The New York Fed’s Research and Statistics Group combines leading-edge academic research with rigorous policy analysis in an intellectually dynamic and collegial environment.

This brochure offers an overview of our research and policy work and describes the distinctive culture and resources of the Group. It also details the responsibilities of our six functions, identifies our current staff of economists, and highlights the economists’ research interests and recent publications.

A First-Rate Research Community
Our most important asset is our more than sixty Ph.D. economists, a concentration of expertise far larger than that of most university economics departments. Recognized as leading researchers in their fields, these individuals bring breadth and depth to their work in macroeconomics, banking, payments, finance, applied microeconomics, and international economics.

Our economists have compiled an impressive record of publishing in the most highly regarded economics and finance journals. Since 2001, fifty articles by New York Fed ­economists have appeared in the American Economic Review, the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Review of Economic Studies, and the Review of Financial Studies. Our economists’ work is also extensively represented in the top field journals and in other important outlets.

The New York Fed is a great place for economists who want to combine their research with policy work. It provides an opportunity to work with the most renowned academics in the world through the Visiting Scholars Program and seminars, as well as access to the policy decision-making process. Mary Amiti, London School of Economics and Political Science International Research Function

New York Fed economists complement their publishing activity by serving on a variety of editorial boards. Current and recent assignments include:

Our economists are also highly visible in the profession, presenting research at preeminent colleges and universities worldwide. They have given papers at the American Economic Association, the American Finance Association, the Bank for International Settlements, the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the International Monetary Fund, the National Bureau of Economic Research, the U.S. Treasury Department, and the world’s central banks.

What strikes me most about the Bank is the extraordinary degree of intellectual excitement here. My colleagues work on the most challenging and topical policy issues and are eager to debate ideas. Stimulating seminars and presentations are offered nearly daily, and visitors from New York University, Princeton, and Columbia contribute richly to the discourse. Marco Del Negro, Yale Macroeconomic and Monetary Studies Function

A First-Year Plan Focusing on Research and Publication
The Research Group recognizes how important it is for young economists to get their research agenda under way as quickly as possible. For new Ph.D. hires, the primary goal in the first year is to produce research and publish in the major journals. To that end, we have designed a first-year plan that allows new economists to devote 90 percent of their time to developing publishable work. We provide additional support in the form of state-of-the-art computing capabilities, ready access to a wide range of economic data, and the assistance of highly trained research associates.

In the first year, new Ph.D. economists also familiarize themselves with the New York Fed’s policy missions by interacting with economists in their area and with other professionals Bankwide. They may contribute to a team working on a policy issue or help prepare a briefing on economic developments for the Bank’s president and senior officers.

The New York Fed is an ideal workplace for young economists who want to conduct academic research and gain valuable insight into economic policy decision-making processes and the workings of financial markets. The Bank provides excellent resources in the form of ample research time, computing facilities, and opportunities to interact with an outstanding group of colleagues and distinguished academic visitors. Emanuel Moench, Humboldt University Berlin Capital Markets Function

The environment here fosters an extraordinary degree of collaboration and exchange. Economists regularly work together on policy initiatives, and this interaction encourages a lively team spirit that can be missing in academic departments. In addition, economists frequently coauthor articles and make joint presentations.

Adding to the collegial nature of the Research Group is the lack of a divide between senior and junior staff; there is virtually no hierarchy setting new economists apart from their more experienced colleagues.

With its emphasis on research and its breadth of supporting professionals, combined with its key role in formulating economic policy, the New York Fed provides a research setting like no other. It is a great place for economists to conduct independent research, derive new ideas from current policy issues, and see those ideas inform policymaking at the highest level. Tanju Yorulmazer, NYU Financial Intermediation Function

An Environment Where Ideas Flourish
The Research Group benefits greatly from the New York Fed’s proximity to top-tier universities. In recent years, the Group has cosponsored conferences with institutions such as Columbia, Harvard, NYU, and Princeton. Fed economists frequently give seminars at these and other institutions.

It’s a great experience working in the Research Group. You have the ability to put your own academic research to work, which stimulates participation in the policy debate and the development of new ideas. Argia Sbordone, Chicago Macroeconomic and Monetary Studies Function

Teaching Activity
Economists also enjoy the opportunity to teach while on staff—whether they take a leave of absence from the Bank or teach part time while here. Recent teaching activities include:

Jaison Abel		University at Buffalo
Tobias Adrian		Princeton; Seoul National University
Gauti Eggertsson		Yale
Stefano Eusepi		NYU
Andrea Ferrero		NYU
Michael Fleming		NYU
Linda Goldberg		Princeton
Andrew Haughwout		Princeton
Rebecca Hellerstein		NYU
Donald Morgan		Columbia; NYU
Paolo Pesenti		NYU; Princeton; University of Oslo
Til Schuermann		Columbia; Wharton
Andrea Tambalotti		Columbia
James Vickery		NYU; Princeton
Zhenyu Wang		Columbia
Tanju Yorulmazer		NYU

