Overview
Professor Matthew Baron's primary research focus is on banking crises. These periods of extreme stress in banking systems, which often involve widespread bank failures and depositor runs, are a recurring phenomenon throughout economic history. The overarching goal of his work is to uncover the fundamental sources of financial fragility, understand the mechanisms through which distress in the financial sector affects the macroeconomy, and guide policy development to prevent future banking crises. Baron is working on several new research projects related to: 1) the role of investor beliefs in driving banking crises, 2) the interplay between bank insolvency and illiquidity in driving crisis dynamics, 3) the dynamics of bank equity capitalization around crises, 4) the role of implicit creditor guarantees, 5) the reorganization of the banking sector during banking crises, and 6) the long shadow of bank distress in the aftermath of crises.
Professor Baron's published work has appeared in academic journals such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Review of Financial Studies. His research has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and other media outlets. His research is funded by grants from the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), Governor's Woods Foundation, Cornell Center for Social Sciences, and Einaudi Center for International Studies. He has served as a visiting researcher at the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Professor Baron teaches Investment and Portfolio Management and Behavioral Finance at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, along with co-teaching sections for the Cornell-Tsinghua Finance MBA program and PhD in Management program. He has advised a variety of PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, and research assistants, who have subsequently attained positions at top-ranked academic institutions and central banks around the world.
Professor Baron holds a PhD in economics from Princeton University and a BS in mathematics from Yale University.
Professor Baron’s primary affiliation is with the Johnson Graduation School of Management at Cornell University. His main website can be found here.