((Postdoc|Closing date)): May 26, 2006

Centre for Finance, School of Business, Economics and Law, GöteborgUniversity (Sweden)

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION (FORSKARE/POSTDOC) in Econometrics - BEHAVIOURALAND ECONOMETRIC RESEARCH IN SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT

A post doctoral position in Econometrics related to SustainableInvestment at the Centre for Finance, School of Business, Economics andLaw, Göteborg University is announced. The position is funded by theFoundation for Strategic Environmental Research, MISTRA through theSwedish research programme ‘Behavioural Impediments to SustainableInvestment’.

The scientist will be fully integrated into both the department andMISTRA’S SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT RESEARCH INITIATIVE called ‘Towards aNew Role for Institutional Investors’.

The Centre for Finance (www.handels.gu.se/cff) is a joint effort of theDepartment of Economics and the Department of Business Administration toconcentrate their resources within the field of finance (resulting in astaff of 34 including 5 professors and 6 graduate students working onvarious projects related to quantitative aspects of finance). Theresearch agenda of the Centre that directly relates to the MISTRAinitiative focuses on the non-stationary, non-parametric study offinancial time series and on non-parametric, adaptive methods fordimension reduction.

The Research Initiative ‘Towards a New Role for Institutional Investors’aims to acquire knowledge that can encourage leading institutionalinvestors to adopt sustainable investment (SI) practices. SI is definedas the promotion of sustainable development (SD) by integratingenvironmental and social concerns into investment policies atinstitutional level. The key tenet of SI is a long-term perspective oninvestment motivated by a real concern for the well being of futuregenerations, fostering a responsible management of the natural(responsibility towards the environment) and human resources (socialresponsibility).

The Research Programme ‘Behavioural Impediments to SustainableInvestment’ focuses in particular on the integration of SI approachesinto institutional investor’s portfolio management practices. As such,the SI approaches are expected to have a noticeable impact on thebusiness strategies of companies promoting SD. The programme provides anopportunity for researchers at junior level in the social sciences topursue their research interests and to develop expertise in new areas inthe fields of psychology, economics and statistics with a particularemphasis on the areas of institutional investor portfolio management andSI investment practices.

The programme is structured in five projects that are briefly describedin the sequel.

Project A will critically examine how SI is defined in the academicliterature and across the investment community in order to develop anoperational definition of SI.

Project B focuses on studying the quantitative multivariate relationbetween SI criteria and various financial measures of businessperformance with the end of identifying the social, environmental, andethical aspects (or combination of aspects) that influence most of thefinancial performance of individual companies. The project willinvestigate the relation between financial profitability and SD featuresof individual companies and will try to understand if the existing SRIfunds are the correct SI investment instrument.

Project C project focuses on determining the internal and externalfactors that impel and impede the implementation of SI in the investmentmanagement process.

Project D aims at studying mechanisms of dissemination of the SI practices.

Project E is aimed at proposing regulatory guidelines for the adoptionand implementation of a SI policy.

QUALIFICATIONS AND ASSESSMENT GROUNDS FOR APPOINTMENT

The applicants must have a PhD in Applied Mathematics, Statistics,Economics, or related fields.

A strong record of academic achievements and research (demonstrated bythe candidate’s thesis and/or publications) is expected. She/he shouldposes strong quantitative skills and a proven research interest inaspects of probabilistic and statistical modeling of financial data.Familiarity with non-parametric and multivariate statistical techniquesas well as with the theory and practice of time series are desirable.

A high level of independence in conducting research is required, as thesuccessful candidate will be partly responsible for managing theresearch efforts specific to the project B of the programme.

Priority will be given to candidates who have completed their degree nomore than five years before the application deadline.

A good command of English is essential. Good communications skills areexpected, as the successful candidate will work in close contact withvarious financial institutions and the other researchers in the program.

JOB DESCRIPTION

The postdoctoral researcher will be employed on a fixed-term contractfor project period (2006-2008) and will be active in the Centre forFinance, at the School of Business, Economics and Law, GöteborgUniversity for the full duration of this position.

The postdoctoral researcher main duty will be to conduct research in thearea of the research project B of the programme (see Project Descriptionabove).

The postdoctoral researcher will also play an active role in theprogramme as a whole. She/he is expected to interact with otherresearchers within various projects towards the successful completion ofthe programme and to participate in organizing of scientific eventsrelated to the communication plan of the programme. She/he is expectedto contribute actively to the dissemination of the research results ofthe programme.

The postdoctoral researcher is also expected to participate indepartment activities such as the supervision of undergraduate/graduatetheses within her/his research area, seminars, conferences, etc. She/heis also expected to teach a limited number of hours in subjects relatedto the academic activities of the Centre.

The position offers also the possibility for close academiccollaboration with the Department of Mathematical Statistics at ChalmersUniversity of Technology.

SALARY AND BENEFITS: Successful applicant will receive salary andbenefits in accordance with standard salary levels for equivalentpositions that take qualifications into account.

HOW TO APPLY: Each applicant should send ONE (paper) copy of thefollowing to the address below (make sure to include the referencenumber!) (1) Transcripts of certificates of graduate university courses.(2) A CV including biographical information, degrees, work experiences,list of publications, and list of honours, awards, scholarships, awardedresearch grants, and fellowships. (3) The doctoral dissertation and amaximum of 10 published articles in peer-reviewed journals, books, orbook chapters. (4) A short statement (1-2 pages) describing theapplicant’s interest in the research area and the work that he or shewould like to do during the appointment. (This statement is not acommitment to conduct the outlined work, but is important evidence ofthe applicant’s ability to plan an appropriate scientific project). (5)Three reference letters to be sent directly to the address indicatedbelow. The candidate should arrange for the letters to be posted by theapplication’s deadline. The names and addresses (including e-mail andFAX) of three referees should be included in the CV.

In addition the documents (1) to (4) should be sent electronically tothe address: cff@handels.gu.se (if an electronic version of document (1)is not available, a legible digital picture or a scanned copy should beprovided with the original paper version sent by normal mail to theaddress below).

Applications should be received no later than May 26, 2006 (the paperdocuments should bear the post cache with a date previous or coincidentwith the deadline. The electronic documents should be sent before 23:59,May 26). The position will begin August 15, 2006. The appointment willbe announced as soon as possible after the deadline on the webpage ofthe Centre for Finance.

For further information write to Catalin Starica atcatalin.starica@cff.gu.se

Union representatives:

SACO Inger Wilgotson Lundh,
tel. 031-773 19 87,
OFR/S Eva Sjögren,
tel.031-773 11 69,
SEKO Lennart Olsson,
tel. 031-773 11 73.

The application, reference number E 36 1300/06 should be addressed to:

Göteborg University Registrator Box 100 SE-405 30 Göteborg