Annual Conference 2023

Many thanks for the successful conference

Soon you will see here impressions of our successful Annual Conference 2023 in Regensburg. We would like to thank everyone who lectured, presented, discussed, exhibited and, above all, organised on site. Here you can see some pictures from the conference.

The VfS Annual Conference consists of a core conference  with keynotes and a core conference panel on the current topic and an open conference on all economic science topics. Manuscripts for the Open Meeting can be submitted from all fields of economics, as individual papers or as organised sessions.

The submissions will be evaluated by anonymous reviewers and then selected by the programme committee.

Prices and Cancellation Deadlines

The participation fee includes participation in the workshops, lectures, lunch receptions and evening receptions on Sunday and Monday.

VfS member: 189 €
VfS member (reduced): 113 €
External participant: 375 €
Student (Bachelor/Master): 40 € (Please send your certificate of study to office@socialpolitik.org before registering, you will then receive a voucher code).
Participation in the evening reception on Tuesday (26.09.2023) in the Old Town Hall: € 25

Cancellation deadlines:

Cancellation until 30 July 2023: free of charge (plus 20 € handling fee).
Cancellation from 31 July to 2 September 2023: 50 % refund
Cancellation from 3 September 2023: no refund

Organisers

Core Conference 2023: Growth and the 'sociale Frage'

Founded in 1873 in the context of the intellectual debate about the "social question," the Verein für Socialpolitik has since developed into the largest professional association of economists in the German-speaking countries. During the same period, the economies of Germany, Austria and Switzerland have experienced an unprecedented growth trajectory: despite crises, wars and institutional breaks, real incomes per capita have increased more than tenfold. In its three keynote talks, this year's core conference — marking the 150th anniversary of the Verein — will look back on this remarkable intellectual and economic development.

The talk by Albrecht Ritschl (London School of Economics) takes a tour through the Verein's history as an academic social policy club, caught between contradictory policy goals and a conflicted relationship with emerging neoclassical economics. Charlotte Bartels (DIW) will address the issue of economic inequality that moved the association's founders. Her talk investigates the long-run dynamics of income and wealth distributions, particularly the role of economic growth. Finally, the presentation by Dietrich Vollrath (University of Houston) allows a cautious look into the future: he discusses the origins of the recent slowdown in economic growth and what that might imply for future growth in Germany and the rest of the developed world.

The core conference panel will address the question of what the "sociale Frage" means in the 21st century.