Yiran Fan Memorial Conference

The Yiran Fan Memorial Conference
Every year, scholars in financial economics gather to share ongoing research in a series of alumni and student presentations as part of a commemorative event dedicated to our late colleague, Yiran Fan. Faculty announced the Yiran Fan Memorial Fellowship during the 2023 conference and have presented the Yiran Fan Memorial Prize to a student awardee since 2021 (see 2025 winner below). The 2025 iteration of the conference was held on Tuesday, May 27 in The Charles M. Harper Center at the Chicago Booth School of Business. Conference participants hope to continue to carry the promise of Yiran's contributions forward.

During his time at Booth, Yiran was completing a doctoral degree in Financial Economics and working as a Professional Development Fellow at the Fama-Miller Center for Research in Finance. You can find more details on the life and legacy of Yiran Fan in the Economics Department's remembrance letter and by visiting the Chicago Booth memoriam page.

Agenda and Registration

See event details below.

When?

The conference was held on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.

Where?

The event was hosted at the Chicago Booth Harper Center.

Yiran Fan Memorial Prize Announcement

The Yiran Fan Memorial Prize is a fellowship established in memory of late UChicago PhD student, Yiran Fan, which includes contributions from Fan’s parents and is awarded to a student in the Joint Program in Financial Economics.

It was established to commemorate Yiran Fan's kind and generous spirit and his devotion to bringing together fellow students, young researchers, and faculty as companions in learning. The prize is award by a student selection committee based on student nominations for the graduate student who made the greatest contribution to establishing and maintaining an open and nurturing learning environment for those with interests in economic dynamics, macroeconomics, or financial economics.

Picture of a young, smiling, dark-haired man wearing glasses and a blue, checkered shirt and vest in front of a blurred wooden background. The picture is bordered by a thin, red-lined frame with a red star in the center.

2025 Yiran Fan Prize Awardee

José M. Quintero is a PhD student in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on macroeconomics with particular interest in misallocation of resources, economic growth and development.

Picture of a young, smiling, dark-haired man wearing glasses and a grey shirt in front of a blurred fall-leafed background. The picture is bordered by a thin, red-lined frame with a red star in the center.

2024 Yiran Fan Prize Awardee

Manav Chaudhary is a PhD student in the Joint Program in Financial Economics at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics. Manav will join the London School of Economics as an Assistant Professor of Finance in Fall 2025. His research focuses on asset pricing and macroeconomics.

2023 Yiran Fan Prize Awardee

Marco Losoto is a graduate of the PhD program in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. Marco is an Assistant Professor at Bocconi University and an IGIER affiliate.

2022 Yiran Fan Prize Co-Awardee

Will Cassidy graduated from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2023 with a PhD in Finance. Will is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Washington University in St. Louis, Olin School of Business.

2022 Yiran Fan Prize Co-Awardee

Aditya Chaudhry graduated from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2023 with a PhD in Finance. Aditya is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.

2021 Yiran Fan Prize Awardee

Simon Oh graduated from the Joint Program in Financial Economics at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics in 2024. Simon is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Columbia Business School.

2025 Yiran Fan Memorial Conference

Tuesday, May 27, 2025
University of Chicago Booth Harper Center

8:30-9:00 a.m.: Registration (continental breakfast)
*registration is restricted to invitees*
9:00-9:05 a.m.: Welcome

9:05-10:05 am.: Presentation 1
Filippo Cavaleri: "Segmented Markets and the Pricing of the Government Debt Portfolio"
Discussant: Jaroslav Borovicka, PhD ‘12
10:05-10:15: Break (10 mins)

10:15-11:15 am.: Presentation 2
Raman Chhina: "Welfare Costs and Benefits of Deficit Financed Fiscal Policy"
Discussant: Paymon Khorrami, PhD ‘19
11:15-11:30: Break (10 mins)

Lunch
11:30-1:00 p.m.: Announcement of 2024 Yiran Fan Memorial Fellowship and 2025 Yiran Fan Memorial Prize
Featured Speaker: Mark Egan, PhD ‘15
1:00-1:15: Break (15 mins)

1:15-2:15 p.m.: Presentation 3
Joanna Harris: "Heterogeneous Impacts of Environmental Regulation"
Discussant: Simon Oh, PhD ‘24
No Break

2:15-3:15 p.m.: Presentation 4
Jessica Li: "Complementarity of Bank and Market Debt in Dynamic Debt Structure"
Discussant: Maryam Farboodi, PhD ‘14
3:15-3:30: Break (15 mins)

3:30-4:30 p.m.: Presentation 5
Bianca He: "Financing Intangibles"
Discussant: Alan Moreira, PhD ‘11
4:30-4:45: Break (15 mins)

