CLOSED
The First Annual Conference of the Paul Woolley Centre for the Study of Capital Market Dysfunctionality will take place on 12 & 13 June 2008. The organizers invite submissions for both empirical and theoretical papers relating to the Centre's research agenda.
The Paul Woolley Centre was established at the London School of Economics in September 2007. Research at the centre aims at understanding the workings of capital markets and the social efficiency of allocations these markets achieve. The research departs from the Arrow-Debreu view of frictionless markets, and emphasizes the role of financial institutions (e.g. investment banks, mutual, hedge, and pension funds) in influencing prices and allocations. The main themes are:
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Contracts and organizational structure: What contracts should govern the agency relationship between investors and fund managers? How do contracts influence managers' investment policies? What determines the organizational structure of the fund-management industry?
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Market frictions and asset prices: How do frictions such as asymmetric information, market-entry costs, or agency, impact the informational efficiency of prices? What are the implications for market liquidity and for phenomena such as excess volatility or contagion?
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Allocative efficiency and the macro-economy: Frictions can generate allocative inefficiencies, such as imperfect risksharing and misallocation of capital in the macroeconomy. How important are these inefficiencies and how can they be measured?
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Policy implications: Can regulatory policies mitigate market inefficiencies? For example, can changes in contracts between investors and managers, or the introduction of new assets, generate Pareto-improvements?
The Paul Woolley Centre will be holding a conference each year based on these broad themes as well as related research questions. The goal is to bring together researchers working on such questions, disseminate their research, and stimulate the development of new ideas. Both empirical and theoretical papers are welcome. Papers will have discussants.
The first conference will take place on 12 & 13 June. It will start in the afternoon of Thursday 12 June, and end in the afternoon of Friday 13 June. Friday's session will be joint with the Adam Smith Asset Pricing (ASAP) Workshop, which is also meeting on Saturday. There will be a joint dinner with the ASAP Workshop on Friday, and an additional dinner on Thursday.
Expenses: Travel (economy class round-trip) and accommodation expenses will be covered for presenters and discussants.
Submission: Please note that the call for papers is now closed
Programme Committee: Bruno Biais (University of Toulouse), Denis Gromb (London Business School), Christopher Polk (London School of Economics), Dimitri Vayanos (London School of Economics), Paul Woolley (London School of Economics)
Please note the call for papers is now closed.
Deadline for submission of papers: 14 March 2008.
The authors of selected papers will be informed by the end of March.