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Meetings

Growth Academy

  • July 27, 2026 - August 05, 2026
  • Washington, D.C. | Chicago

Growth Academy


The Growth Academy is a transformative summer school designed for researchers and policymakers from middle-income countries grappling with the challenge of delivering sustained economic growth. It is organized by the University of Chicago, and the World Bank Group Institute for Economic Development.

Structured around the key themes of the World Development Report 2024: The Middle-Income Trap, the Growth Academy brings participants together with leading global experts, in an interactive, collegial setting, to explore evidence-based approaches to policy actions on economic growth and productivity.

Participants are equipped with the insights, strategies, and practical tools needed to shape bold, context-specific reform agendas for their countries. Focused on three core areas—enterprise dynamism, talent allocation, and energy efficiency—the program explores how these issues intersect with the potential building blocks that can lead to escaping the middle-income trap.
 

 

All times listed below are in Eastern Time (ET).

2026 Chicago Agenda | July 27-31, 2026

Monday, July 27 | Read the Summary

9:00 – 9:05 am

Opening Remarks

  • Ufuk Akcigit
  • Somik Lall
9:05 – 10:30 am

The Middle-Income Trap

  • Somik Lall
10:30 – 11:00 amBreak
11:00 – 12:30 pm

The Economics of Creative Destruction

  • Philippe Aghion
12:30 – 1:30 pmGroup Photo/Lunch
1:30 – 3:00 pm

The Economics of Dynamism: 
Firm Productivity, Entrepreneurship, and Industrial Policy

  • Ufuk Akcigit
3:00 – 3:30 pmBreak
3:30 – 4:30 pm

Growth Academy Highlights & Participant Presentations

 

Tuesday, July 28 | Read the Summary

9:00 – 10:30 amA Conversation with Samir Mayekar 
“Building Startup Ecosystems in Developing Countries”
10:30 – 11:00 amBreak
11:00 – 12:30 pm

Fertility Decline and Economic Policy

  • James Heckman
12:30 – 1:30 pmLunch
1:30 – 3:00 pm

Actionable Evidence, Scalable Ideas: 
What Every Policymaker Should Ask

  • John List
3:00 – 3:30 pmBreak
3:30 – 4:30 pm

Participant Presentations

 

Wednesday, July 29 | Read the Summary

9:00 – 10:30 am

The Globalization of Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital

  • Emanuele Colonnelli
10:30 – 11:00 amBreak
11:00 – 12:30 pm

Growing Entrepreneurial and Innovation Clusters

  • Josh Lerner
12:30 – 1:30 pmLunch
1:30 – 3:00 pm

Spatial Creative Destruction and Regional Development

  • Leonard Wantchekon
3:00 – 3:30 pmBreak
3:30 – 4:30 pm

Participant Presentations

 

Thursday, July 30 | Read the Summary

9:00 – 10:30 am

AI and Economic Growth

  • Ben Jones
10:30 – 11:00 amBreak
11:00 – 12:30 pm

A Master Class on Business Dynamism

  • Ufuk Akcigit
  • Furkan Kilic
12:30 – 1:30 pmLunch
1:30 – 3:00 pm

Skipping the Factory: 
Service-Led Growth and Structural Transformation in the Developing World

  • Fabrizio Zilibotti
3:00 – 3:30 pmBreak
3:30 – 4:00 pm

Learning From Asia: Japan

  • Takaaki Nomoto
4:00 – 5:00 pm

Participant Presentations

 

Friday, July 31 | Read the Summary

9:00 – 10:30 am

The Paradox of Innovation Institutions: 
Designing Flexible Ecosystems that Accelerate Discovery, Invention, and Growth

  • James Evans
10:30 – 11:00 amBreak
11:00 – 12:30 pm

AI for Development: The Case of Digital Agriculture

  • Michael Kremer
12:30 – 1:45 pmLunch
1:45 – 2:00 pmSign poster / Transition back to Room 146
2:00 – 3:00 pmGrowth Academy Highlights & Round Table Collaboration
3:00 – 3:30 pmBreak
3:30 – 4:30 pmWrap Up Session

 

2026 Washington, D.C. Agenda | August 3-5, 2026

Monday, August 3

9:00 – 10:30 am

Global Economic Update

  • Indermit Gill
  • Ayhan Kose
10:30 – 11:00 amBreak
11:00 – 12:30 pm

Industrial Policy for Development: 
A Global Overview

  • Tristan Reed
12:30 – 1:30 pmLunch
1:30 – 3:00 pm

Industrial Policy in the Digital Age: 
Lessons from Asia

  • 1:30 – 2:00 pm — Siddharth Sharma
  • 2:00 – 2:30 pm — Alessandro Barattieri
  • 2:30 – 3:00 pm — Q&A
3:00 – 3:30 pmBreak
3:30 – 4:30 pm

