Spring Finance Workshop 2025

The fourth edition of the Spring Finance Workshop took place from April 27 to 29, 2025, bringing together top scholars in the field of finance to explore emerging themes across banking, investor expectations, climate finance, asset pricing, and corporate decision-making. Co-organized by Professors Laurent Barras (University of Luxembourg), Mark Podolskij (University of Luxembourg), and Patrick Augustin (McGill University), the workshop continues to grow as a vibrant forum for academic exchange and collaboration.

This year’s event featured cutting-edge research and lively discussion from presenters representing leading institutions, including the University of Colorado Boulder, Federal Reserve Board, University of Toronto, WU Vienna, Copenhagen Business School, Harvard University, and many others.

Award highlights

Andrea Buffa (University of Colorado Boulder) was recognized with the Best Paper Award for his paper “Volatility Disagreement and Asset Prices.” He said, “The fourth edition of the Spring Finance Workshop showcased a wealth of cutting-edge research and thought-provoking discussions. Among such a strong field of insightful contributions, I am honoured to have received the Best Paper Award for my study with Adem Atmaz on volatility disagreement and its implications for the volatility derivatives market.” Organizer Laurent Barras stated, “Using an equilibrium model with disagreement on volatility, Buff and Atmaz’ paper offers a compelling explanation for puzzling features of the variance risk premium and volatility derivatives markets.”

Best Discussion Awards were given to two discussants for their outstanding contributions:

• Harjoat Bhamra (Imperial College), for his discussion of “Maturity Overhang: Evidence from M&A” by Zhiyao Chen, Dirk Hackbarth, Jarrad Harford, and Yuxin Luo. Bhamra added several theoretical insights, including a decomposition of bond value into: (i) a non-amplified component (standard risk-neutral value), and (ii) an amplified component (reflecting feedback from rollover losses).
• Markus Parlasca (WU Vienna), for his discussion of “Reducing Carbon Using Regulatory and Financial Market Tools” by Franklin Allen, Adelina Barbalau, and Federica Zeni. Parlasca highlighted how the presence of alternative climate policies can reduce political support for a carbon tax and how the result is sensitive to assumptions about the utility voters derive from supporting a tax.

The Desmarais Global Finance Research Centre is proud to sponsor this annual workshop and congratulates all participants, presenters, and award winners on another successful edition.