The New York Fed is an ideal place to conduct financial markets research. It gives economists the opportunity to interact on a regular basis with the Bank’s Markets Group, where trading on behalf of the Federal Reserve System occurs, and with Bank Supervision staff—while working in a rigorous academic environment. Tobias Adrian, MIT Capital Markets Function

Sabbatical Program
Our sabbatical program offers economists opportunities to concentrate fully on their own research. The program enables individuals pursuing a specific plan of study to devote up to 100 percent of their time to qualifying work.

Under the program, economists with four or more years of service at the Bank can apply to take between two and twelve months of leave. They receive 90 percent of their salary while on the first six months of leave and 75 percent during the next six months. Economists can also work part time while on sabbatical if the employment contributes to their professional development. For example, an economist can hold a visiting position at a university or other research institution, with limited teaching or other responsibilities.

Economists have taken advantage of the program to work at such institutions as the Bank of Portugal, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Columbia University, the European University Institute, New York University, the University of Bern, and the University of Lausanne.

My research here has been enriched by work on real-world policy issues. In fact, some of my best research ideas have come directly from questions raised by colleagues in Bank Supervision and from issues that have surfaced during policy debates. Beverly Hirtle, MIT Financial Intermediation Function

Visiting Scholars Program
To help maintain a stimulating and supportive environment for staff economists, the Research Group regularly invites economists from major research institutions to be visiting scholars at the Bank. The visitors present their own work and make themselves available to discuss our economists’ current research.

Visiting scholars in 2010-11 include:

The Research Group’s collegial atmosphere leads to a remarkable amount of discussion and collaboration across fields. In addition, the seminar series and visitors program are first rate and provide excellent opportunities for exchange with other economists. Todd Keister, Cornell Money and Payments Studies Function

A Gateway to Academia
The scope and seriousness of our research environment are reflected in our relationship with academia.

The Group has hired many of its more senior economists from university economics and finance faculties. In turn, a number of our economists have gone on to accept faculty positions at prestigious colleges and universities, including Boston College, Brandeis, Columbia, Dartmouth, New York University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Chicago, the University of Stockholm, and the University of Virginia.

The New York Fed offers an unusually collegial environment for young economists to develop their research. I don’t know of another institution that provides the same level of support–in the form of attention from senior colleagues, time for research, promotion of one’s work, access to high-level data sets, and the assistance of full-time research associates. Rebecca Hellerstein, UC Berkeley International Research Function

Seminars
The Research Group actively encourages participation in seminars and conferences. Ample funds are available for economists to travel to conferences in the United States and abroad. The Bank also provides travel support for those wishing to work with coauthors outside the Bank.
In addition, we offer a seminar series that attracts a broad group of distinguished speakers. We present several seminars a week—a clear indication of our commitment to the series.

Selected seminars in 2010 included:

• “Increased-Liability Equity: A Proposal to Improve Capital Regulation of Large Financial Institutions,” Anat Admati, Stanford University
  
  
• “The Information Content of Financial Market Pass-Through: Decomposing Oil Shocks into Demand and Supply Components,” Daniel Ahn, Citadel Investment Group
  
  
• “The Role of Macroprudential Policy,” David Aikman, Bank of England
  
  
• “Financial Connections and Systemic Risk,” Franklin Allen, University of Pennsylvania
  
  
• “Inattentive Professional Forecasters,” Philippe Andrade, Bank of France
  
  
• “A Cross-Sectional Investigation of the Conditional ICAPM,” Turan Bali, Baruch College
  
  
• “The Effects of Social Security Policies and Employment Uncertainty on the Labor Supply and Claiming Behavior of Older Workers,” Hugo Benitez-Silva, State University of New York at Stony Brook
  
  
• “Multiproduct Firms and Price-Setting: Theory and Evidence from U.S. Producer Prices,” Saroj Bhattaraj and Raphael Schoenle, Princeton University
  
  
• “The Effects of Training and Workfare on Not-Yet-Treated Unemployed Individuals,” Marco Caliendo, Institute for the Study of Labor
  
  
• “Interbank Offered Rate: Effects of the Financial Crisis on the Information Content of the Fixing,” Alexandre Chailloux, International Monetary Fund
  
  
• “Yesterday’s Heroes: Compensation and Creative Risk-Taking,” Ing-Haw Cheng, University of Michigan
  
  
• “A Faith-Based Initiative Meets the Evidence: Does a Flexible Exchange Rate Regime Really Facilitate Current Account Adjustment?” Menzie Chinn, University of Wisconsin
  
