2026 (LIS)2ER workshop on Policies to Fight Inequalities: Consumption, Financial Security and Well-being
Time: December 03-04, 2026
Venue: Maison des Sciences Humaines – 1st floor, Conference room Jane Jacobs, 11 Porte des Sciences, L-4366 Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
Description
What households can spend — and how well they keep spending when prices rise or income falls — shapes their living standards, financial security and well-being. These issues have become increasingly salient amid recent geopolitical conflicts and the cost-of-living crisis in Europe and beyond. The 2026 (LIS)²ER workshop, organised annually by the LIS Cross-National Data Center and LISER, brings together the latest high-quality research from around the world, alongside policymakers and experts based in Luxembourg. It coincides with the launch of the Luxembourg Consumption Study (LCS), LIS’s new database of harmonised household consumption microdata.
The two-day workshop will take place on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 December 2026 at the Belval Campus in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. The programme will feature 8 invited academic presentations, including a dedicated session on the newly launched LCS database, followed by a roundtable discussion with policy experts.
Policy roundtable
The closing roundtable, moderated by Philippe Van Kerm (University of Luxembourg and LIS), looks at how better evidence on household consumption can inform consumer and social policy. Consumption matters for policy — and policy matters for consumption — in several ways. Protecting consumers is a policy goal in its own right, from guarding against compulsive spending to preventing over-indebtedness. Evidence about consumption patterns can also tell policymakers how much is enough: reference budgets, which price the goods and services needed to live decently and take part in society, provide a benchmark for judging whether wages and benefits are adequate — as recently used in Luxembourg to reform family allowances. The same kind of data shows how unevenly households are exposed to inflation, which raises the question of whether a single aggregate price index is the right tool for uprating wages and social benefits. Policy can also nudge consumption choices whose effects go beyond the household, for instance through green taxation in the fight against climate change. All of this rests on one prerequisite: that household consumption is well measured, which is where new data infrastructures such as the Luxembourg Consumption Study come in. The roundtable will bring together experts and policymakers to discuss these questions in the Luxembourg context.
Confirmed speakers
Confirmed speakers include Thomas Crossley (University of Michigan), Sophie Collyer (City University of New York), Tullio Jappelli (University of Naples), Dean Jolliffe (World Bank), Giulia Mancini (University of Sassari) and Carsten Schroeder (DIW). The LCS session will be presented by Martina Pezer (LIS and LISER) and Jörg Neugschwender (LIS).
Preliminary Programme
The preliminary program is available here.
Registration
Reigistration is free but mandatory, please register through this link.