Economics of Talent Conference

Discovering and nurturing individuals with high potential to excel is critical to science, innovation, and growth. The second NBER Economics of Talent Conference will be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts on November 7, 2025. The conference will be co-organized by Ruchir Agarwal, Glenn Ellison, Patrick Gaule, and Britta Glennon.

The conference will be concerned both the identification and development of talent and with the impact of talented individuals on the economy and innovation. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• The identification at an early stage of individuals with potential to excel.
• The effectiveness of interventions to nurture talent.
• How talented individuals contribute to science, innovation, and business.
• The migration of talented individuals and impacts of policies on migration.
• Participation, persistence and excellence in STEM competitions.
• Talent and human capital accumulation.
• The allocation of talent to different sectors of the economy.
• Barriers preventing talented individuals from realizing their potential.

The NBER especially welcomes submissions by scholars who are early in their careers and who are not NBER affiliates.

To be considered for inclusion on the program, upload papers or extended abstracts by 1:59pm (EDT) on August 31, 2025.

Please pass this call for papers on to colleagues who might be interested. Please do not submit papers that have been accepted for publication and that will be published by November 2025. Authors chosen to present papers will be notified in early October 2025. All co-authors will be invited to participate in the conference.

Questions about the submission process or conference planning may be addressed to confer@nber.org; questions about the subject matter of the meeting may be addressed to patrick.gaule@bristol.ac.uk.