  
• “Estimating a Structural Model of Herd Behavior in Financial Markets,” Marco Cipriani, George Washington University
  
  
• “HIV/AIDS-Related Expectations and Risky Behavior in Malawi,” Adeline Delavande, Universidade Nova de Lisboa
  
  
• “The Role of Debt and Equity Finance over the Business Cycle,” Wouter den Haan, University of Amsterdam
  
  
• “Fear of Fire Sales and the Credit Freeze,” Douglas Diamond, University of Chicago
  
  
• “Heterogeneous Workers and Labor Market Dynamics following Trade Shocks,” Rafael Dix Carneiro, Princeton University
  
  
• “State-Space Models and MIDAS Regressions,” Eric Ghysels, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  
  
• “Optimal Target Criteria for Stabilization Policy,” Marc Giannoni, Columbia University
  
  
• “Disaster Risk and Business Cycles,” François Gourio, Boston University
  
  
• “Econometric Methods for the Analysis of Assignment Problems in the Presence of Complementarity and Social Spillovers,” Bryan Graham, New York University
  
  
• “Labor Market Flows and Vacancies in the Cross Section and over Time,” John Haltiwanger, University of Maryland
  
  
• “Dads and Daughters: The Changing Impact of Fathers on Women’s Occupational Choices,” Judith Hellerstein, University of Maryland
  
  
• “Determinants of Currency Invoicing in Japanese Exports: A Firm-Level Analysis,” Takatoshi Ito, University of Tokyo
  
  
• “The Global Liquidity Trap,” Olivier Jeanne, Johns Hopkins University
  
  
• “Law, Organization Form, and Taxes: Financial Crises and Regulation through Incentives,” Kose John, New York University
  
  
• “A New Perspective on Gaussian DTSMs,” Scott Joslin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  
  
• “Are the Responses of the U.S. Economy Asymmetric in Energy Price Increases and Decreases?” Lutz Kilian, University of Michigan
  
  
• “Systemic Risk-Taking: Amplification Effects, Externalities, and Regulatory Responses,” Anton Korinek, University of Maryland
  
  
• “Fiscal Policy, the Term Structure, and Yield Spreads,” Thomas Laubach, Goethe University Frankfurt
  
  
• “Firm Exports and Multinational Activity under Credit Constraints,” Kalina Manova, Stanford University
  
  
• “Financial Innovation and the Credit Channel: The Impact of Securitization on Corporate Credit,” Atif Mian, University of Chicago
  
  
• “Issues and Puzzles of Auction Market Design,” Paul Milgrom, Stanford University
  
  
• “Illiquidity Component of Credit Risk,” Stephen Morris, Princeton University
  
  
• “The Role of Simplification and Information in College Decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAFSA Experiment,” Philip Oreopoulos, University of Toronto
  
  
• “Market Size, Competition, and the Product Mix of Exporters,” Gianmarco Ottaviano, Bocconi University
  
  
• “Monetary Policy Risk and the Cross Section of Stock Returns,” Francisco Palomino, University of Michigan
  
  
• “Credit Ratings and the Evolution of the Mortgage-Backed Securities Market,” Jun Qian, Boston College
  
  
• “Moral Hazard and Debt Maturity,” Rafael Repullo, Center for Monetary and Financial Studies
  
  
• “Equilibrium Credit Ratings and Policy,” Chester Spatt, Carnegie Mellon University
  
  
• “Asset Prices and Risk Sharing in Open Economies,” Andreas Stathopoulos, University of Southern California
  
  
• “Learning about Academic Ability and the College Drop-Out Decision,” Todd Stinebrickner, University of Western Ontario
  
  
• “Costly Contracts and Consumer Credit,” Michele Tertilt, Stanford University
  
  
• “Country Insurance and Corporate Risk-Taking,” Hui Tong, International Monetary Fund
  
  
• “Common Risk Factors in Currency Markets,” Adrien Verdelhan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  
  
• “Stress, Crises, and Policy,” Xavier Vives, University of Navarra
  
  
• “Dynamic Financing Contracts,” Noah Williams, University of Wisconsin
  
  
• “Q-Theory with Curvature,” Lu Zhang, University of Michigan
  

Conferences
Over the past few years, the Research Group has hosted many well-received research conferences addressing a diverse set of topics, including central bank liquidity tools, the global dimensions of the financial crisis, disclosure requirements and market discipline of financial firms, monetary policy and the money market, policy options for affordable housing, inflation-indexed securities and inflation risk management, and strategies for improving the measurement of economic and financial market performance.

