Call For Papers
1st SUERF/UniCredit & Universities Foundation Research Prize: Banking and Financial Markets between Integration and Segmentation after the Crisis

Deadline for Submissions: 15 September 2013

MOTIVATION: The financial, economic and sovereign debt crisis has, among many other things, caused a severe setback for banking and financial market integration in the European Union and the Euro Area. Interbank money markets have become substantially less liquid, cross-border lending came to a virtual halt during acute crisis periods, requiring the Eurosystem to step in as an intermediary. The sovereign debt crisis has been characterised by sharply diverging risk perceptions among Euro Area sovereign borrowers, resulting in soaring yield differentials and sharply increased home bias in sovereign bond markets. Actual or feared bank runs and massive capital flight from some Euro Area countries prompted heavy central bank and government crisis intervention, including in one Euro Area country even the introduction of capital controls. Banks are suffering substantial losses due to crisis and recession-related developments, forcing them to downsize and restructure their national and cross-border operations. In an effort to prevent a repetition of the crisis, a substantial body of new regulation has been designed at the international and EU levels, and is now being implemented by national regulators and gradually fulfilled by banks and other financial intermediaries. Financial innovation is stigmatised and has lost much of its pre-crisis momentum, potentially reducing arbitrage across markets and regions. Recognition of the incompatibility of internationally operating banks with national supervision, bank resolution and deposit insurance has prompted the creation of a European Banking Union, with work on the Single Supervisory Mechanism being most advanced. Increasing fiscal pressures prompt higher taxation of capital, wealth and the financial industry, and have recently invigorated national and international measures to fight tax arbitrage and evasion.

Against this background, papers of high scientific quality are sought, which analyse the driving forces, interrelationships and possible consequences of the above developments with respect to the integration or segmentation of banking and financial markets in Europe. The papers may be both of a theoretical or empirical nature, their research question and conclusions should have clear policy relevance.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRIZE: The SUERF/UniCredit & Universities Foundation Research Prize is open to authors and co authors who are citizens or residents/students in the EEA, Switzerland, and other countries in which UniCredit is present (in addition to EEA countries, the latter also include Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine) and born after 15 September 1978. Prizes of EUR 5,000 gross will be awarded to up to two outstanding papers on topics related to "Banking and Financial Markets between Integration and Segmentation after the Crisis". The winning papers will be presented at a short SUERF/UniCredit & Universities Foundation Seminar to be held in Vienna on the morning of Thursday, 12 December, 2013. Subject to agreement by the authors, SUERF and the UniCredit & Universities Foundation the papers may be published on the organisers' respective websites.

PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Submissions should be submitted through the online submission form on the UniCredit & Universities Foundation website at http://www.unicreditanduniversities.eu in PDF format by 15 September 2013, in English. Applications should be accompanied by brief curriculum vitae including the candidate's date of birth and a copy of current identity documents that confirm the author's/authors' date of birth(s) and eligibility. The prize is open to papers that have been finalised within the last 12 months prior to the deadline for submissions. Full terms and conditions of entry can be downloaded from the SUERF and UniCredit & Universities Foundation websites.