did Improving the Lot Improve the Lots of People? Evaluating the Economic Mobility from the Homestead Act" |
| 3:15-3:30pm | Break |
| 3:30-4:15pm | Martin Rotemberg (New York University), Richard Hornbeck (University of Chicago), Shanon Hsuan-Ming Hsu (University of Chicago), Anders Humlum (University of Chicago) – “Technological Stickiness: Switching and Entry in the Long Transition from Water to Steam Power” |
| 4:15-4:30pm | Break |
| 4:30-5:15pm | Chase Ross (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve), Ahyan Panjwani (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve), Sharon Ross (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve) – “Leaving Money on the Table” |
| 5:15-5:30pm | Break |
| 5:30-6:15pm | Omer Ali (University of Pittsburgh) – “The Impact of Federal Housing Policies on Racial Inequality: the case of the Federal Housing Administration” |
| 6:15pm | Dinner |
Saturday– Feb. 24
| 8:15-9:00am | Breakfast |
| 9:00-9:45am | Matthew Jaremski (Utah State University), Gillian Brunet (Smith College), Eric Hilt (Wellesley College) – “‘Invest!’: Liberty Bonds and Stock Ownership over the Twentieth Century” |
| 9:45-10:00am | Break |
| 10:00-10:15pm | Elena Ojeda (University of California, Berkeley) – “Left Behind: The Bracero Program and Mexican Women” |
| 10:15-10:30pm | Henry Downes (Notre Dame University) – “Did Organized Labor Induce Labor? Unionization and the American Baby Boom” |
| 10:30-10:45am | Neil Duzett (Texas A&M University), Sandra Black (Columbia University), Adriana Lleras-Muney (University of California, Los Angeles), Nolan Pope (University of Maryland), Joseph Price (BYU) – “Longevity and its Transmission Across Generations in the US” |
| 10:45am-11:00am | Break |
| 11:00-11:15am | Shanon Hsuan-Ming Hsu (University of Chicago) – “Coercive Growth: Forced Resettlement, Agglomeration, and Economic Development in Malaysia” |
| 11:15m-11:30am | Dongkyu Yang (University of Colorado, Boulder) – “Time to Accumulate In the South” |
| 11:30-11:45am | Paige Montrose (University of Pittsburgh) – “Without Deliberate Speed: The Effects of Southern Out-Migration on School Desegregation” |
| 11:45am-12:00pm | Adrian Haws (Cornell University), Cache Ellsworth (University of Wisconsin- Madison), Ian Fillmore (Washington University in St. Louis), Joseph Price (BYU) – “The Long-Run Effects of Parental Wealth Shocks on Children” |
| 12:00-1:45pm | Lunch |
| 1:45-2:30pm | Ahmed Rahman (Lehigh University), Darrell J. Glaser (United States Naval Academy), Alexander McQuoid (United States Naval Academy) – “Vir Ingeniosus Vel Vir Bellicosus: A Century of Personnel Profiles from the United States Navy” |
| 2:30-2:45pm | Break |
| 2:45-3:30pm | Patrick Testa (Tulane University), Jhacova Williams (American University) – “Political Foundations of Racial Violence in the Post-Reconstruction South” |
| 3:30-4:00pm | Extended Break |
| 4:00-4:45pm | A.R. Shariq Mohammed (Northeastern University), Mindy Marks (Northeastern University) – “Persistence in Season of Birth: A New Measure of Black Intergenerational Mobility” |
| 4:45-5:00pm | Break |
| 5:00-5:45pm | Kris Mitchener (Santa Clara University), Jean Lacroix (Universite Paris-Saclay), Kim Oosterlinck (Université libre de Bruxelles) – “Domino Secessions: Evidence from the U.S.” |
| 5:45pm | Travel to Dinner |
| 6:15pm | Dinner |
2023 Schedule (February 24-25)
Friday– Feb. 24
| 2:15-2:30pm | Introduction and Welcome |
| 2:30-3:15pm | Taylor Jaworski (University of Colorado – Boulder), Erik Kimbrough (Chapman University), Nicole Saito (Northwestern University) – “How Important Are Cultural Frictions for Internal Migration? Evidence from the Nineteenth Century United States” |
| 3:15-3:30pm | Break |
