Labour and Finance Group Conference 2025

ESMT Berlin and Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) are pleased to announce the Fall 2025 Labor and Finance Group Conference, to be held on December 15 and 16, 2025 in Berlin and Halle. The conference is organized by Merih Sevilir and aims to bring together researchers focused on topics at the intersection of Finance and Labor Economics to present new research and exchange ideas.

Who

several speakers

Where

ESMT Berlin and Halle (Saale), IWH conference room

Call for papers

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:

Role of access to finance in determining employment, wages and other labour market outcomes
Financing of human capital investment and innovation
High growth entrepreneurship
Effects of AI on capital and labour markets
Labour and capital market regulation and their effect on firms and workers
Household financial decision‐making and its interaction with labour market outcomes
Role of education, training and immigration background on labour market outcomes

The conference will take place over two days:

Day 1: December 15, 2025, at ESMT Berlin. This day will feature presentations of regular papers on the broad topics of labor and finance.
Day 2: December 16, 2025, at the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH). This day will focus on early-stage papers, proposals, and ideas, with each paper receiving a discussion from a senior researcher in labor and finance.

We encourage participants to attend both days in Berlin and Halle. However, we understand that this may not be feasible for all participants.

Submission

Please submit working papers as well as early stage projects and proposals per the submission form by July 15, 2025.

Paper acceptances will be sent out by August 30, 2025. Submissions of original research papers are welcome from scholars at all levels of experience.

Submission form

Please contact rd@esmt.org for any questions.

Programme Committee

Shai Bernstein (Harvard Business School & IWH)
Oliver Binz (ESMT Berlin)
André Diegmann (IWH)
Ofer Eldar (University of California, Berkeley & IWH)
Isaac Hacamo (Indiana University)
Sabrina Jeworrek (IWH & Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg)
Kristoph Kleiner (Indiana University)
Javier Miranda (IWH & Friedrich Schiller University Jena)
Jan Nimczik (ESMT Berlin)
Paige Ouimet (University of North Carolina)
Merih Sevilir (IWH & ESMT Berlin)
Daniel Streitz (IWH & Friedrich Schiller University Jena)
Margarita Tsoutsoura (Washington University in St Louis & IWH)

Logistical details

The first day of the conference will be on December 15 at ESMT Berlin and end in with a dinner on the same day in Berlin.
The second day of the conference will be on December 16 at Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association and end in with a dinner on the same day in Halle (Saale).
Lunch, dinner, and refreshments will be provided on both days. Conference attendees will be responsible for their own flights and accommodation. We will send hotel recommendations, including possible discounted hotel rates. There is no registration fee.