Participant Presentations

 

Tuesday, August 4

9:00 – 10:30 am

Industrial Policy in the Middle East and Africa: 
Challenges of Conflict and Structural Transformation

  • 9:00 – 9:30 am — Caglar Ozden
  • 9:30 – 10:00 am — Andrew Dabalen
  • 10:00 – 10:30 am — Q&A
10:30 – 11:00 amBreak
11:00 – 12:30 pm

Revisiting Industrial Policy in ECA and LAC: 
Strategic Options for Today

  • 11:00 – 11:30 am — Ivailo Izvorski
  • 11:30 am – 12:00 pm — William F. Maloney
  • 12:00 – 12:30 pm — Q&A
12:30 – 1:30 pmLunch
1:30 – 3:00 pm

Learning from Lending

  • Peter Henry
  • Somik Lall
3:00 – 3:30 pmBreak
3:30 – 4:30 pm

Participant Presentations

 

Wednesday, August 5

8:30 – 9:00 amCertificate Award Ceremony
9:00 – 10:00 am

Official Launch of the World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence

  • Indermit Gill
  • Gaurav Nayyar
10:00 – 10:15 amBreak
10:15 – 10:45 am

How Ready Are We for AI: 
New Insights from the BReady4AI Index

  • Ufuk Akcigit

 

First Week Speaker List

  • Philippe Aghion, Kurt Björklund Professor in Innovation and Growth, INSEAD, London School of Economics and
    College de France
  • Ufuk Akcigit, Co-Director, Growth Academy; Arnold C. Harberger Professor of Economics, University of Chicago (on
    leave); Deputy Chief Economist and Director of Private Markets, World Bank Group
  • Emanuele Colonnelli, Joseph L. Gidwitz Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship, Booth School of Business,
    University of Chicago
  • James Evans, Max Palevsky Professor; Faculty Co-Director, Chicago Center for Computational Social Science; Faculty Director, Masters Program in Computational Social Science; Director, Knowledge Lab, University of Chicago
  • James Heckman, Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and Public Policy and Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development, University of Chicago
  • Ben Jones, Gordon and Llura Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship and Professor of Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
  • Furkan Kilic, Postdoctoral Scholar, Growth Academy, University of Chicago
  • Michael Kremer, University Professor in Economics and the College and the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago; Director, Development Innovation Lab; Director, Development Economics Center
  • Somik Lall, Co-Director, Growth Academy; Director, Strategy and WBG Institute for Economic Development,
    Development Economics Vice Presidency, World Bank Group
  • Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School; Co-Director, HBS Private Capital Project
  • John List, Director of the Becker Friedman Institute, Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and the College, University of Chicago
  • Samir Mayekar, Managing Director of Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, University of Chicago
  • Takaaki Nomoto, Director for Multilateral Development Banks Division, International Bureau, Ministry of Finance, Japan
  • Leonard Wantchekon, James Madison Professor of Political Economy and Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University
  • Fabrizio Zilibotti, Tuntex Professor of International and Development Economics, Yale University

Second Week Speaker List

  • Ufuk Akcigit, Co-Director, Growth Academy; Arnold C. Harberger Professor of Economics, University of Chicago (on
    leave); Deputy Chief Economist and Director of Private Markets, World Bank Group
  • Alessandro Barattieri, Senior Economist, Office of the Chief Economist for East Asia and Pacific, World Bank Group
  • Andrew Dabalen, Chief Economist for the Africa Region, World Bank Group
  • Indermit Gill, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, the World Bank Group
  • Peter Henry, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution & Dean Emeritus, New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of
    Business
  • Ivailo Izvorski, Chief Economist for Europe and Central Asia Region, World Bank Group
  • Ayhan Kose, Deputy Chief Economist and Director of the Prospects Group, World Bank Group
  • Somik Lall, Co-Director, Growth Academy; Director, Strategy and WBG Institute for Economic Development,
    Development Economics Vice Presidency, World Bank Group
  • William F. Maloney, Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, World Bank Group
  • Gaurav Nayyar, Director, World Development Report 2026, World Bank Group
  • Caglar Ozden, Deputy Chief Economist for the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank Group
  • Tristan Reed, Economist, Development Research Group, World Bank Group
  • Siddharth Sharma, Lead Economist, Office of the Chief Economist for South Asia, World Bank Group