FIN 924: Seminar in Empirical Banking

Course content 

This seminar introduces empirical research in financial intermediation and financial stability, and supports students in developing an original research idea in these areas. A central objective is to help students move from consuming research in courses to producing original research. The course is structured in two parts:

Part I: Interactive lectures. We cover seminal and current research on banks, financial intermediation, and financial stability. In parallel, we focus on the practical research craft: how to develop, evaluate, and present impactful research ideas. These skills are broadly applicable beyond banking.

Part II: Paper discussions and proposal development. Students deepen their understanding of the literature through reading, presenting, and discussing research papers. Each student develops a research idea, receives feedback on this idea, and refines it into a written proposal.

Prerequisites 

This seminar primarily targets second- and third-year PhD students in finance. Doctoral students from other cohorts and related fields are also welcome. Students are expected to have solid training in econometrics. Knowledge on financial intermediation and financial institutions is helpful but not required.

If you are unsure whether the seminar is a good fit or anti­cipate scheduling constraints, please feel free to contact the instructor.

Assessment

Presentation (25%), discussion (25%), written research proposal (50%)

Each student will (i) present one paper, (ii) serve as discussant for one paper, and (iii) submit a short research proposal on a topic broadly related to the seminar. The proposal should articulate a research question, motivate its relevance, outline the empirical strategy and data requirements, and clarify the intended contribution, with the goal of a project suitable for a top-tier journal. A few pages are sufficient. Preliminary implementation is purely optional.