Ente “Luigi Einaudi” for Monetary, Banking and Financial Studies (Italy)

The Ente “Luigi Einaudi” invites applications for research fellowships from candidates willing to work in the field of Competition in Banking and Financial Markets and to carry out their projects at the Ente’s facilities in Rome.

For the academic year 2007-2008 the Scientific Committee of the Ente will consider theoretical and empirical projects, mainly focussed on topics such as:

• Paradigms of competition (structure-conduct-performance; relative-market-power hypothesis; x-(in)efficiency; scale/scope-efficiency) and their application to evidence on European banking and finance;
• Competition drivers (such as: advances in technology, financial liberalization/deregulation and integration, single currency, etc.) in banking and finance;
• Competition and risk-taking in banking and finance: theoretical aspects and implications for credit availability;
• Market power, charter value and (micro/macro) financial stability;
• Competition and agency conflicts (between managers and shareholders) in the financial sector;
• M&A activity in the financial sector, market structure, capital markets performance and their implications for competition in the non financial sector;
• Competition in the financial sector: identifying sectoral and systemic fallouts for the non financial sector of the economy.

The fellowships will be assigned to highly qualified researchers. Candidates will be selected on the basis of their previous experience in the field and their proposed research projects. At the end of the period, the results of their work will be published in the Ente’s “Temi di ricerca”.

For each fellowship, a grant of € 5,000 per month before tax will be provided for a period ranging from one to twelve months, according to the preference stated by the candidate.

A curriculum vitae, an outline of the research project and an application form should be sent by e-mail (einaudil @ tin.it), in PDF or Word 97 compatible format, to arrive no later than 30 November 2006.

The Ente “Luigi Einaudi” is a foundation set up in 1965 in honour of Luigi Einaudi. It is sponsored by the Bank of Italy and the Italian Banking Association (ABI). Its purpose is to foster the advanced research and training of students in the fields of theoretical and applied economics. The Ente has traditionally provided financial help to young economists and has supported many Italian economists in their studies abroad. In recent years it has launched a new programme to encourage top-level research at its own facilities, which are conveniently located in the centre of Rome, not far from the Bank of Italy and the ABI. The foundation maintains close links with the Research Departments of both institutions. Researchers are encouraged to make contact with economists at the Bank of Italy and to attend seminars there, besides those organized at the Ente. They will have access to the Bank of Italy’s library and to a wealth of datasets ranging from microeconomic survey data on households and firms to aggregate time series. The Ente also promotes research projects on specific topics of scientific and policy relevance. A large-scale research project on Competition in Banking and Financial Markets has just been approved. The residential research is coordinated by a Scientific Committee composed of Marcello De Cecco (Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa), Massimo De Felice (La Sapienza University, Rome), Luigi Guiso (Tor Vergata University, Rome and CEPR), Gianfranco Torriero (ABI, Head of the Research Department), Fabiano Schivardi (University of Cagliari) and Daniele Terlizzese and Roberto Violi (Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department).

Application form can be obtained from this link.
Application has to be received by 30 November 2006.