Doctor Paulo Regis

Research interests

• Financial Development (access to finance of SMEs) 
• Financial regulations and systematic risk in the banking sector
• The Chinese economy and the public sector 
• Innovation and product space 

Current research

Paulo's main interest is in Financial Development. In particular, Paulo has conducted research in access to finance of SMEs. The availability of credit, are crucial for the efficient realization of a firm’s investment possibilities, affecting the generation of employment and sustained growth of firms. Furthermore, he is working on an ongoing project with data on SMEs of over one hundred developing countries.

He is also interested in the effect of some financial regulations in the banking sector. Paulo is particularly interested in studying systematic risk. Macroprudential policy has increasingly become part of the regulatory and supervisory framework of monetary authorities. The analysis of this new type of banking regulation provides new tools to understand systemic risk of the banking sector.

Paulo has some projects related to the Chinese economy and public finance. His most recent research project is on infrastructure investment. The government has invested massively in trains in China. We look at the effect of this new infrastructure in regional development across Chinese cities. In the past, Paulo has been involved in other projects in this area (e.g. tax competition, economic integration with Asia).

A third area of research is innovation. One topic which Paulo has studied in the past is the concept of product space and how innovation can lead to specialization on new products. From the perspective of less developed countries, the idea of product space can explain why some countries has difficulties in gaining specializations in new products that may help them to develop. A second project which is ongoing is the effect of local leaders in promoting local innovation.