| 3:30-4:15pm | Peter Nencka (Miami University), Alison Doxey (University of Chicago), Ezra Karger (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago) – “The Democratization of Opportunity: The Effects of the U.S. High School Movement” |
| 4:15-4:30pm | Break |
| 4:30-5:15pm | Sarah Quincy (Vanderbilt University) and Chenzi Xu (Stanford University) – “Branch Banking and Local Shocks” |
| 5:15-5:30pm | Break |
| 5:30-6:15pm | Pawel Janas (Caltech) – “Lender of Last Resort and Local Economic Outcomes” |
| 6:15pm | Dinner |
Saturday – Feb. 25
| 8:15-9:00am | Breakfast |
| 9:00-9:45am | Jeremie Cohen-Setton (International Monetary Fund), Egor Gornostay (Peterson Institute for International Economics) – “The Macroeconomic Effects of Government Consumption Expenditures in G7 Countries: Evidence from Historical Data on Forecast Errors” |
| 9:45-10:00am | Break |
| 10:00-10:20pm | Vitaliia Yaremko (University of California – Berkeley) – “The Long-Term Consequences of Blacklisting: Evidence From the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33” |
| 10:20-10:40pm | Will Damron (Yale University) – “Gains from Factory Electrification: Evidence from North Carolina, 1905-1926” |
| 10:40-11:00am | Break |
| 11:00-11:20am | Will Cockriel (University of Chicago) – “Boots and Shoes: Long Run Impacts from Job Destruction” |
| 11:20-11:40am | Yangkeun Yun (University of California – Los Angeles) – “Firm Dynamics in Common-Pool Resources: Measuring Externalities in the American Whaling Industry” |
| 11:40-12:00pm | Sebastian Hager (University of Munich), Emilio Esguerra (University of Munich), Alexia Lochmann (Harvard University) – “Nations and Citizens: How Grievances Shape Identity” |
| 12:00-1:45pm | Lunch |
| 1:45-2:30pm | Haelim Anderson (FDIC) and Jin-Wook Chang (Federal Reserve Board) – “Labor Market Tightness during WWI and the Postwar Recession of 1920-1921” |
| 2:30-2:45pm | Break |
| 2:45-3:30pm | Aaron Phipps (United States Military Academy), Timothy Justicz (United States Military Academy), Joseph Price (BYU) – “More than Sheepskin: A Natural Experiment on College and Earnings” |
| 3:30-4:00pm | Extended Break |
| 4:00-4:45pm | Ethan Schmick (Marquette University), Daniel Jones (University of Pittsburgh) –“Reconstruction-Era Education and Long-Run Black-White Inequality” |
| 4:45-5:00pm | Break |
| 5:00-5:45pm | Hui Ren Tan (National University of Singapore) and Tianyi Wang (University of Toronto) – “McCarthyism, Media, and Political Repression: Evidence from the Hollywood Blacklist” |
| 5:45pm | Travel to Dinner |
| 6:15pm | Dinner |
2022 Schedule (February 25-26)
Friday – Feb. 25
| 2:30-2:45pm | Introduction and Welcome |
| 2:45-3:30pm | Kasey Buckles (University of Notre Dame), Joseph Price (BYU), and Zach Ward (Baylor University) – “Family Trees and Falling Apples: Intergenerational Mobility Estimates from U.S. Genealogy Data” |
| 3:30-3:45pm | Break |
| 3:45-4:30pm | Ezra Karger (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago) – “The Long-Run Effect of Public Libraries on Children: Evidence from the Early 1900s” |
| 4:30-4:45pm | Break |
| 4:45-5:30pm | Javier Mejia (Stanford University) – “Social Networks and Entrepreneurship. Evidence from a Historical Episode of Industrialization” |
| 5:30-5:45pm | Break |
| 5:45-6:05pm | Jon Denton-Schneider (University of Michigan) – “Colonial Institutions, Marriage Markets, and HIV: Evidence from Mozambique” |
| 6:05-6:25pm | Jacob Weber (University of California, Berkeley) and Matthew Suandi (University of California, Berkeley) – “Railroads of the Reich” |
| 6:25pm | Dinner |
Saturday – Feb. 26
| 8:30-9:15am | Breakfast |
| 9:15-10:00am | Chris Meissner (University of California, Davis) and Michael Bordo (Rutgers University) – “Original Sin and the Great Depression” |
| 10:00-10:15am | Break |
