---
title: "Register to attend \"7th annual Municipal Finance Conference\""
image: https://connect.brookings.edu/hubfs/BEE/BROOKINGS_logo.jpg
---

[![BROOKINGS_logo.jpg](https://connect.brookings.edu/hs-fs/hubfs/BEE/BROOKINGS_logo.jpg?width=580&height=73&name=BROOKINGS_logo.jpg "BROOKINGS_logo.jpg")](http://www.brookings.edu/)

## 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](https://aws.passkey.com/go/BrookingsInstituteJuly2018).

Other nearby hotels include: 

- [The Dupont Circle Hotel](https://www.doylecollection.com/hotels/the-dupont-circle-hotel)
- [The Fairfax at Embassy Row Hotel](http://fairfaxwashingtondc.com/)
- [The Embassy Row Hotel](https://www.destinationhotels.com/embassy-row-hotel)

This event has reached capacity and registration is now closed.

[**Register to watch the live webcast »**](https://connect.brookings.edu/register-to-watch-7th-municipal-finance)