The CeReFiM studies issues of finance and macroeconomics. In recent years, several research programs have been conducted on specific topics such as complex financial systems, sustainable finance and systemic risk in the mutual fund industry. In most cases, research questions are approached from an empirical perspective using modern econometric techniques.

Currently, CeReFiM consists of a balanced group of senior and junior members who work in close collaboration with each other, as well as with academics and financial practitioners from numerous universities and financial institutions in Belgium and abroad.

The research activity of CeReFiM members materializes in regular publications in international peer-reviewed scientific journals such as the Journal of Econometrics, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, the European Economic Review, the Journal of Banking and Finance and the Journal of International Money and Finance, to name but a few.

Logo du CeReFiM

CeReFiM researchers also regularly take part in major international conferences such as the annual congress of the European Economic Association (EEA), the European meeting of the Econometric Society (ESEM), the Infiniti conference on international finance, the Paris December Finance Meeting, the GRASFI (Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment) conference, the CFE (Computational Financial Econometrics) conference, the International Association of Applied Econometrics (IAAE) conference and the International Statistical Institute's World Statistics Congress (ISI WSC).

The center also encourages short-term research stays, both for foreign researchers in Namur and for CeReFiM members in foreign institutions. Past research stays include, for example, the University of Maryland, the University of Santa Cruz, the Santa Fe Institute, the St. Louis Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.

Finally, CeReFiM members obtain funding from various sources such as the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), the Fonds national de la recherche scientifique (FRS-FNRS) and private partners (e.g. Ageas and BNP Paribas Fortis) as part of research chairs.

Research themes

  • Monetary economics: current research in monetary economics focuses on modeling the decisions of central banks and the impact of their policies.
  • Asset management: research focuses on modeling investment behavior, assessing the trading skills of institutions and studying the properties of asset classes.
  • Sustainable finance: research in sustainable finance focuses on the financial performance of impact and socially responsible investments, as well as the motivations behind the decisions of sustainable investors.
  • Financial econometrics and quantitative methods: current research in financial econometrics focuses on financial market volatility and microstructure, financial institutions, corporate finance and governance, high-frequency data and DSGE model estimation using survey data.
  • Financial macroeconomics: research aims to improve researchers' understanding of the interactions between the financial and real economies.

Permanent members

  • Sophie Béreau
  • Oscar Bernal Diaz
  • Alain de Crombrugghe de Picquendaele
  • Pierre Giot
  • Jean-Yves Gnabo
  • Romain Houssa
  • Anna Kiriliouk
  • Yuliya Rychalovska
  • Joey Soudant
All CeREFIM members in the UNamur organization chart