Director of Research | EBRD
As the Bank’s Director of Research, Ralph manages a team of economists and analysts who research the economic transformation of the Bank’s countries of operation. His team also conduct rigorous evaluations, including randomized controlled trials, to assess how (much) EBRD investments contribute to economic development and environmental sustainability. Their research informs the operations, policies and strategy of the Bank and is prominently featured in the EBRD’s annual flagship publication, the Transition Report.
Ralph is also a part-time Professor of Finance at KU Leuven; a CEPR Research Fellow; a member of the CEPR’s Research and Policy Network on Sustainable Finance; a Fellow at the European Banking Center; and a Research Associate at the ZEW–Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research. He serves as an Associate Editor at the Journal of Banking & Finance.
Ralph completed his Ph.D. in Economics at Utrecht University and his research has been published in the Journal of Financial Economics; Review of Financial Studies; Management Science; Review of Finance; American Economic Journal: Applied Economics; Economic Journal; Journal of International Economics; Journal of the European Economic Association; Journal of Financial Intermediation; Journal of Economic Growth; Journal of Economic Geography and various other peer-reviewed outlets. In 2014, he received the Willem F. Duisenberg Fellowship Prize.
Ralph’s research lies at the intersection of empirical banking and development economics. He is particularly interested in firms’ and households’ access to financial services; the stability aspects of global banking; finance and green growth; and the role of gender in the economy.
Personal website (external website - opens in new window).
