The purpose of the conference is to better understand the role played by the complex web of formal and informal institutions characterising Europe, its nations and regions in shaping policies and their implementation. It will also address the challenges faced by the EU, its Member States and the public when implementing the required reforms and developments to align institutional arrangements with the EU’s main policy objectives – namely, managing the green transition and the digital transformation, promoting sustainable and inclusive growth, guaranteeing social and territorial cohesion, and ensuring economic, social and institutional resilience.

The scientific committee will consider papers that contribute to the understanding of the socio-economic outcomes of alternative institutional arrangements or to institutional reform processes in the context of the EU and its policy priorities. It will consider rigorous analyses of alternative designs or processes of transformation that matter to EU policy making.

Submitted papers should establish clearly how their analytical framework or results apply to the understanding of how institutions affect the implementation of EU priorities; or how they inform the design of relevant institutional frameworks that contribute to the European project.

The Scientific Committee will welcome theoretical and empirical papers that explore these issues and their measurement, with equal emphasis on European, national, and subnational institutions, and their interactions. It will welcome contributions by academics involved in institutional analysis in a broad range of fields including political economy, economic history, law and economics, economic geography, innovation studies, sectoral policies and development economics. 

Beyond contributions that fit the above description, the Committee will favourably consider papers dealing with various additional topics, including:

 • Crises and institutional change (incl. institutions as the origin of crises)
 • Culture and institutions
 • Institutional complementarities and synergies 
 • Institutional emergence and evolution
 • Economic governance and institutional design
 • Institutional learning (incl. importing/exporting/experimenting designs)
 • Measuring and assessing institutions and their performance
 • Multilevel governance (global / EU / national / regional)
 • Trust, social capital, and economic, civic and political behaviours
 • Institutions, inequality, and cohesion
 

The conference should enable a lively exchange between researchers and policy makers. It will feature the presentation of a limited selection of papers to spur discussion. Additional papers will be displayed in the form of posters. Upon authors’ consent, final papers will be considered for publication, subject to further peer review, in a symposium published by the Journal of Comparative Economics. Please notice the European Commission does not retain the copyright to your work when submitted in reply to the call for papers.

The Conference’s Keynote Speech shall be delivered by Tim Besley (London School of Economics).
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Submit your paper and pre-register for the Conference

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CONTEXT OF THE CONFERENCE
The Annual Research Conference (ARC 2023) is a large forum bringing together academic research and analysis of European and global institutions. It aims to gather researchers and those who work on policy design at the European and national levels. The conference should serve as a forum connecting the Directorates-General of the European Commission and other EU institutions, and academic and professional researchers working on the topics of integration, institutions and development.

Being co-organised by academics and the European Commission, a key objective of the conference is to assess the state of knowledge of institutional and organisational economics on issues relevant for EU policymaking, both to extend the European Commission’s capability to implement policies, and to identify research programmes that should address knowledge gaps.

FORMAT
ARC 2023 will take place in Brussels on 13-15 November 2023. 

14 November is the main conference day, falling in the middle of two half-days of satellite events, including:

 • ‘Policy meets academia’, where people working in academia can discuss reform ideas in light of new academic research ;
 • ‘Research meets policymaking’ sessions, where policymakers and practitioners - including industry and citizen representatives – can discuss the feasibility and adequateness of research based recommendations;
 • ‘Brainstorming’ sessions involving conference speakers and European Commission staff.

IMPORTANT DATES
The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2023. Long abstracts are accepted but full papers are preferred. Unless otherwise mentioned with the submission, it is understood that the author submitting a paper is also the presenter and present at least throughout the conference.

Submitters should indicate whether they accept their paper to be considered for a poster session if organisational constraints prevent its presentation in a session. If accepted for a poster session, authors are responsible for producing their poster.

Authors of accepted papers will be notified by 1 August 2023 and invited to submit a draft paper if was not submitted in May. Speakers might be asked to discuss another paper.

Completed drafts of accepted papers are due by 1 November 2023 and will be made available for download on the conference website.

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Ron Boschma (Utrecht University)
Eric Brousseau (University Paris-Dauphine | PSL) (Chair)
Daria Ciriaci (European Commission, Joint Research Centre)
Anabela Marques Santos (European Commission, Joint Research Centre)
Jens Prüfer (University of East Anglia and Tilburg University)
Anna Thum-Thysen (European Commission, DG Economic and Financial Affairs)

ORGANISERS
Bruno Castanheira (European Commission, DG Economic and Financial Affairs)
Daria Ciriaci (European Commission, Joint Research Centre)
Xabier Goenaga (European Commission, Joint Research Centre)
István P. Székely (European Commission, DG Economic and Financial Affairs)

FEES AND REIMBURSEMENT POLICY
There is no conference fee. The European Commission will cover travel expenses and fully cover the accommodation expenses of speakers and panel members at the hotel affiliated with the event.

Consult the event page on the Chair's website