The Knut Wicksell Centre of Finance
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Lunds universitet |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 26 000 000 |
| Project duration | December 2010 - December 2017 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
The objectives of the project are to: i) establish internationally competitiveness research; ii) strengthen the interaction between researchers and the financial sector; iii) improve the financial sector´s supply of skilled labour. The quality of research shows an upward trend, as evidenced by publications in recent years in the best international journals. Our MSc program in Finance is now ranked by the Financial Times as one of the 50 best in the world. From this program, approximately 60 students graduate each year, which is very important for the financial sector´s labour supply.
Expected results and effects
The project has significantly improved the quality of both research and education in within finance. We have a research group in household finance which publishes in the best international journals and other research groups that publish in journals of internationally high quality. 60 master´s students and 1-2 Ph.Ds graduate in finance each year with a, by international measures, very high quality education. This strongly contributes to a highly skilled labour supply both in the private and public financial sectors.
Planned approach and implementation
In the first step, researchers in financial economics in Lund were brought together, who had previously worked more isolated at different institutions. In addition, a board, an advisory board and an international advisory scientific board were created. In the second step, the focus area household finances were constructed. This area has been prioritized by the Center, inter alia, by funding the research time of an assistant professor, and by providing a recurring PhD level course in household finance. The Center has also organized a large number of seminars and symposia practitioners