The McCombs School of Business, through its newly established Salem Center for Policy, hosted an online doctoral student symposium on August 12, 2020 designed for Ph.D. candidates in finance, accounting, and economics who are in the process of developing a financial markets research program. Students engaged with researchers from leading universities, industry, and regulatory agencies to learn how policymakers use academic research to evaluate the efficacy of markets, respond to financial system disruptions, and implement reform measures. A series of panel discussions introduced students to active policy issues, open research questions, and how current developments can motivate and shape a research agenda, including through the lens of journal editors. Selected students presented their working papers and research ideas to program participants, and uniquely received combined feedback from academics, practitioners, and regulators.
Plenary 1 – The role of academic research in navigating the current crisis
– Tobias Adrian, James Poterba, Jeremy Stein, and Sheridan Titman (moderator)
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Presentations
Plenary 2 – Journal Editors discuss policy considerations in the editorial process
– Itay Goldstein, Campbell R. Harvey (moderator), Christian Leuz, and Joao Santos
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Plenary 3 – Current and Previous Chief Economists of the SEC on research needed to fill policy gaps
– S.P. Kothari (moderator), Craig Lewis, Erik Sirri, and Chester Spatt
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Breakout Topic 1 – ESG and CSR developments in the asset management industry
– Hans Christensen, Jennifer Marietta-Westberg (moderator), Laura Starks, Diederik Timmer
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Breakout Topic 2 – Capital market effects of disclosure and auditing in emerging markets
– James Doty, Francine McKenna, Shiva Rajagopal (moderator)
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Breakout Topic 3 – Fairness, efficiency, and stability of fixed income and ETF market structure
– Reena Aggarwal (moderator), Tim Husson, Ananth Madhavan, Kumar Venkataraman
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Breakout Topic 4 – Financial Innovation from FinTech
– Cesare Fracassi, Julapa Jagtiani, Melissa Koide, John Schindler (moderator)
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