Research Agenda

From Micro Beliefs to Macro Risks

Yeow Hwee’s research lies at the intersection of behavioral macroeconomics, household finance, and sustainable finance. He studies how information frictions shape beliefs, how those beliefs guide household financial decisions, and how they scale into macroeconomic risks. A central question drives his agenda: How do small distortions in expectations become large macroeconomic vulnerabilities?

To address this, he combines theory, data, and experiments to trace how household behavior in stock markets, insurance, credit, and housing propagates through the financial system and the wider economy. His work emphasizes two global transitions where these dynamics are most pronounced: demographic change, as ageing and fertility shifts reshape savings and risk-taking; and the green transition, where climate risks and sustainability policies alter household choices, asset markets, and financial regulation. 

By linking micro-level belief formation to these large-scale forces, his research shows how individual biases can accumulate into systemic vulnerabilities.