Finance

In this interview, Gaetano Gaballo, Associate Professor of Economics at HEC Paris and formerly research economist at the European Central Bank (ECB), reminds the role of the ECB, explains its first move in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the markets reaction. Gaballo also shares his analysis on what are the likely challenges that the ECB, and the Eurozone in general, will face in a near future.

Are there fundamental institutional differences between the central banks of the euro area and the United States, and if so, what are the consequences? In this second part of a two-part article, Jean-Edouard Colliard shares his analysis. Jean-Edouard Colliard is an associate professor of finance at HEC Paris, where he is also the co-holder of the Chair "Business Analytics for Future Banking" (HEC Paris, Natixis and Ecole Polytechnique). Prior, Prof. Colliard was an economist at the European Central Bank.

What is the role of the President of the ECB? Why was her nomination particularly scrutinized? Are there fundamental institutional differences between the central banks of the euro area and the United States, and with what consequences? In this two-part article, Jean-Edouard Colliard shares his analysis. Jean-Edouard Colliard is an associate professor of finance at HEC Paris, where he is also the co-holder of the Chair "Business Analytics for Future Banking" (HEC Paris, Natixis and Ecole Polytechnique). Prior, Prof. Colliard was an economist at the European Central Bank.

Investor uncertainty plays a key role in economics, affecting asset prices and investment decisions. Getting a useful measure can be important to financial professionals and also government actors, to establish monetary policy. An HEC Paris researcher and two economists of the US Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors found a new way to gauge uncertainty: using data on internet clicks related to specific news.

In September 2019, the European Central Bank (E.C.B.) shifted its forward guidance on rates from short-term calendar-based type to state contingency. This is a form of guidance that relates directly to the state of inflation rather than a specific date. HEC Associate Professor Gaetano Gaballo, argues that this is a positive first move in removing ambiguous policy signals, although more is needed to spur inflation expectations. Gaballo is currently on leave from a post of senior economist at Banque de France after having served as research economist at the E.C.B.

Do credit rating agencies detect accounting fraud? Pepa Kraft of HEC Paris, with Allen Huang and Shiheng Wang of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology share their research findings to actually understand the role of credit rating agencies in detecting fraud.

With shareholders and stakeholders becoming more and more concerned with firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR), audit firms now provide CSR assurance services for sustainability reports. As such, firms wonder whether it is more beneficial to use a financial audit firm that also provides CSR assurance, or to hire a different CSR assurance provider than the financial auditor. Researchers explain why the first option is the best option for firms.  

While scientific findings need to be assessed by peers and journal referees, the confidentiality of original data often makes the process arduous. An accredited organization launched by Christophe Pérignon (HEC Paris) and colleagues with access to the original research data can now ensure reproducibility of results. This not only promises huge gains in time and effort for researchers but will also shore up trust in scientific results.

In this article we share testimonials from our professors about their personal experience with online education.