| 10:15-11:00am | Kris Mitchener (Santa Clara University) and Eric Monnet (Paris School of Economics) “Central Bank Profitability and Selective Lender of Last Resort Policies” |
| 11:00-11:15am | Break |
| 11:15-11:35am | Katherine Hauck (University of Arizona) – “An Empirical Estimation of a Structural Option Value Model of Homesteading” |
| 11:35-11:55am | Jennifer Kowalski (Stanford University), Ran Abramitzky (Stanford University), Santiago Pérez (University of California, Davis), and Joseph Price (BYU) – “Colleges and Upward Mobility in the US Over the Last Century” |
| 11:55-1:25pm | Lunch |
| 1:25-1:45pm | Jay Dhar (University of Arizona) – “The Diffusion of Automobiles and Motortrucks on American Farms in the 20th Century: The Impact of Last-Mile Road Access” |
| 1:45-2:00pm | Break |
| 2:00-2:45pm | Jonathan Rose (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago), Price Fishback (University of Arizona), Kenneth Snowden (University of North Carolina, Greensboro), and Thomas Storrs (University of Virginia) “New evidence on redlining by federal housing programs in the 1930s” |
| 2:45-3:00pm | Break |
| 3:00-3:45pm | Shariq Mohammed (Northeastern University) and Paul Mohnen (University of Pennsylvania) – “Black Economic Progress in the Jim Crow South: Evidence from Rosenwald Schools” |
| 3:45-4:00pm | Break |
| 4:00-4:45pm | Andreas Ferrara (University of Pittsburgh), Samuel Bazzi (UC San Diego), Martin Fiszbein (Boston University), Thomas Pearson (Boston University), and Patrick Testa (Tulane University) – “The Other Great Migration: White Southern Migrants and Right-wing Politics in the U.S.” |
| 4:45-5:00pm | Break |
| 5:00-5:45pm | Martha Bailey (University of California, Los Angeles) and Connor Cole (Office of Tax Administration) – “Reconciling the Evidence on Linking Errors in Historical Data” |
| 5:45pm | Travel to Dinner |
| 6:30pm | Dinner |
2020 Schedule (February 21-22)
Friday, February 21
| 2:30-2:45pm | Introduction and Welcome |
| 2:45-3:30pm | Charles Calomiris (Columbia University) and Elliot Oh (University of Maryland) - "Who Owned Citibank? Familiarity Bias and Business Network Influences on Stock Purchases, 1925-1929" |
| 3:30-3:45pm | Break |
| 3:45-4:30pm | Nicola Bianchi (Northwestern University) and Michela Giorcelli (University of California, Los Angeles) - "Not All Management Training Is Created Equal: Evidence from the Training Within Industry Program" |
| 4:30-4:45pm | Break |
| 4:45-5:30pm | Kirsten Wandschneider (Occidental College), Kris Mitchener (Santa Clara University), and Kevin O’Rourke (NYU Abu Dhabi) - "The Smoot-Hawley Trade War" |
| 5:30-5:45pm | Break |
| 5:45-6:05pm | Todd Messer (University of California, Berkeley) and Peter McCrory (University of California, Berkeley) - "Bank Networks, Credit Frictions, and Economic Growth: Evidence from U.S. Cross-State Banking Deregulation" |
| 6:05-6:25pm | Brian Marein (University of Colorado, Boulder) - "Economic Growth, Public Health, and the First Mortality Transition in the Tropics: Puerto Rico, 1923-1945" |
| 6:25pm | Dinner |
Saturday, February 22
| 8:30-9:15am | Breakfast |
| 9:15-10:00am | Eric Edwards (North Carolina State University), Martin Fiszbein (Boston University), and Gary Libecap (University of California, Santa Barbara) - "Property Rights, Colonial Origins, and Differences in Agricultural Production in North and South America" |
| 10:00-10:15am | Break |
| 10:15-11:00am | Craig Palsson (Utah State University) - "A Whirligig of Revolutionary Presidents: Political Stability and Foreign Investment" |
| 11:00-11:15am | Break |
| 11:15am-11:35pm | Tianyi Wang (University of Pittsburgh) - "Political Impact of Opinion Leaders: Evidence from Father Coughlin" |