The commitment to academic research at the Bank is outstanding. This commitment is reflected in the amount of time economists can devote to pure research as well as in the numerous seminars, distinguished visiting professors, and exceptional colleagues here. David Skeie, Princeton Money and Payments Studies Function

Conferences Over the past few years, the Research Group has hosted many well-received research conferences addressing a diverse set of topics, including central bank liquidity tools, disclosure requirements and market discipline of financial firms, monetary policy and the money market, policy options for affordable housing, inflation-indexed securities and inflation risk management, and strategies for improving the measurement of economic and financial market performance.

The New York Fed is unique in its emphasis on academic research and policy research. Ample resources—including excellent computing support, the assistance of dedicated research associates, multiple seminar series, and a rich visitors program—provide an ideal research environment. In addition, the opportunities for relating academic research to practical policy and real-world applications make the experience here all the more exciting and fruitful. Rajashri Chakrabarti, Cornell Microeconomic and Regional Studies Function

A Rich Computing Environment The Research Group’s state-of-the-art Research Computing Environment (RCE) offers economists a broad spectrum of technology resources, the ability to take advantage of real and financial data series, and electronic access to academic journals. Dedicated information technology and automation support services are available to meet researchers’ individual needs. The main elements of the research ­computing environment include: A functional network infrastructure. Our network resources accommodate a full range of research activities. The flexible Research Accessible Network (RAN) supports econo­mists’ academic work and collaboration by providing convenient access to outside resources through the Internet as well as to Research Group resources from outside the Bank. The Bank’s secure internal network can be used to conduct confidential and classified policy work as well as to access e-mail, internal Federal Reserve System websites, and productivity applications and utilities. A high-performance computing environment of Linux clusters. More than 200 processors allow for parallel computing in Research, complemented by additional Solaris and Linux servers. Application servers support parallel and serial work in SAS, MATLAB, STATA, Fortran, and other standard and specialized econometric resources. Robust data-storage solutions. Our Research Storage Area Network—housing 20 terabytes of fully protected data, and growing— supports analysis of large data sets on the Bank’s network. Versatile workstation options. Windows, Linux, and Mac desktop and laptop solutions can be combined to meet economists’ research needs. A dual-workstation option affords simultaneous access to the Bank network and the RAN. A variety of peripherals—including dual-head monitors, external hard drives, high-end color printers, and secure USB drives—complement these workstation features. Access to software resources. Numerous econometric software packages and modules are available, including MATLAB, STATA, Mathematica, SAS, the R programming language, EViews, and GAUSS. Technical word-processing packages, such as Scientific Workplace and WinEdt, are fully supported. Data. A full range of economic and financial data is on hand—much of which might not be available in many academic environments. Convenient remote access. An array of automated tools streamline Research work at home or while traveling; BlackBerry devices are available for mobile communication. Extensive Professional Support A superb group of administrative, computer, editorial, design, and library professionals help economists meet their research objectives. Joining this group of support personnel are roughly forty research associates, who offer skilled and energetic assistance in gathering data, conducting statistical analysis, and preparing materials for presentations. Our RAs are typically recent college graduates who intend to pursue a Ph.D. in economics. Indeed, since 2001, twenty-two RAs have gone on to top-five Ph.D. programs while another ­twenty-five have entered top-twenty programs. Among this group, seven RAs have been awarded National Science Foundation fellowships.

Economists looking for a dynamic and exciting work environment will be glad they joined the New York Fed. Each day brings new economic questions to answer and challenges to address, with potentially far-reaching implications. Ayşegül Şahin, University of Rochester Macroeconomic and Monetary Studies Function

Wide Internet Exposure Personal web pages on the New York Fed’s site heighten economists’ visibility in the academic, policy, and business communities. The pages feature the economist’s biography and field of interest as well as links to curricula vitae, publications, and working papers. These pages are among the most visited on the Research Group’s website.

The New York Fed stands at the crossroads of policymaking and important academic research. It offers economists a unique chance to conduct research on key policy issues and to broaden their own research interests through policy work. Wilbert van der Klaauw, Brown Microeconomic and Regional Studies Function

Census Research Data Center The Research Group, on behalf of the New York Fed, helped establish a U.S. Census Bureau Research Data Center in New York City. The Bank is a founding member of the consortium that supports the facility, joining other leading universities and research organizations in New York State. The presence of the Research Data Center in the New York area supports an important strand of empirical research in the Bank and the region. At the Data Centers, researchers who have completed a rigorous project review process can access in a secure facility selected confidential economic and demographic microdata gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau. The New York Fed’s consortium membership entitles Research Group economists to use the facility to conduct research with no additional lab fees or the need to travel. What I find especially rewarding here is that my theoretical and empirical research can have important implications for the Bank’s policy work. Furthermore, my exposure to the policymaking process shapes my own contributions to the policy debates in my academic field. João Santos, Boston University Financial Intermediation Function To learn more about joining the Research Group: www.newyorkfed.org/careers/phd.html. By conviction and action, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is an equal opportunity employer.