Call for Papers: A CRIW/NBER Conference
Call for Papers The Changing Nature of Work A CRIW/NBER Conference Washington, DC — March 6-7, 2025 Advances in technology and the adoption of new business models by firms are changing where and how workers perform their tasks, as well as the nature of the arrangements between workers and firms. The COVID-19 pandemic appears to […]
Call for Papers
The Changing Nature of Work
A CRIW/NBER Conference
Washington, DC — March 6-7, 2025
Advances in technology and the adoption of new business models by firms are changing where and how workers perform their tasks, as well as the nature of the arrangements between workers and firms. The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have accelerated some of these changes. In recent years, there has been growing interest in understanding the implications of digital platform work, contracting out and other forms of intermediated work, and independent contractor and informal nonemployee arrangements. At the same time, the emergence of algorithmic management, the introduction of AI into the workplace, and the rapid increase in remote work potentially affect those in both standard and nonstandard employment arrangements. Such changes also may affect the choices firms and workers make regarding work arrangements. For instance, new technologies and the growing prevalence of remote work may make contract arrangements more appealing to some firms. Data gaps and measurement challenges, however, impede our understanding of the magnitude of these phenomena
and their implications for workers, firms, and the macroeconomy.
To advance research on these issues and the public policy questions that they raise, and to advance the production of meaningful, innovative, and timely statistics that capture the changing nature of work, the Conference on Research on Income and Wealth (CRIW) and National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) will convene a meeting on March 6 and 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. The conference will be organized by Susan Houseman (Upjohn Institute), Anne Polivka (US Bureau of Labor Statistics) and Aysegül Sahin (University of Texas, Austin and NBER).
The conference organizers welcome research papers, or proposals for papers that could be completed by March 2025, that bear on any aspect of the changing nature of work arrangements and the methods and modes of work, including the use of AI, algorithmic management, and remote work. Papers may explore the implications of work arrangements and modes of work for workers and firms, as well as their effects on the aggregate economy. Particular consideration will be given to papers addressing measurement challenges caused by the changing nature of work.
The conference will provide economists, statisticians and scholars of changing labor markets from government, academia, businesses, and non-profit organizations a venue in which to discuss and explore the opportunities and challenges posed by the changing nature of work. Authors selected to present papers will be invited to a pre-conference to be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 17, 2024. Each paper presented at the research conference in March 2025 will receive input from an assigned discussant. The NBER will cover economy class travel and hotel expenses for one author per paper for both the pre-conference and the conference. The organizers encourage submissions from scholars who are early in their careers, who are not NBER affiliates, and who are from groups that are under-represented in the economics profession.
Extended abstracts or papers should be uploaded by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 25, 2024, here:
http://conference.nber.org/confsubmit/backend/cfp?id=CRIWs25
If extended abstracts are submitted, they should explain clearly what the project will study and what data will be used. Papers that have already been accepted for publication are not eligible for consideration.
Decisions about the conference program will be made by late April 2024. Final versions of papers will be due approximately one month prior to the conference date. The papers from the conference will become part of an NBER/CRIW Conference volume to be published by the University of Chicago Press. All papers will be subject to review by the editors and referees from the NBER and the University of Chicago Press.
Please share this call with others who might be interested in submitting a paper. Questions about the conference may be addressed to: confer@nber.org.