Welcome! I am a Professor at the University of Cape Town where I hold the DSI-NRF SARChI Chair in Blockchain Research.
Fintech Innovation Hub I am delighted that we have received a very generous grant from the Algorand Foundation to establish an Algorand Fintech Innovation Hub at UCT.
Teaching We have launched a fantastic online short course on Blockchain and Digital Currency: The Future of Money in collaboration with GetSmarter. The course is great if you are interested in central bank digital currencies. You can enroll here. You can also find our previous course on Fintech: Disruption in Finance here. You can also find all four of our Coursera MOOCS online which are part of our specialization Fintech Startups in Emerging Markets Specialization.
Most of the code I am developing is on github. In particular, check out my teaching repo and the included wiki, which contains a lot of additional material.
The slides for my Fintech and Cryptocurrencies course are quite large, so they are online here.
Research
Publications
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March 2023. "Social Learning in a Network Model of Covid-19" (with Allan Davids, Gideon du Rand, Tina Koziol, and Joeri Schasfoort) [abstract] [paper] [github] - Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization 213, (2023)
We introduce social learning into an epidemiological network model of Covid-19 and show that this significantly improves the forecast of excess fatalities. We use the model to study different vaccination strategies.
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November 2022. "Exit Spirals in Coupled Networked Markets" (with Christoph Aymanns and Ben Golub) [abstract] [paper] - Operations Research 71(5), (2023)
The extent of exit spirals in coupled over-the-counter markets depends on the structure of the networked markets.
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May 2022. "Discussants" (with Michael Rose and Daniel Opolot) [abstract] [paper] - Research Policy 51(10), (2022)
Media coverage: Times HigherEd / LSE Impact Blog / World Economic ForumHaving a discussant reduces asymmetric information inherent in the academic publishing process.
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February 2021. "What 5,000 Acknowledgements Tell Us About Informal Collaboration in Financial Economics" (with Michael Rose) - Research Policy 50(6) (2021) [abstract] [paper] [data repo]
[voxeu].
Financial economists collaborate by commenting on each other's papers. We use the information captured in acknowledgements, construct the social network of informal collaboration, and highlight several interesting stylized facts.
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November 2020. "Systemic Risk-Shifting in Financial Networks" (with Matthew Elliott and Jonathon Hazell), Journal of Economic Theory 191 (2021). [abstract] [paper]
We provide a novel mechanism why banks would lend to other banks that have similar real exposures and show that predictions of our model are in line with empirical evidence from Germany.
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May 2017. "Information Contagion and Systemic Risk" (with Toni Ahnert), Journal of Financial Stability 35 (2017). [abstract] [paper]
Information contagion can reduce systemic risk if banks lend to each other because ex-post counterparty risk leads to more prudent ex-ante portfolio choice.
- January 2015.
"Contagious Synchronization and Endogenous Network Formation in Financial Networks" (with Christoph Aymanns), Journal of Banking and Finance 50(1) (2015). [abstract] [paper] [code available upon request]
Banks act based on a private and a social signal in a simple extension of Bayesian learning. The social signal is stronger if banks observe a larger group of peers which leads to correlated investment strategies of highly interconnected banks.
- February 2013.
"The Effect of the Interbank Network Structure on Contagion and Common Shocks", Journal of Banking and Finance 37(7) (2013). [abstract] [paper] [code]
A dynamic multi-agent model of the financial system. The interbank network structure does not always affect financial stability and central bank liquidity provision can stabilize the interbank market in the short-run only.
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May 2023. "Measuring Regulatory Complexity" (with Jean-Edouard Colliard) [abstract] [paper] [Duke Law's FinRegBlog] [Bloomberg Tax (with Lorraine Eden)] [Replication repo] - Revision Requested, Journal of Financial Economics
The amount of (financial) regulation has increased significantly over the past decades. But has regulation really become more complex? We propose to use measures of software complexity to provide a more nuanced answer to this question and apply our measures to Basel I and the Dodd-Frank Act.
Papers Under Revision
Working Papers:
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Update. February 2024. "A Strategic Model of Software Dependency Networks" (with Cornelius Fritz, Angelo Mele, and Michael Schweinberger) [abstract] [paper]
Reusing code creates dependencies between software packages. We present a model of strategic network formation to describe how directed dependency networks form.
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January 2023. "Contagious Zombies" (with Christian Bittner and Falko Fecht) [abstract] [paper]
Particularly weak German banks make use of the ECB's long-term refinancing operations to evergreen exposures to zombie firms. These firms, in turn, obtain more trade credit from other firms.
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February 2022. "Anticipated Financial Contagion" (with Toni Ahnert and Gideon du Rand) [abstract] [paper]
We revisit the seminal Allen and Gale (2000) paper and show that, when banks with interbank linkages anticipate an aggregate liquidity shock, financial contagion only occurs in about 5% of the parameter space.
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March 2020. "Similar Investors" (with Diane Pierret and Sascha Steffen) [abstract] [paper]
Mutual funds reduce their exposure to a security issuer more if they are more similar to other funds investing in the same security issuer. This increases issuers' liquidity risk.
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August 2017. "Fake News in Social Networks" (with Christoph Aymanns and Jakob Förster) [abstract] [paper]
Media coverage: Bloomberg / Defense OneWe model the spread of fake news as a learning game on a social network and use deep learning methods to solve the model. When an attacker has access to information about the strength of users' private beliefs, fake news spread faster.
