Young Economist Prize
Young economists will always have a vital role to play in shaping Europe’s future. Every year we recognise this through the Young Economist Prize, a research competition that offers talented students the chance to share their fresh perspectives on today’s challenges.
Finalists are invited to the annual ECB Forum on Central Banking, and the overall winner is awarded €10,000.
Young Economist Prize 2026
What are the topics for 2026 paper submissions?
The theme of the 2026 ECB Forum on Central Banking is “shaping Europe’s future: innovation, growth and stability”.
PhD students were invited to submit papers on this theme, with a focus on one or more of the following topics:
- tokenisation of financial assets and means of payment
- prudential cycles of deregulation and reregulation, and their implications for financial stability and growth
- accelerating growth in the EU, and the role of innovation versus diffusion
- implications of migration for productivity and growth
- artificial intelligence and its implications for financial stability
- Europe’s role in the new global trade landscape
We also considered papers on other topics relevant to euro area central banking (including monetary policy, the deepening of Economic and Monetary Union, the functioning of the euro area economy and financial system, financial stability, and banking regulation and supervision).
How did we select the finalists?
We assessed the papers submitted by the candidates based on three selection criteria: (i) innovative thinking and scientific merit, (ii) relevance for ECB/euro area policies, and (iii) pertinence to the Forum’s theme and the aforementioned topics. We also took into account the information candidates provided in their CVs and recommendation letters.
What will finalists do at the Forum?
The selected finalists will have the unique opportunity to attend the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal from 29 June to 1 July 2026.
Their research papers, availble below, will be shared with all Forum participants, including policymakers, top academics and market economists from around the world.
During the Forum, the finalists will attend a varied programme of panel discussions and expert talks. They also have the opportunity to give an elevator pitch on stage to the members of the ECB Executive Board.
Their papers will be assessed by a jury of top academics and senior ECB staff, taking into account votes to be cast by Forum participants.
Please see the prize rules and privacy statement for further details.
Meet the 2026 finalists
Geraud Desazars de Montgailhard
Bocconi University
Capital
intensity and firm dynamics
Poster
“I show how some firms grow faster by adapting their production to cheaper and better capital goods. This pattern helps explain rising market power, a falling labour share, and why big firms gain sales without adding many jobs.”
Luigi Falasconi
University of Pennsylvania
Bailout expectations,
default risk and the dynamics of bank credit spreads
Poster
“Did markets believe regulators’ promises to reduce bailouts after 2010? Yes. Combining a model with asset prices, I show that lower bailout expectations explain much of the post-2010 rise in bank borrowing costs and helped motivate banks to take less risk.”
Marina Hoch
University of Mannheim
Bailing out homeowners:
government aid and mortgage default after natural disasters
Poster
“I apply a quantitative model to study how post-disaster government aid affects homeowners’ welfare. Using the United States as a case study, I find that although aid crowds out private insurance and encourages riskier housing, it raises overall welfare. Designing aid independently of insurance coverage could improve welfare further.”
Max Marczinek
University of Oxford
Labour scarcity and
productivity: insights from the last Nordic plague
Poster
“Does labour scarcity drive or hamper productivity growth? In a natural experiment – a plague outbreak in the 1710s – labour-scarce regions shift into higher capital intensity and see a startling export boom. I show that labour scarcity triggers capital deepening and productivity growth.”
Pedro Martínez-Bruera
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reassessing central
bank reputation: beyond long-run expectations
Poster
“I use theory and data to study central banks’ reputation for fighting inflation. This new dimension shapes how shocks feed into short-run expectations, a prediction confirmed using US data, and encourages central banks to react more aggressively to inflation.”
Eugenia Menaguale
Princeton University
Stellar skills: superstar
firms and the specialization of human capital
Poster
“My research studies how imperfect competition in technology-specific capital markets jointly shapes firms’ technology adoption and workers’ skill specialization. Capital providers invest in training to expand demand. Market power distorts allocation but can increase skill formation and adoption.”
Lennart Niermann
University of Cambridge
Decomposing the investment
channel of monetary policy
Poster
“Central bank decisions do more than change interest rates: they also shape how firms see the future. Using an unanticipated ECB bond purchasing programme, we isolate the pure borrowing-cost effect and show that cheaper debt raises investment far more than standard policy estimates suggest.”
Katerina Nikalexi
London Business School
“My research studies how foreign ownership of ports reshapes the European trade network. Using data on 1.5 million truck shipments across 368 regions, I show that Chinese acquisitions reduce relative volumes in historically reliant areas and shift trade corridors within the Single Market, with implications for resilience and infrastructure governance.”
Chenchuan Shi
University of Oxford
Knowledge generality, competition
and growth
Poster
“Innovations vary in their spillover effects. Firms respond strategically through R&D: leaders keep innovations narrow to limit spillovers to followers, while followers invest in general knowledge to absorb them. Incentivising leaders to invest in general R&D can boost long-run growth.”
Simone Zanella Cavallero
Pompeu Fabra University
Wealth and the geography of job ladders
Poster
“Why do so many workers struggle to climb the job ladder? One reason is financial friction. When living costs are high and savings are low, workers can't afford the risk of unemployment in expensive cities. This limits their access to better opportunities. Improving unemployment insurance in these cities yields welfare gains.”
Find out more about related content
ECB Forum on Central Banking
The ECB Forum on Central Banking is an annual event organised by the European Central Bank and is held in Sintra, Portugal.
Find out more