Financial Policy and Institutions Program

Financial intermediaries play a crucial role in channeling capital from investors to companies. We define financial intermediaries broadly, including not only commercial banks, but also investment banks and providers of private equity and venture capital. Thus, our research program focuses not only on ‘traditional’ banking questions, such as the regulation of commercial banks and the monetary transmission channels between the banking sector and the real economy, but also on the role and efficiency of investment banks and private equity funds in helping companies raise capital. Many of these topic areas raise important public policy questions, and the faculty members affiliated with the Financial Institutions and Policy program are applying their knowledge and expertise and directing their scholarly research to address these questions. Please browse through and use this website to learn about our faculty affiliates and their work and about how their research can be useful to you as a practitioner, policy maker, or regulator, a business leader, a member of the press, a fellow academic, or—last but not least—a concerned citizen.