| 11:35am-11:55pm | Laura Taylor (University of Arizona) - "American Indian Reservation Boundaries and Land Characteristics: A Spatial Analysis of Reservation Decline in the American West, 1880-1915" |
| 11:55-1:25pm | Lunch |
| 1:25-1:45pm | Mark Hup (University of California, Irvine) - "Corvée Labor and State Expansion in Colonial Indonesia" |
| 1:45-2:00pm | Break |
| 2:00-2:45pm | Maggie Jones (University of Victoria), Lisa Cook (Michigan State University), Trevon Logan (University of California, Santa Barbara), and David Rosé (Queens University) - "Competition and Discrimination in Public Accommodations: Evidence from the Green Books" |
| 2:45-3:00pm | Break |
| 3:00-3:45pm | Asaf Bernstein (University of Colorado, Boulder), Carola Frydman (Northwestern University), and Eric Hilt (Wellesley College) - "Asymmetric Information, Liquidity and Corporate Finance: Evidence from the Introduction of Credit Ratings" |
| 3:45-4:00pm | Break |
| 4:00-4:45pm | Stephan Luck (Federal Reserve Bank of New York), Kristian Blickle (Federal Reserve Bank of New York), and Markus Brunnermeier (Princeton University) - "Micro-evidence from a system-wide financial meltdown: The German Crisis of 1931" |
| 4:45-5:00pm | Break |
| 5:00-5:45pm | Eugene White (Rutgers University) and Ellis Tallman (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland) - "Why Was There No Banking Panic in 1920-1921? The Federal Reserve Banks and the Recession" |
| 5:45pm | Travel to Dinner |
| 6:30pm | Dinner |


2019 Schedule (February 22-23)
Friday, February 22
| 3:00-3:15pm | Introduction and Welcome |
| 3:15-4:00pm | Katherine Eriksson (University of California-Davis), Marcella Alsan (Stanford University), and Gregory Niemesh (Miami University) – “The Rise and Fall of the Know-Nothing Party” |
| 4:00-4:15pm | Break |
| 4:15-5:00pm | Joseph Price (Brigham Young University) and Kasey Buckles (University of Notre Dame) – “Long-run Effects of Prohibition on Child Outcomes: Evidence from County-level Variation” |
| 5:00-5:15pm | Break |
| 5:15-6:00pm | Matthew Curtis (University of California-Davis) – “The Quantity and Quality of Pre-Industrial Children: Evidence from Québécois Twins” |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
Saturday, February 23
| 8:30-9:15am | Breakfast |
| 9:15-10:00am | Dan Bogart (University of California-Irvine) and Latika Chaudhary (Naval Postgraduate School) – “Extractive Institutions? Investor Returns to Indian Railway Companies in the Age of High Imperialism” |
| 10:00-10:15am | Break |
| 10:15-11:00am | Angela Vossmeyer (Claremont McKenna College), Sanjiv Das (Claremont McKenna College), and Kris Mitchener (Santa Clara University) – “Systemic Risk and the Great Depression” |
| 11:00-11:15am | Break |
| 11:15am-12:00pm | Marc Weidenmier (Chapman University), Gustavo Cortes (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), and Bryan Taylor (Global Financial Data) – “Bank Stocks and the Great Depression” |
| 12:00-1:15pm | Lunch |
| 1:15-2:00pm | Bryan Leonard (Arizona State University) and Douglas W. Allen (Simon Fraser University) – “Property Rights and Path Dependence: 19th Century Land Policy and Modern Economic Outcomes” |
| 2:00-2:15pm | Break |
| 2:15-3:00pm | Steven Smith (Colorado School of Mines) and Eric Alston (University of Colorado-Boulder) – “Development Derailed: Railroad Land Grants and Irrigation in the Western United States” |
| 3:00-3:15pm | Break |
| 3:15-4:00pm | Zhixian Lin (University of California-Davis) – “Does Human Capital Spillover Persist? Evidence from the Forced Migration By China's Send-down Policy” |
| 4:00-4:15pm | Break |
| 4:15-5:00pm | Taylor Jaworski (University of Colorado-Boulder) and W. Walker Hanlon (NYU Stern School of Business) – “Spillover Effects of IP Protection in the Interwar Aircraft Industry” |
| 5:30pm | Dinner |


