Gabriella Legrenzi

Biography

I hold an LLB in Law from the University of Milan, an MSc in Economics from Warwick University, an MA in Social Policy from Warwick University and a PhD in Economic Policy from the Universities of Milan (joint programme of Bocconi, Cattolica and Statale).

Before joining Keele in 2005, I was a Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge and a Lecturer in Economic Analysis of Competition Law and Regulation at Brunel University.

I am a member of Pembroke College (University of Cambridge), a Fellow of the world-leading CESifo Research Network (Public Sector Economics Area) and of the Rimini Centre for Economic Research, as well as a Member of the Euro Area Business Cycle Research Network and of the Computational and Financial Econometrics Network (Financial Econometrics and Time Series Econometrics).

Research and scholarship

I have a consolidated international reputation in Fiscal Policy and International Finance, documented by several publications in highly ranked international journals, presentations at conferences and invitations from Central Banks around the world. My research has been quoted by the media in different occasions, and has also been formally taught within the training programmes organised by the International Monetary Fund.

My research has been presented at the main international conferences in Economics and Finance, including the North American Summer Meeting of the Econometric Society, the Royal Economic Society Annual Conference, the CESifo Workshops in Public Economics, the Public Choice World Congress, the International Finance and Banking Society Conference, the Society for Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics Annual Meeting at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the International Institute of Public Finance Conference, and the ZEW Mannheim Workshops in Macroeconomics. My latest research focuses on sovereign debt management, fiscal policy adjustments and current account sustainability.

Research Networks

• Member, Euro Area Business Cycle Network (since 2012)
• Member, Computational and Financial Econometrics Network, Financial Econometrics and Time Series Econometrics (since 2014)
• Fellow, CESifo Research Network (since 2015)
• Fellow, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis (since 2008)

External Examining

• BSc Economics, University of Greenwich (2010-2013)
• MSc Finance, University of London (since 2013)
• BSc Finance, University of York (since 2015)
• PhD University of Pretoria (2012)
• PhD Warwick University (2015)

Engagement with Media and Policy Makers

I have received several fully funded invitations to present her research to policy-makers, including the European Central Bank and the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan. I have also been invited to the 12th Munich Economic Summit on “Relaunching Europe”, bringing together policy-makers, most influential media and selected few academics. My research has often received media attention and I have been interviewed by BBC Radio Stoke in order to explain the role of credit rating agencies and the determinants of sovereign downgradings.

As Research Fellow at the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, I have worked as Principal Investigator for the project “Sustainable Development and the Regulation of Water Utilities”, aimed at developing scenarios for an efficient and effective regulation of the water sector, complying with the criteria for a sustainable development. The research was funded by AWG/AWS and included a final symposium to disseminate the main findings to stakeholders, academia, and regulators.

As a Costantino Bresciano Turroni Research Fellow at the University Milan, I have followed a number of projects aimed at strengthening the links between academia and industry (Savings Banks and Asset Management Companies) as well as policymakers (European Commission and Comune di Milano), and I have regularly contributed to the publications of the Association of the Italian Savings Banks.

Other External Activities

I have worked as referee for the ESRC and also refereed for several international journals in Economics and Finance including the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Economic Inquiry, Public Choice, Macroeconomic Dynamics, FinanzArchiv, Regional Studies, and the Journal of Financial Stability. I have acted as Advisory Editor for Public Finance/Finances Publiques, and as academic referee for Oxford University Press and MIT Press.

PhD Supervision

Successfully completed students:

• Taptuk Erkoc (2013)
• Ongoing students Gohou Danon, Salih Car, Travis Mitchell

Teaching

My teaching interests are focused on macro-finance modules, such as international finance and international macroeconomics, mainly because my research interests are also concentrated in these areas. This allows me to deliver a research-informed teaching, where I hope my students can benefit from studying the latest theoretical and empirical models, going beyond the knowledge they can acquire from textbooks.

My recent visits to different Central Banks around the world as well as the invited participation to an economic summit also allows me to keep my students informed on the real-world developments of financial markets and macro-economic policies. Given the fact that my research is mainly empirical, I am always putting an effort into making the latest empirical research accessible to my undergraduate students, so that they can experience how theoretical models studied in my module are tested using real-world macro-economic and financial data, which in turn contributes to a better understanding of the subject. My aim with all the above is to contribute forming well-prepared students, equipped with sound quantitative knowledge and critical analytical skills, ready to face the different challenges of their future profession.

• ECO-20037 Open Economy Macroeconomics.
  This module examines the impact of government stabilisation policies in the context of an open economy. Students will be able to systematically develop an open economy variant of the established closed economy macroeconomic models (IS/LM and AS/AD models), formalising the concepts learnt in Introduction to Macroeconomics within a mathematical model of the economy.
• ECO-30037 International Finance.
  This module examines the structure and operation of the foreign exchange market, explaining how FOREX derivative contracts are used in financial markets, for different purposes, such as hedging and speculation. An important part of the module relies in the analysis of different theoretical and empirical models aimed at explaining how exchange rates are determined in the FOREX, reacting to macro-economic fundamentals.
• ECO-20046 Intermediate Microeconomics.
  This module focuses on the constrained maximization problems of consumers and firms, by developing a mathematical model of consumption/output choice, building on the knowledge acquired from Introductory Microeconomics. Students will critically analyse the trade-off between efficiency and equity and consider the implications of different social preferences.