4:45-6:00 p.m.: Student Poster Presentations & Reception

Monica Barbosa: “What Drives New Fund Creation?”
Thomas Bourany: “The Distributional Consequences of Climate Uncertainty”
Nimisha Gupta: “Capital Controls, Misallocation and Risk: Cross-country Evidence from Firms’ Bond Issuance”
Jose Quintero: “Stepping Stones or Traps? The Dynamics of Informal Employment”
Enrico Stivella: “Loans and Human Capital: Manager Mobility in the Financial Sector and Credit Allocation”
Judy Yue: “The Elegance of Decline: Optimal Strategies for Resolving Distressed Office Loans”

2024 Yiran Fan Memorial Conference

Thursday, April 11, 2024
Gleacher Center

8:30-9:00 a.m.: Registration (continental breakfast)
*registration is restricted to invitees*
9:00-9:05 a.m.: Welcome

9:05-10:05 a.m.: Presentation 1
Filippo Cavaleri: A Preferred-Habitat Model with a Corporate Sector
Discussant: Aaron Pancost, PhD ’16
10:05-10:15: Break (10 mins)

10:15-11:15 a.m. : Presentation 2
Thomas Bourany: Optimal Energy Policy and the Inequality of Climate Change
Discussant: Michael Barnett, PhD ’19
11:15-11:30: Break (10 mins)

11:30-1:00 p.m..: Lunch and announcement of 2023 Yiran Fan Memorial Fellowship and 2024 Yiran Fan Memorial Prize
Featured Speaker: Alan Moreira, PhD ’11
1:00-1:15: Break (15 mins)

1:15-2:15 p.m.: Presentation 3
Joanna Harris: The Effect of Environmental Preferences on Investor Responses to ESG Disclosure
Discussant: Marina Niessner, PhD ’13
No Break

2:15-3:15 p.m.: Presentation 4
Manav Chaudhary: Corporate Bond Multipliers: Substitutes Matter
Discussant: Yoshio Nozawa, PhD ’13
3:15-3:30: Break (15 mins)

3:30-4:30 p.m.: Presentation 5
Federico Mainardi: A Demand-Based Approach to Short-Selling
Discussant: Stefano Pegoraro, PhD ’20
4:30-4:45: Break (15 mins)

4:45-6:00 p.m.: Student Poster Presentations and Catered Reception (Gleacher)

Bianca He: Financing Intangibles
Xiaoyang Li: Industry Shakeouts after an Innovation Breakthrough
Edward Jee: Poverty Traps and Transfers
Doga Akar Bilgin: VAR-ifying Predictions: Inferring Implicit Models from Published Forecasts
Jingoo Kwon: Risk, Disagreement, and Forecast Dispersion

2023 Yiran Fan Memorial Conference

Friday, June 9, 2023

Rubenstein Forum, Peter May Boardroom
8:30-9:00 a.m.: Registration (coffee/tea), 8th floor

9:00-9:05 a.m.: Welcome

9:05-10:05 a.m.: Presentation 1
Marco Loseto: The Structure of Investment Advisors’ Markups: Evidence from Retirement Allocations
Discussant: Adam Jorring
10:05-10:15: Break (8th floor lounge)

10:15-11:15 a.m. : Presentation 2
Valentin Haddad: What do Financial Markets Say about the Exchange Rate?
Discussant: Will Cassidy
11:15-11:30: Break (8th floor lounge)

11:30-11:45 a.m.: Lunch served and announcement of Yiran Fan Memorial Fellowship and Yiran Fan Memorial Prize recipients (Room 801)

11:45-1:00 p.m.
Featured Speaker: Jaroslav Borovicka
1:00-1:15: Break (8th floor lounge)

1:15-2:15 p.m.: Presentation 3
Simon Oh: Social Inflation
Discussant: Tarik Umar
No Break

2:15-3:15 p.m.: Presentation 4
Ehsan Azarmsa: Is Asset Demand Elasticity Set at the Household or Intermediary Level?
Discussant: Aditya Chaudhry
3:15-3:30: Break (8th floor lounge)

3:30-4:30 p.m.: Presentation 5
Zhiyu Fu: Flighty Capital Flows and the Making of Safe Currencies
Discussant: Johnathan Loudis
4:30-4:45: Break (8th floor lounge)

4:45-6:00 p.m.: Student Poster Presentations and Reception (Room 802)

Federico Mainardi
Jessica Li
Manav Chaudhary
Johanna Harris
Ben Marrow
Filippo Cavaleri

6:00 p.m.: Small group dinners (registration required)

Saturday June 10

Rubenstein Forum, Peter May Boardroom

9:00-10:00 a.m.: Presentation 6
Yoshio Nozawa: Duration-Based Valuation of Corporate Bonds
Discussant: Fulin Li
10:00-10:10: Break (8th floor lounge)

10:10-11:10 a.m.: Presentation 7
Aleksei Oskolkov: Heterogeneous Impact of the Global Financial Cycle
Discussant: Paymon Khorrami
11:10-11:20: Break (8th floor lounge)

11:20a.m.-12:20p.m.: Presentation 8
Douglas Xu: Bank Technology Adoption and Loan Production in the U.S. Mortgage Market
Discussant: Agustin Hurtado

12:30 p.m.: Closing, Box lunches will be available in the 8th floor lounge

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