GLOBAL CAPITAL ALLOCATION Project ANNUAL CONFERENCE

We host an annual conference on international macroeconomics and finance. The conference brings together leading researchers in the field to discuss research broadly related to international economics and finance and global capital allocation.

The 2025 GCAP Annual Conference will be held on October 17 at Columbia University in New York in collaboration with The Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business. The organizers are Matteo Maggiori (Stanford) and Jesse Schreger (Columbia). The call for papers and conference programs are available on the conference website.

Big-Data Initiative in International Macro-Finance

The initiative brings together each year a group of 30 PhD students from schools worldwide for a three-day workshop on big data research in international macro-finance. Large-scale empirical work often presents specific challenges for PhD students entering the field. This initiative seeks to lower these barriers to entry by sharing knowledge, codes, and data as a starter-kit for new researchers. The initiative is co-sponsored by the Sloan Foundation and Stanford GSB.

In 2025, the initiative will take place in person on August 12-13 at Stanford GSB. The agenda and all materials (videos, slides, data, and codes) are available on the initiative website.

JIE-GCAP-BGS Conference on Geoeconomics (2026)

To address the range of issues encompassed in geoeconomics, the Global Capital Allocation Project (GCAP) and the Stanford Business, Government, & Society Initiative (BGS) will convene a conference to bring together researchers working on better understanding these issues. The conference will be organized by Jesse Schreger (Columbia University), Jeff Frieden (Columbia University), Reka Juhasz (University of British Columbia), Carolin Pflueger (University of Chicago), and Christoph Trebesch (Kiel). Papers that are selected for presentation will be considered for inclusion in a special issue of the Journal of International Economics (JIE) with guest editor Matteo Maggiori (Stanford University).

The conference will take place on February 27-28, 2026 at Stanford GSB. The call for papers is available on the conference website. 

The Geoeconomics of Financial Markets (2026)

Over the past two decades, the role of financial markets in geopolitical dynamics has expanded significantly. The U.S. dollar’s dominant role as the world’s reserve currency and the centrality of U.S.-led financial infrastructure have enabled the United States and its allies to project power through the global financial system. Sanctions, asset freezes, denial of payment access, and regulatory pressure are tools of statecraft that have become more commonly used. As these instruments are used more frequently, they are reshaping the incentives of other nations—especially emerging powers and large emerging markets—to hedge, bypass, or challenge the existing order.

To promote research on issues in this important area, the Global Capital Allocation Project, Stanford Business, Government, and Society Initiative, and the Review of Financial Studies will convene a research conference on the geoeconomics of financial markets. The conference program will be organized by program chairs Matteo Maggiori (Stanford University), Jesse Schreger (Columbia University), Christopher Clayton (Yale University), and Chenzi Xu (University of California at Berkeley), along with a program committee.

The conference is organized in collaboration with the Society for Financial Studies under the “Dual Submission Program” of the Review of Financial Studies. RFS Executive Editor Tarun Ramadorai (Imperial College London), and RFS Editor Anna Pavlova (London Business School) will edit the special issue and participate in the conference organization.

The conference will take place on May 15, 2026, at Stanford GSB. The call for papers is available on the conference website.