The 2020 and 2021 prizes recognize research into the (in)efficiency of blockchains and the non-economic determinants of households’ financial distress. 

The awards were presented as part of the international online forum on financial risks organized by the Europlace Finance Institute. The recipient of the 2020 award was Matthieu Bouvard, Professor of Finance at the Toulouse School of Management (University of Toulouse) and a member of the Toulouse School of Economics. The 2021 award winner was Kim Peijnenburg, Professor of Finance at EDHEC, a research affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and a member of the Network for Studies on Pensions, Aging and Retirement (Netspar).

Financial intermediation and the impact of technological innovation in finance (fintech) are the focus of Matthieu Bouvard’s research. His 2019 article entitled “The Blockchain Folk Theorem” in the prestigious Review of Financial Studies, with co-authors Bruno Biais, Christophe Bisière and Catherine Casamatta, reveals two sources of major inefficiency in blockchains (see link to the right).

Kim Peijnenburg’s research is chiefly focused on households’ financial decisions. Her article entitled “Noncognitive Abilities and Financial Distress”, co-authored by Gian-Paolo Parise, was also published in the Review of Financial Studies. In the paper, the authors develop emotional stability and conscientiousness metrics for households, demonstrating that this stability ranks ahead of income as a determinant of financial distress (see link to the right).

André Levy-Lang, Chairman of the SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science, commented: “The SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science is delighted to be giving prominence to researchers who have brought attention to less well-known fields of research and highlighted their strategic importance for the development of contemporary societies.”

Philippe Trainar, Director of the SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science, added: “With the award of this prize for the fifth year in a row, SCOR and its Corporate Foundation for Science are proud to be encouraging innovative and original young researchers, working in key areas at the frontiers of our knowledge about new technologies and financial decision-making.”

Watch Mathieu and Kim present their research in the two videos below.

The Blockchain Folk Theorem, Matthieu Bouvard 

Noncognitive Abilities and Financial Distress, Kim Peijnenburg

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The Europlace Institute of Finance (IEF), a registered public foundation, promotes research in finance with a focus on corporate needs. Through the Europlace Institute of Finance, the Louis Bachelier Fellows network supports short- and long-term research projects.