From July 9 to 10, GLO Guangzhou 2026, an international academic conference hosted by the Institute for Economic and Social Research (IESR) at Jinan University and co-organized by the Global Labor Organization (GLO) and the Journal of Population Economics (JOPE), was successfully held in Guangzhou.
As GLO’s flagship event in Asia and the Ninth IESR-GLO Joint Workshop, the conference focused on cutting-edge topics including labor economics, population development, social governance, and international migration. Professor David Autor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Professor Karen Macours from the Paris School of Economics delivered keynote speeches at the event.
The conference attracted scholars and researchers from more than ten countries, including the United States, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Australia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India, and Malaysia, representing over one hundred leading universities and research institutions from around the world.
Bringing together scholars from diverse academic backgrounds, the conference provided a high-level and international platform for advancing frontier research, exchanging academic insights, and fostering global collaboration.
Group Photo
Opening Ceremony
At the opening ceremony, Professor Shuaizhang Feng, Dean of IESR, and Professor Klaus Zimmermann, President of GLO, delivered welcome remarks respectively, extending warm greetings and sincere welcome to experts and scholars from home and abroad.
In his opening remarks, Professor Shuaizhang Feng expressed his heartfelt appreciation to Professor Klaus Zimmermann for his long-standing support and deep collaboration with IESR and the series of IESR-GLO joint conferences. He noted that the sustained and close academic partnership between the two sides has been instrumental in making this high-level international conference a successful reality.
Professor Feng also extended his sincere gratitude to the two distinguished keynote speakers for taking the time to participate in the conference and share their cutting-edge research findings, which greatly enriched and elevated the academic quality of the event. In addition, he expressed his appreciation to all staff members and volunteers involved in the preparation and organization of the conference, recognizing their dedicated and efficient efforts in providing comprehensive support and creating an excellent environment for academic exchange.
Welcome Speech by Professor Shuaizhang Feng
Next, Professor Klaus Zimmermann reviewed the long-standing partnership and close strategic collaboration between GLO and IESR. He noted that, over the years, the two organizations have jointly built academic platforms, co-organized international conferences, and promoted academic exchanges and talent development. The IESR-GLO Joint Conference series has become an important bridge connecting scholars in the fields of labor economics and population studies from China and abroad, with its global influence continuing to grow.
Leveraging the platform provided by this conference, Professor Zimmermann warmly encouraged participating scholars to submit their research to the Journal of Population Economics (JOPE). He highlighted that the journal offers an authoritative platform for researchers to showcase their latest findings and disseminate high-quality academic insights, thereby further promoting the exchange and communication of research achievements worldwide and contributing to innovation and high-quality development in related academic fields.
Welcome Speech by Professor Klaus F. Zimmermann
Keynote Speeches
On July 9, Professor Karen Macours from the Paris School of Economics delivered a keynote speech entitled “Improving Rural Incomes through Skills: Current and Future Generations.” Focusing on rural economic development and the challenge of increasing household incomes, the speech examined the critical role and long-term value of skills development in improving rural residents’ economic prospects from the perspectives of both current and future generations.
Keynote Speech by Professor Karen Macours
On July 10, Professor David Autor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology delivered a keynote speech entitled “It’s About Time: Predicting AI-Automation and Expertise Demands from Task Durations.” The study innovatively adopted expertise and skill barriers as the central analytical framework and combined extensive micro-level occupational task data to systematically examine the risks of AI-driven automation across different types of work. It precisely distinguished routine tasks that are more susceptible to technological substitution from skill-intensive tasks requiring advanced expertise and possessing stronger barriers to replacement. The research further explored the underlying relationships among task duration, job complexity, the likelihood of AI substitution, and the evolving demand for specialized talent in the labor market.
Keynote Speech by Professor David Autor
Following the keynote sessions, the conference featured a series of parallel panel discussions. The program included thematic sessions on labor economics, population and family development, development economics, international migration and public governance, health and behavioral economics, among other areas. These sessions covered major research fields in economics and social sciences, as well as a wide range of emerging academic topics. More than 50 scholars presented their latest research and participated in in-depth discussions.
The two-day conference concluded on a highly positive note. Bringing together leading scholars from around the world, it was not only a high-level international academic gathering but also an important milestone in IESR’s efforts to promote international research exchange and advance the high-quality development of academic disciplines.
Looking ahead, IESR will continue to deepen its long-term collaboration with GLO and other leading international academic institutions, further strengthening an open, high-level, and diverse platform for global academic exchange and collaboration.
Since 2018, IESR and GLO have jointly hosted nine conferences focused on trending topics, including the labor market effects of the “Belt and Road” initiatives, the COVID-19 pandemic, social security networks, social policy, and aging societies. More than 100 scholars from 12 countries, including well-known economists from MIT, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Yale University, participated in this series of high-quality conferences.
Joint Conferences Review
2018, March 11-20 IESR-GLO Joint Labor Workshop
2019, March 21-22, IESR-GLO Conference on “Belt and Road” Labor Markets
2020, June 5-7 Third IESR-GLO Joint Conference
2021, June 24-26 Fourth IESR-GLO Joint Conference
2022, August 29-31 Fifth IESR-GLO Joint Conference
2023, October 26-27 Sixth IESR-GLO Joint Workshop
2024, May 16-17 Seventh IESR-GLO Joint Workshop
2025, July 10-11 Eighth IESR-GLO Joint Workshop
2026, July 9-10 GLO Guangzhou 2026
