The Boulder Summer Conference in Consumer Financial Decision Making, now in its 14th year, is the world’s foremost conference for
discussion of interdisciplinary research on consumer financial
decision making.
Consumer welfare is strongly affected by household
financial decisions large and small: choosing mortgages; saving to
fund college education or retirement; using credit cards to fund
current consumption; choosing how to “decumulate” savings in
retirement; deciding how to pay for health care and insurance; and
investing in the stock market, managing debt in the face of financial
distress. This conference brings together outstanding scholars from
around the world in a unique interdisciplinary conversation with
regulators, business people in financial services, and consumer
advocates working on problems of consumer financial decision making.
Our goal is to stimulate cross-disciplinary conversation and improve
basic and applied research in the emerging area of consumer financial
decision making. This research can inform our understanding of how
consumers actually make such decisions and how consumers can be helped
to make better decisions by innovations in public policy, business,
and consumer education. Please see the past programs on the
conference website to see abstracts of research by scholars in
economics, psychology, sociology, behavioral finance, consumer
research, decision sciences, behavioral economics, and law. Our format
allows a very high level of opportunity for conversation and
interaction around the ideas presented.
Conference Details
- Conference Location: St. Julien Hotel, Boulder, Colorado
- Conference Dates: May 21st – 23rd, 2023
- Conference Co-Chairs: Tony Cookson and Phil Fernbach
- Conference Founders: John Lynch and Donald Lichtenstein
- Conference Website Link: http://leeds.colorado.edu/event/bouldersummerconference#overview
Abstract Submission Details
- Abstract Submission Deadline: December 23, 2022
- Abstract Submission Link: https://leeds.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6Xpd5RQvTT1xgeG
- Submitting Abstracts: To submit an extended abstract (1 page single spaced pdf) of a working paper, please visit the conference website: http://leeds.colorado.edu/event/bouldersummerconference#overview and click on the Submit Paper Abstract link or simply visit the following link: https://leeds.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6Xpd5RQvTT1xgeG
Conference Format
We begin with a keynote session late Sunday afternoon followed by
reception and poster session. Monday and Tuesday we have a selection
of 75-minute plenary sessions with two related papers from different
disciplines, with discussion by an industry or government expert or a
scholar from a third field. We begin with financial decision making
of consumers in distress because of poor financial decision making or
situational stress. We then turn our focus to more basic processes
that guide everyday consumer financial decision-making, both good and
bad. Throughout the conference we schedule significant time for
informal interaction outside of the sessions.
The conference program committee will select papers for presentation
at the conference based on extended abstracts. Selected papers must
not be published prior to the conference. Authors submitting an
abstract must commit to have a paper that is complete and available
for review by discussants one month prior to the conference.
Selections will be based on quality, relevance to consumers’ financial
decision-making, and contribution to breadth of topics and
disciplinary approaches. We consider not just the individual merits of
the papers, but how they pair with another submission from a scholar
in a different field. The organizers will invite authors of the best
papers not selected for presentation at a plenary session to present
their work at the Sunday evening poster session.
Registering for the Conference and Booking a Room
After the submission deadline, we will post on the conference website
links for registering for the conference and booking hotel rooms at
the conference hotel. The conference will be held in the St. Julien
Hotel & Spa. We have negotiated very attractive room rates for
conference attendees (and families). Please note that the Conference
has not guaranteed any rooms, rather they are on a “first come” basis.
We encourage you to book your rooms as soon as you can. Boulder is a
popular summer destination and rooms go quickly at the St. Julien
Hotel.