Finance Research Graz (FiRe)

FiRe Graz is the finance research platform of the University of Graz. Founded and operated by the Institute of Banking and Finance, the platform is open to all finance researchers with a connection to the University of Graz and also reaches out across organisational boundaries. Its main areas of interest are empirical and experimental research in finance. (more...)

Upcoming events:
FiRe research seminar (October 8, 2024, 16:00-17:30)
FiRe research seminar (November 11, 2024, 16:00-17:30) 

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Successful FiRe Lecture with Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi

 As part of the FiRe Lecture series, Prof. Dr Alexandra Niessen-Ruenzi gave a lecture on June 5th, 2024 on the topic of gender differences in investments. Prof Dr Niessen-Ruenzi highlighted the differences in the capital market participation of women and men based on a comparison between Germany and Austria. She addressed the main causes of this problem and explained that women tend to choose lower-paid professions than men and that there is a wage gap as soon as women enter the labor market. This wage gap widens when women have their first child, which is known as the "child penalty". Even when women return to work, they do not earn as much as they would without children. In addition, women stay away from the capital markets or pursue less risky financial strategies. This puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to building up assets for retirment, especially as women statistically live longer than men.

The relevance of the topic was confirmed by the interest shown by over 100 people of different ages. The participants of the FiRe Lecture listened intently to Prof Niessen-Ruenzi's presentation on gender-specific differences in the capital market. 

The Institute of Banking and Finance would like to thank Prof Niessen-Ruenzi for her insightful lecture, General Director DI Cisar-Leibetseder (Volksbank Steiermark) for her introductory remarks and for sponsoring the event, and the SoWi graduate association and the Finance Club Graz for supporting the event.

Erik Theissen joins Commission of Exchange Experts

Erik Theissen was appointed to the Commission of Exchange Experts of the German Federal Ministry of Finance. This commission advises the Federal Ministry of Finance in questions of capital market policy. Its members include high-ranking representatives of significant German firms such as Siemens AG, DZ Bank AG, Deutsche Post AG, and Deutsche Bundesbank. Erik Theissen will provide his scientific expertise to the commission for the next three years, starting on April 15th, 2024.

Paper on sustainable investments

Together with researchers from Vienna, Stavanger and Brussels, Stefan Palan recently published a paper titled "Can information provision and preference elicitation promote ESG investments? Evidence from a large, incentivized online experiment" in the Journal of Banking and Finance. They study the role that providing information about financial returns and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts plays in influencing investors' decisions towards sustainable investments.

The paper reveals that both financial return information and ESG impact information stimulate investors towards ESG investments. Interestingly, combining these two types of information does not enhance the effect beyond presenting either one alone. This insight is crucial for financial advisors and institutions looking to promote ESG investments among their clients, as it suggests a targeted approach to information provision can be effective.

Link to the paper (open access)

Berivan Gürel wins Reinhard Selten-Stipendium

FiRe is pleased to announce that platform researcher Berivan Gürel won the Reinhard Selten-Stipendium of the Gesellschaft für experimentelle Wirtschaftsforschung e.V. (GfeW) for her research proposal "Risk, Risk Tolerance, and Risk Perception: Experiments studying the role of sex and gender". We are confident that the research project funded by this award will make an important contribution to the rapidly growing literature studying gender differences in financial behavior.

Michael Eggerer joins research platform

Michael Eggerer recently joined the research platform after accepting a position as a project assistant at the Institute of Banking and Finance. Michael is currently completing his master’s degree in business administration at the University of Graz and is about to start his doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. Andrea Schertler. Together with his supervisor, he will work on a project on infractions of anti-money laundering rules in banks.

Erik Theissen wins 'Best Paper Award' at DGF 2023

For his paper "Payment for Order Flow and Market Quality: A Field Experiment" ,  Erik Theissen received the "Best Paper Award" at the 29th Annual Meeting of the German Finance Association (DGF) at the at the University of Hohenheim. During the three-day conference starting on September 28, 2023, participants got a glimpse of the latest research in various areas of finance, with more than 90 papers being presented. We congratulate Erik for presenting the best paper!

Talking about sustainability at financial planner congress

Stefan Palan recently gave a talk at the Financial Planner Forum 2023, held at Merriott Hotel, Vienna, and organized by Prof. Otto Lucius. Speaking in front of around 300 financial professionals, he presented his joint research with Marcel Seifert, Florian Spitzer, Simone Haeckl, Alexia Gaudeul, Erich Kirchler and Katharina Gangl studying ways to promote sustainable investments in the wake of the EU's Green Deal Action Plan on Sustainable Finance. 

For inquiries, please contact fire.graz@uni-graz.at.