On July 5 and 6, IZA celebrated its 25th anniversary with a research conference and policy panel featuring Hubertus Heil (German Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs), Monika Schnitzer (Chair of the German Council of Economic Experts), Uta Schönberg (University College London) and Jason Furman (Harvard Kennedy School), moderated by Christian Odendahl (The Economist). The panelists discussed such issues as the consequences of past labor market reforms and the future of the welfare state in Germany, the need for a comprehensive strategy to alleviate the labor market impact of demographic change, as well as the ramifications of digitalization and AI for occupational profiles and skills demand.
Opened by IZA Director Simon Jäger, the research conference (see full program) comprised presentations by 15 scholars and a poster session covering the full range of modern labor economics research. Keynote speeches were given by Aysegül Sahin (University of Texas at Austin) on new insights into the dual U.S. labor market, and by Patrick Kline (University of California, Berkeley) on an innovative grading scheme for hiring discrimination.
(pictured left to right: Simon Jäger, Aysegül Sahin, Patrick Kline)
For more impressions of this fantastic event, see also a photo gallery with all speakers and lively informal discussions among participants during the breaks, as well as a video recording of the policy panel (mostly in German):
As a prelude to the anniversary celebration, the annual IZA Summer School in Labor Economics took place on the outskirts of Berlin, giving about 25 participants from around the world the opportunity to take part in lectures, student presentations and discussions on current issues in labor economics:
All in all, this memorable week offered a glimpse of future cutting-edge labor market research and evidence-based policy advice to come from IZA in the next 25 years.