Events

Davefest

University of California, Berkeley

Program Venue Transport Hotel Contact   Thanks to all who joined us in a celebration of David Card's tremendous contributions to both Economics and the lives of his students, coauthors, and colleagues! >> Watch the livestream of the Friday, June 3 Session  >> Watch the livestream of the Saturday, June 4 Session Here's a recent […]

Inequality in Life and Death: Policy and Prospect

Banatao Auditorium, UC Berkeley

Inequality has become a central focus of policy discussions, but inequality has multiple dimensions and correspondingly many potential policy interventions. This mini-conference will consider inequality from this broad perspective, with presentations by international experts on the Berkeley faculty and a keynote by Peter Orszag, Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Global Co-Head of Healthcare at Lazard, […]

Graduate Student Summit For Diversity in Economics

The David Brower Center 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA

Registration  The field of economics touches upon all aspects of life- from an individual's consumption choice to global trends spanning countries. And yet, the economists who constitute this social science are not representative of the very society they study.This lack of diversity in the economics profession, relative to a diverse society, points to inefficiencies in the […]

Labor in the Climate Transition: Charting the Roadmap for 2019 and Beyond

The David Brower Center 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA

 The UC Berkeley Labor Center is hosting a conference on September 12, 2018, at the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley, immediately prior to the start of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.Reason for conference:California and the world must take major steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect our climate – but […]

From Braceros to H2-As: Discussing the History, Present, and Future of Agricultural Guestworker Programs

National Steinbeck Center

In partnership with UC Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and the Center for Latino Policy Research, the National Steinbeck Center is proud to present “From Braceros to H-2A’s: Discussing the History, Present, and Future of Agricultural Guest Worker Programs in California” as part of our Ag Forum series. The program will take […]

Workshop: Employment Issues in Agriculture

This event is made possible by funding from the Berkeley Food Institute,the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, the UC Berkeley School of Law, the UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Department, the UC Berkeley Sociology Department, and the UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management.Please register to secure your spot. Register Program12:30 pm Registration1 pm Welcome1:15 pm Panel 1: WagesJulie […]

CWED: A Symposium to Celebrate a Decade of Important Minimum Wage Research

It has been ten years since the creation of the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics (CWED), housed in the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE). Since then, CWED has become well-known for its trailblazing academic and policy research on a number of important economic issues, including the effects of the Great Recession, […]

Breaking the Cycle: Improving Outcomes for California’s High Need, High Cost Population

The David Brower Center 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA

A slim slice of California’s citizens use the majority of government services.  At hospitals, jails, and homeless shelters across the state, we see familiar faces again and again.  Many of these people suffer from mental health, substance abuse, or persistent health conditions. Are we serving their needs effectively, efficiently, and equitably?Several cities and counties around […]

The 2006 Immigration Protests: A Decade Later

This mini-conference will evaluate the legacies of the 2006 marches and the current immigrant rights movement in the United States: its organization, its impact on public discourse, electoral politics and public opinion, and its ability to effectively frame the claims of non-citizens to further the goals of the immigrant rights movement. The participants will take […]

Spring 2017 Visitors Workshop

Each year, IRLE hosts visiting scholars and visiting student researchers who come to Berkeley from all over the world to work on projects related to labor and employment. At this workshop, visitors will present research at various stages and receive feedback from their peers and the wider community.Light refreshments will be provided. If you plan […]

Conference on the Causes of Wage Stagnation

On August 26, 2016 the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) at UC Berkeley and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth brought together a small group of the nation's leading labor economists to dig deep into the causes of stagnating wages. This conference, held in Berkeley, was the first part of a response […]

Reducing Inequality in a Sustainable World

Keynote Speaker: Sivan Kartha, Stockholm Environment InstituteCo-sponsored with the UC Berkeley Institute of Urban and Regional DevelopmentAs the global movement for sustainability is gaining steam, inequality continues growing rapidly. How can we slow inequality and poverty while increasing the sustainability of our living patterns and economies? This conference brings together economists, sociologists, ecologists, anthropologists, planners, […]

Are Fair Wages Common Sense: Exploring Corporate Living Wage Programs

Paul Rice, CEO of Fair Trade USA Roger McElrath, Associate Director of BSR Jeff Denby, Co-Founder and CCO of PACT Moderator: Robert Strand, CRB Executive Director Co-sponsored with the Center for Responsible BusinessH&M has implemented a plan with a stated goal to achieve a “fair living wage” for 850,000 textile works by 2018. IKEA recently […]

What Future for Jobs and Manufacturing

IRLE hosted an invitation-only conference that focused on the many aspects of manufacturing employment both within the United States and abroad. The event was co-sponsored by the Global Metropolitan Studies Center.Conference Summary (PDF)ProgramThe State of Manufacturing (video) Morning Session — Gerhard Bosch, Institut Arbeit und Qualifikation, Germany David Dornfeld, UC Berkeley Rob Scott, Economic Policy […]

New Deal or No Deal? The Age of Obama and the Lessons of the 1930’s

ProgramThe Present Crisis (listen) Financial Bloat— Neil Fligstein, Sociology, UC BerkeleyHousing Bubble & Bust— John Quigley, Economics & Public Policy, BerkeleyThe Woeful Economy— Doug Henwood, Left Business Observer, New YorkFinancialization & Reform— Rob Johnson, Senior Fellow and Director of the Global Finance project, Roosevelt Institute Learning from the New DealPutting a Nation Back to Work […]

New Labor Market Institutions and the Public Policy Response: A Symposium to Honor Lloyd Ulman

Political Economy and Labor Market InstitutionsChair: Barry Eichengreen, Economics Department, UC BerkeleyDiscussant: Peter RappoportSanford Jacoby, Anderson School of Management, UCLA, “Finance and Labor: Perspectives on Risk, Inequality, and Democracy” Frank Levy, Economics Department, MIT, “Institutions and Wages in Post-World War II America” David Soskice, Duke University and Oxford University, “American Exceptionalism and Comparative Political Economy” […]

60th Anniversary

The event attracted over 100 attendees, and it was held in the beautifully renovated IRLE Library Commons, which was dedicated in September 2006. IRLE Director Michael Reich was pleased with the turnout, but surprised, given the content of the day’s offerings. “California’s economy has grown dramatically since IRLE’s formation in 1945, he said. “Our industrial […]