Matteo Maggiori Wins 2021 Fischer Black Prize

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Maggiori’s research sheds light on how capital moves around the world. | Courtesy Matteo Maggiori

Stanford economist Matteo Maggiori, who studies international macroeconomics and finance, has received the prestigious Fischer Black Prize in recognition of a body of work that demonstrates both originality of scholarship and relevance for financial practice. Administered by the American Finance Association, the prize is the preeminent early-career honor in the field of finance.

“Matteo is the first resident faculty member of Stanford to receive the award,” said Jonathan Levin, the Philip H. Knight Professor and Dean of Stanford GSB. “His work tackles some of the biggest questions in the global economy with insight and rigor.”

Maggiori’s research areas include the analysis of exchange rate dynamics, global capital flows, the international financial system, the role of the dollar as a reserve currency, tax havens, bubbles, expectations and portfolio investment, and very long-run discount rates.

“I am honored to receive the award,” said Maggiori. “I am particularly happy because it recognizes all the progress made in the field of international macroeconomics and finance. Progress made not just by me, but also by my coauthors and other young scholars in the field.”

One area that Maggiori, 38, seeks to better understand is how capital is allocated globally.

“It’s a core issue that permeates so many aspects of the global economy — from financial crises to issues of fairness and welfare,” said Maggiori. “With the rise of global investment firms and multinationals, the international flow of capital has become both enormous and very complex. We now have much better data and tools to understand it, which is exciting. I hope that the advances in our knowledge will lead to better international economic policy.”

“Matteo’s work in international finance is distinctive within that field for its focus on the effects of financial intermediaries and financial frictions on exchange rates and the global allocation of capital,” said Amit Seru, the Steven and Roberta Denning Professor of Finance and area coordinator of the finance department at Stanford GSB. “These phenomena have long puzzled academics and industry leaders.”

An associate professor of finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Maggiori is also the Fletcher Jones Faculty Scholar for 2020–2021, a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a research affiliate at the Center for Economic Policy Research. He received his PhD from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2012.

Maggiori’s work has drawn several honors in recent years, including a 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship and the 2019 Carlo Alberto Medal for the best Italian economist under the age of 40. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation (CAREER grant) and selected for the 2012 Review of Economic Studies May Meetings (European Tour).

The Fischer Black Prize is named in memory of Fischer Black, the late partner at Goldman Sachs and professor of finance at the University of Chicago and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Established in 2002, the prize honors individual financial research and is awarded biennially at the AFA’s annual meeting. Yuliy Sannikov, the Jack Steele Parker Professor of Economics, won the prize in 2015, just before moving to Stanford GSB.