Richard Varghese

Last Updated: October 29, 2024

Richard Varghese is an Economist in the IMF's European Department, covering the Euro Area. Previously, he worked in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, focusing on macrofinancial issues, and in the European Department, co-authoring the Regional Economic Outlook. He has also worked on IMF country teams, participating in Article IV consultations for Luxembourg and Fund-supported programs in Bangladesh and Burkina Faso. Richard holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva. His research interests include macrofinance and monetary policy, and his work has been published in academic journals, including the Journal of Corporate Finance and the European Journal of Political Economy.

Education:

PhD in International Economics, The Graduate Institute, Geneva

Master of Public Administration, London School of Economics, London

Master in Public Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore

B.A. Economics, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi


Field of Expertise:

Monetary Policy

Macro-Financial Issues

IMF Books and Working Papers:

Predicting Financial Crises: The Role of Asset Prices , Working Paper No. 2023/157 , August 04, 2023

Carbon Policy Surprises and Stock Returns: Signals from Financial Markets , Working Paper No. 2023/013 , January 27, 2023

Policy Options for Supporting and Restructuring Firms Hit by the COVID-19 Crisis , Departmental Paper No 2022/002 , February 23, 2022

The COVID-19 Impact on Corporate Leverage and Financial Fragility , Working Paper No. 2021/265 , November 05, 2021

Handle with Care: Regulatory Easing in Times of COVID-19 , Working Paper No. 2021/049 , February 26, 2021

Automation, Skills and the Future of Work: What do Workers Think? , Working Paper No. 19/288 , December 20, 2019

Wage Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Puzzle? , Working Paper No. 19/280 , December 20, 2019

A New Wave of ECB’s Unconventional Monetary Policies: Domestic Impact and Spillovers , Working Paper No. 18/11 , January 24, 2018

iMFdirect Blog Posts

Public Opinion on Automation, 2020, with C. Mulas-Granados and V. Boranova

Chart of the Week: Europe’s Wage-Price Puzzle, 2019

Other Published Materials

Regional Economic Outlook: Europe, 2019, Chapter 2, Wage Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Puzzle?

Publications in Journals (Refereed)

Firms’ rollover risk, capital structure and unequal exposure to aggregate shocks, Journal of Corporate Finance, Volume 80, 2023, 102416, with S. Haque

Politically connected firms and privileged access to credit: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe, European Journal of Political Economy, Volume 71, 102073, 2022, with M. Bussolo, F. de Nicola, and U. Panizza.

Handle with care: Regulatory easing in times of COVID-19, The BE Journal of Macroeconomics, vol. 22, no. 1, 2022, pp. 363-396, with F. Valencia, W. Yao, and J. Yépez.

Wage growth and inflation in Europe: a puzzle?, Oxford Economic Papers, Volume 73, Issue 4, October, 2021, Pages 1427–1453, with V. Boranova, R. Huidrom, S. Nowak, P. Topalova, and V. Tulin.

Other Published Materials

Calm before the storm: The overlooked predictive power of asset prices for financial stability, 2023, VoxEU with T. Hennig and P. Iossifov

Carbon policies and stock returns: Signals from financial markets, 2023, VoxEU, with M. Hengge and U. Panizza

COVID-19, Corporate Leverage, and Financial Fragility, 2021, CLS Blue Sky Blog, with S. Haque

Handle with Care: Regulatory Easing in Times of Covid-19, 2021, BCC Blog, with F. Valencia, W. Yao, and J. Yépez

Wage Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Puzzle?, 2020, BCC Blog, with R. Huidrom and P. Topalova

Political connections, privileged access to credit, and welfare costs, 2020, VoxEU, M. Bussolo, F. de Nicola, and U. Panizza.

Public debt and private investment, 2019, VoxEU, with Y. Huang and U. Panizza

Richard Varghese is an Economist in the IMF's European Department, covering the Euro Area. Previously, he worked in the Strategy, Policy, and Review Department, focusing on macrofinancial issues, and in the European Department, co-authoring the Regional Economic Outlook. He has also worked on IMF country teams, participating in Article IV consultations for Luxembourg and Fund-supported programs in Bangladesh and Burkina Faso. Richard holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva. His research interests include macrofinance and monetary policy, and his work has been published in academic journals, including the Journal of Corporate Finance and the European Journal of Political Economy.

Education:

PhD in International Economics, The Graduate Institute, Geneva

Master of Public Administration, London School of Economics, London

Master in Public Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore

B.A. Economics, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi


Field of Expertise:

Monetary Policy

Macro-Financial Issues

IMF Books and Working Papers:

Predicting Financial Crises: The Role of Asset Prices , Working Paper No. 2023/157 , August 04, 2023

Carbon Policy Surprises and Stock Returns: Signals from Financial Markets , Working Paper No. 2023/013 , January 27, 2023

Policy Options for Supporting and Restructuring Firms Hit by the COVID-19 Crisis , Departmental Paper No 2022/002 , February 23, 2022

The COVID-19 Impact on Corporate Leverage and Financial Fragility , Working Paper No. 2021/265 , November 05, 2021

Handle with Care: Regulatory Easing in Times of COVID-19 , Working Paper No. 2021/049 , February 26, 2021

Automation, Skills and the Future of Work: What do Workers Think? , Working Paper No. 19/288 , December 20, 2019

Wage Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Puzzle? , Working Paper No. 19/280 , December 20, 2019

A New Wave of ECB’s Unconventional Monetary Policies: Domestic Impact and Spillovers , Working Paper No. 18/11 , January 24, 2018

iMFdirect Blog Posts

Public Opinion on Automation, 2020, with C. Mulas-Granados and V. Boranova

Chart of the Week: Europe’s Wage-Price Puzzle, 2019

Other Published Materials

Regional Economic Outlook: Europe, 2019, Chapter 2, Wage Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Puzzle?

Publications in Journals (Refereed)

Firms’ rollover risk, capital structure and unequal exposure to aggregate shocks, Journal of Corporate Finance, Volume 80, 2023, 102416, with S. Haque

Politically connected firms and privileged access to credit: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe, European Journal of Political Economy, Volume 71, 102073, 2022, with M. Bussolo, F. de Nicola, and U. Panizza.

Handle with care: Regulatory easing in times of COVID-19, The BE Journal of Macroeconomics, vol. 22, no. 1, 2022, pp. 363-396, with F. Valencia, W. Yao, and J. Yépez.

Wage growth and inflation in Europe: a puzzle?, Oxford Economic Papers, Volume 73, Issue 4, October, 2021, Pages 1427–1453, with V. Boranova, R. Huidrom, S. Nowak, P. Topalova, and V. Tulin.

Other Published Materials

Calm before the storm: The overlooked predictive power of asset prices for financial stability, 2023, VoxEU with T. Hennig and P. Iossifov

Carbon policies and stock returns: Signals from financial markets, 2023, VoxEU, with M. Hengge and U. Panizza

COVID-19, Corporate Leverage, and Financial Fragility, 2021, CLS Blue Sky Blog, with S. Haque

Handle with Care: Regulatory Easing in Times of Covid-19, 2021, BCC Blog, with F. Valencia, W. Yao, and J. Yépez

Wage Growth and Inflation in Europe: A Puzzle?, 2020, BCC Blog, with R. Huidrom and P. Topalova

Political connections, privileged access to credit, and welfare costs, 2020, VoxEU, M. Bussolo, F. de Nicola, and U. Panizza.

Public debt and private investment, 2019, VoxEU, with Y. Huang and U. Panizza