Event Registration


    7th annual Municipal Finance Conference

    When: Monday, July 16 - Tuesday, July 17, 2018

    Where:  The Brookings Institution, Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC
                  The Capitol Hilton, 1001 16th St. NW, Washington, DC

    What: 

    The Municipal Finance Conference aims to bring together academics, practitioners, issuers and regulators to discuss recent research on municipal markets and municipal finance. This year’s conference is a joint venture of The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary at Brookings, the Rosenberg Institute of Global Finance at the Brandeis International Business School, the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

    The 2018 conference will take place on July 16-17, 2018. Brookings will host the bulk of the program, but the cocktail hour and dinner keynote on the evening of July 16 will take place at the nearby Capital Hilton.

    Monday, July 16

    12:45 p.m. -- Registration opens

    1:15 p.m. -- Plenary I 
    Sessions moderated by: David Wessel (Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy, Brookings Institution)

    • The evolving municipal advisor market in the post Dodd-Frank era
      Authors: Daniel Bergstresser (Brandeis International Business School), Martin Luby (LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin)
    • The impact of Dodd-Frank on credit ratings and bond yields: The municipal securities’ case
      Authors: Yulianti Abbas (Universitas Indonesia), Craig Johnson, Chantalle LaFontant (Indiana University)
      Discussant: Ashton Goodfield (Deutsche Asset Management)

    2:45 p.m. -- Break

    3:00 p.m. -- Breakout session I

    Track 1
    Sessions moderated by: Rich Ryffel (Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis)
    • Investor attention and municipal bond returns
      Authors: Kimberly Cornaggia (Penn State Smeal College of Business), John Hund (Terry College of Business, University of Georgia), Giang Nguyen (Penn State Smeal College of Business)
      Discussant: Brad Wendt (Charles River Associates)
    • Fund structure and liquidity management: Evidence from open- vs. closed-end municipal bond funds
      Authors: John Chalmers, Zhi (Jay) Wang, Jingyun Yang (Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon)
      Discussant: Steve Winterstein (Wilmington Trust)
    • Life without advance refunding
      Author: Andrew Kalotay (Andrew Kalotay Associates)
      Discussant: Adam Looney (Brookings Institution)
    Track 2
    Sessions moderated by: Louise Sheiner (Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy, Brookings Institution)
    • State recovery from the Great Recession: Did budgeting safeguards help?
      Authors: Kim Rueben, Megan Randall (Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute)
      Discussant: Ben Watkins (State Board of Administration, Florida)
    • The retail sales tax in a new economy      
      Authors: Sharon Kioko (Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington), John Mikesell (School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University)
      Discussant: Tracy Gordon (Urban Institute)
    • Tax advantages and imperfect competition in auctions for municipal bonds       
      Authors: Daniel Garrett, Andrey Ordin, James Roberts, Juan Carlos Suarez Serrato (Duke University)
      Discussant: Linda Matkowski (Stern Brothers)

    5:30 p.m. -- Cocktail hour
    at the Capitol Hilton

    7:00 p.m. -- Dinner and keynote
    at the Capitol Hilton

    Tuesday, July 17

    7:45 a.m. -- Breakfast

    8:15 a.m. -- Breakout session II

    Track 1
    Sessions moderated by: Peter Orr (Intuitive Analytics)
    • Claim dilution in the municipal debt market
      Authors: Ivan Ivanov (Federal Reserve Board), Tom Zimmermann (Quantco, Inc.)
      Discussant: Colin MacNaught (BondLink)
    • Finance climate change solutions: The pricing and ownership of U.S. green bonds
      Authors: Malcolm Baker (Harvard Business School), Daniel Bergstresser (Brandeis International Business School), George Serafeim (Harvard Business School), Jeffrey Wurgler (NYU Stern School of Business)
      Discussant: Tim Coffin (Breckinridge Capital Advisors)
    • Financing dies in darkness? The impact of newspaper closures on public finance
      Authors: Pengjie Gao (Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame), Chang Lee (College of Business, University of Illinois at Chicago), Dermot Murphy (College of Business, University of Illinois at Chicago)
      Discussant: Leslie McGranahan (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago)
    Track 2
    Sessions moderated by: Michael Belsky (Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago)
    • Public Pensions and state government debt spreads
      Author: Chuck Boyer (University of Chicago Booth School of Business)
      Discussant: Natalie Cohen (Wells Fargo Securities)
    • When needed public pension reforms fail or appear to be legally impossible, what then?
      Are unbalanced budgets, deficits, and government collapse the only answer?

      Author: James Spiotto (Chapman Strategic Advisors, LLC)
      Discussant: Carol O’Cleireacain (Former Deputy Mayor of Economic Policy and Planning, Detroit)
    • Developing more realistic simulations of the interplay between public-pension finances and governmental finances
      Authors: Don Boyd (University at Albany, SUNY), Yimeng Yin (Rockefeller Institute of Government)
      Discussant: Laura Quinby (Center for Retirement Research, Boston College)

    10:15 a.m. -- Break

    10:30 a.m. -- Plenary II
    Sessions moderated by: Dan Bergstresser (Brandeis International Business School)

    • What went wrong?: The Puerto Rican debt crisis and the ‘Treasury Put’
      Authors: Bob Chirinko, Ryan Chiu, Shaina Henderson (University of Illinois at Chicago)
      Discussant: Brad Setser (Council on Foreign Relations)
    • State tax cuts and debt market outcomes: An empirical analysis of the Kansas tax reform
      Authors: Komla Dzigbede (Binghamton University, SUNY), Rahul Pathak (Baruch College, CUNY)
      Discussant: Laura Porter (Fitch Ratings)

    12:00 p.m. -- Health Spending and the States: Challenges and Opportunities

    Aviva Aron-Dine, Vice President for Health Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
    Eric Kim, Director, US Public Finance, Fitch Ratings
    Kate McEvoy, Director, Division of Health Services, Connecticut Department of Social Services
    Moderated by: Louise Sheiner, Senior Fellow and Policy Director, Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy

    12:45 p.m. -- End of program
    Lunch buffet


    Accommodations

    The conference keynote and dinner will be held at the Capital Hilton on Monday, July 16. For your convenience, we have arranged for a block of rooms at the hotel at a priority rate. Use the code “BROOKS” to book a room here.

    Other nearby hotels include: 

    This event has reached capacity and registration is now closed.

    Register to watch the live webcast »