Finance Summer School

From July 25, 2023 to July 28, 2023, the Monte Ahuja College of Business Department of Finance and Economics hosted 13 junior faculty and Ph.D. candidates from 6 different universities and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland in a Finance Summer School workshop.

The group was led by Assistant Professor and Executive Director of the Research Institute in Economics (RIEF) and Finance Dr. Hamilton Galindo Gil and Dr. Tom Phelan, Research economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. They convened to discuss the topic of Heterogeneous Agent in Asset Pricing.

The 4-day workshop connected professors and Ph.D. students. Participants left with a deeper understanding of the literature and tools to pursue research in this area. Heterogeneous Agents research considers different agents in macroeconomics and finance. The presence of heterogeneous agents in an economic model allows one to study the relationship between aggregates (in real and financial sectors) and inequality with crucial policy implications. In simpler terms, the group studied an asset pricing model in general equilibrium in which investors differed from one another (i.e. heterogeneous agents).

"I enjoyed participating and presenting," said Dr. Tom Phelan, "Preparing the lectures forced me to consolidate some of the knowledge I have acquired on heterogeneous-agents asset-pricing over the past few years."

"Our goal for this Summer School was to provide a solid understanding of asset pricing models with heterogeneous agents and state-of-the-art solution methods," added Dr. Hamilton Galindo Gil. "We see this research area as very promising, and we are working to have this program in 2024."