Stanford King Center on Global Development hosts 2026 BREAD Conference on Development Economics
In May, more than 100 leading economists and emerging scholars from around the world gathered for the 2026 BREAD Conference on Development Economics, hosted by the Stanford King Center on Global Development.
The Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) annual conference created opportunities for exchange across career stages and research areas through paper presentations and informal networking sessions. A dedicated junior scholars session showcased early-stage research, highlighting the next generation of leaders in the field.
“The quality and breadth of research presented at this year's conference was exceptional,” says King Center Faculty Director Katherine Casey. “From climate change and migration to artificial intelligence and gender equity, the discussions reflected both the urgency of today's development challenges and the creativity with which researchers are tackling them.”
The conference also featured a panel discussion on the future of development research in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), featuring economists Susan Athey (Stanford University, Graduate School of Business) and Joshua Blumenstock (UC Berkeley, School of Information and the Goldman School of Public Policy) and moderated by Allan Hsiao (Stanford University, Department of Economics). The conversation explored how advances in AI may transform both research methods and policy solutions in low- and middle-income countries. In particular, the panel highlighted a fundamental tension in development research: the need for rigorous evidence when both AI capabilities and implementation contexts are evolving faster than traditional study timelines. Rather than focusing solely on evaluating specific AI tools in specific outcomes, both panelists advocated for research that examines the mechanisms, constraints, and distributional effects that will remain relevant across successive generations of technology.
The King Center extended the conference dialogue through a podcast episode recorded on-site, in which Asha Sundaram (Northeastern University, Department of Economics) spoke with Erica Field (Duke University, Department of Economics) and Alessandra Voena (Stanford University, Department of Economics) about the relationship between deeply entrenched gender norms and global economies. They discussed the sticky nature of informal societal rules, the double-edged sword of technology and remote work in shifting household dynamics, and how gender transitioned from a niche topic into a mainstream pillar of modern economic research.
The conference underscored the Stanford King Center’s commitment to fostering collaborations and advancing rigorous research that improves lives. Imran Rasul, co-President of BREAD, says, “The King Center provided an outstanding forum for connecting economists from institutions all over the world. Conferences like this help accelerate the research that ultimately informs better policies and expands opportunity for people globally.”
