The Stigler Center aims to promote and disseminate research on regulatory capture, crony capitalism, and the various distortions that special interest groups impose on capitalism.

Nobel laureate George J. Stigler founded the Center for the Study of the Economy and the State at the University of Chicago in 1977. From its inception, the George J. Stigler Center has been a joint enterprise of economists and legal scholars at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Department of Economics, and the Law School. The Stigler Center was renamed in George Stigler’s memory after his death in 1991.

The Stigler Center is dedicated to understanding the interaction between politics and the economy. It is an intellectual destination for research on regulatory capture, crony capitalism, and the various forms of subversion of competition by special interest groups. This mission is central to three key elements of George Stigler’s teaching: 1) the appreciation for the role of private markets in promoting human welfare; 2) an understanding of the role that legal infrastructure has on market performance; 3) the realization that the design of this legal infrastructure is all too often captured by the incumbents to prevent entry and competition, rather than to promote human welfare.

The Center is committed to three initiatives:

1. Connect students, faculty, alumni, and a broader audience across the globe through lectures, conferences, workshops, and the ProMarket blog.
2. Enhance teaching through the development of courses and business cases.
3. Support research and academic activities.