Interdisciplinary, Policy, and Other Publications
- "Central Bank Digital Currency Global Interoperability Principles" (World Economic Forum Whitepaper) [whitepaper]
- "A System to Manage Digital Rights Tokens" [whitepaper]
- "Issuing Central Bank Digital Currency Using Algorand" (with Andrea Civelli, Pietro Grassano, and Naveed Ihsanullah) [whitepaper]
- "Interbank Intermediation" (with Marcel Bluhm and Jan-Pieter Krahnen) [abstract] [paper]
- "Revealing patterns of local species richness along environmental gradients with a novel network tool" (with Mara Baudena, Utrecht, Angel Sanchez, UC3M, Paloma Ruiz-Benito, Alcala, Miguel A. Rodriguez, Alcala, Miguel A. Zavala, Alcala, and Max Rietkerk, Utrecht), Nature Scientific Reports 5 (2015). [paper]
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August 2017. "A Network View on Interbank Liquidity" (with Silvia Gabrieli) [abstract] [paper]
The euro area interbank market is an over-the-counter market with a non-trivial network structure. Banks in this market enjoy a centrality premium which can easily be understood in models of bargaining in networks.
- "Seven Questions on Financial Interconnectedness" (with Camelia Minoiu, IMF), IMF Research Bulletin, (2014), March. [.pdf]
- "Complex Derivatives" (with Stefano Battiston, Guido Caldarelli, Robert M. May, and Joseph E. Stiglitz), Nature Physics Vol.9, No.3, (2013). [abstract] [focus]
- "Systemic Risk in the Financial Sector" (with Ian Goldin, Mike Mariathasan, and Tiffany Vogel), in: Ian Goldin and Mike Mariathasan: "The Butterfly Defect - Globalisation and Systemic Risk", Princeton University Press, (2014)
- "Note on interlinkages in the South African interbank system" (with Nicola Brink), Special Note in the Financial Stability Review, South African Reserve Bank (March 2011). [abstract] [fsr]
- "Basel III and Systemic Risk Regulation - What Way Forward?", Global Financial Markets Working Paper Series 17-2011, (2011). [abstract] [paper] .
Software and Web Projects:
We are developing Black Rhino, an open source financial network multi-agent model framework. You can find the latest release (including a short tutorial) in our github repository.Michael Rose and I have developed a website to accompany our paper "What 5,000 Acknowledgements Tell Us About Informal Collaboration in Financial Economics", Research Policy 50(6) (2021). Here you will find a ranking of financial economists based on their centrality in the network of informal collaboration. To our website.
Team
I am fortunate to work with a group of outstanding students and postdoctoral researchers. If your contacts are missing or outdated, it is time to get in touch again!
University of Cape Town
Postdoctoral Researchers (#: First placement)- Marcin Borsuk (PhD Gdansk, 10/2019-10/2021, #: Postdoc, Oxford)
- Joeri Schasfoort (PhD Groningen, 10/2019-10/2021, #: Lecturer, University of Groningen)
- Suraj Shekhar (PhD Penn State, 08/2016-06/2019, #: Assistant Professor, Ashoka University)
- Jesper Riedler (PhD Giessen, 01/2018-12/2018, #: Economist, ZEW Mannheim)
- Christine Makanza (PhD UCT, 06/2016-09/2017, #: Senior Lecturer, UCT)
- Pawel Fiedor (PhD Krakow, 06/2015-06/2016, #: Economist, Bank of Ireland)
- Hylton Hollander (PhD Stellenbosch, 06/2015-01/2016, #: Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch)
- Julian Kanjere (MPhil UCT, 04/2021-)
- Esti Kemp (MCom Pretoria, 04/2016-04/2021, #: Bank for International Settlements)
- Tina Koziol (MCom Jena, 04/2016-04/2020, #: UCT)
- Michael Rose (MSc Kiel, 04/2015-04/2018, #: Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition Munich)
- Gideon du Rand (MSc Stellenbosch, 04/2015-02/2020, PhD Student at Stellenbosch, #: Senior Lecturer Stellenbosch)
Teaching
Important. I created a github repository for all my teaching material. In particular, I have uploaded the slides for my course on Financial Regulation and Fintech and Cryptocurrencies. Check out the wiki which contains tons of material. Comments welcome.We have launched a fantastic online short course on Fintech: Disruption in Finance aimed at finance professionals in collaboration with GetSmarter. You can enroll here.
We have now launched all four Coursera massive open online course that are part of our specialization Fintech Startups in Emerging Markets Specialization. Check out our awesome promo video for our first course.
Useful advise:
Lasse Heje Pedersen has a most useful tutorial on "How to succeed in academia" which I urge all students to read. Before starting to write your thesis or dissertation, read John Cochrane's writing tips for PhD Students (also useful for Masters' Students). Those interested in applied microeconomics should also check out Jesse Shapiro's Unauthoritive Notes and Matthew Gentzkow's Code and Data for the Social Sciences: A Practitioner's Guide (with Jesse Shapiro). Details of how to give an academic talk can be found on Jonathan Shewchuk's website.Contact
E-mail: co-pierre.georg@uct.ac.za | Public keyPGP: 9C5F 4812 9A6A 6717 F285 3825 ED2B 8B83 BC96 CCAB
Postal Address: University of Cape Town, School of Economics, Private Bag X1, Cape Town 8000, South Africa