FiRe research seminar (May 18, 2026)

The coordinates for the seminar are:

Speaker:  Olga Klein (Warwick Business School (UK))
Title: Blockchain scaling and liquidity concentration on decentralized exchanges  
Time: 16:00-17:30
Venue: SR15.25/Universitätsstraße 15 and online: (Zoom Link:  https://uni-graz.zoom.us/j/62568612547?pwd=IpthkYVbDdbpjmavUasY4xQE7ybZij.1)
Abstract: Using the launch of Uniswap v3 on blockchain scaling solutions, we examine how the trade-off between security and transaction costs affects liquidity fragmentation on decentralized exchanges. We observe a separating equilibrium, in which large traders and liquidity providers (LPs) choose Ethereum due to its higher security, whereas small traders and LPs gravitate towards blockchain scaling solutions due to lower gas fees. Importantly, lower gas fees on scaling solutions enable LPs to update their positions more frequently. Our results demonstrate that higher updating frequency of LPs leads to higher liquidity concentration, which further benefits small trades by reducing their slippage.
Link: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4475460

FiRe research seminar (June 1, 2026)

The coordinates for the seminar are:

Speaker:  Bruce Hearn (Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, UK) 
Title: Executive Legal Expertise and Corporate Transparency: Evidence from Emerging and Offshore Economies
Time: 16:00-17:30
Venue: SR15.25/Universitätsstraße 15
Description: Bruce Hearn is Full Professor in Governance at the University of Southampton, with over two decades of research experience in corporate governance across emerging markets and offshore financial centers. Prior to his academic career, he held senior risk management positions at leading investment banks including BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Credit Agricole CIB.

In his paper, Hearn examines how the presence of lawyer-executives on corporate boards shapes firm-level transparency. Drawing on a novel dataset of 183 listed firms across ten Caribbean stock exchanges (2000–2017), the study shows that a higher proportion of lawyers in executive roles is positively associated with corporate transparency – an effect amplified in jurisdictions characterized by high financial secrecy and strong institutional quality. The paper bridges resource-based and institutional theory through the lens of legal astuteness as a dynamic managerial capability.

FiRe online seminar (June 22, 2026)

The coordinates for the seminar are:

Speaker:  Te Bao (NTU Singapore)
Title: Listing Premium in Cryptocurrency Markets
Time: 16:00-17:30
Venue: Online (Zoom link: https://uni-graz.zoom.us/j/62755940846?pwd=IZx9jSgJPMpmZ6csB73iKOLDgZew4b.1)
Description: We are delighted to welcome Te Bao from Nanyang Technological University Singapore to our FiRe Online Research Seminar. Te Bao is an Associate Professor of Economics whose research focuses on experimental economics and behavioral finance. 

He will present “Listing Premium in Cryptocurrency Markets”, joint work with Mengzhong Ma. The paper documents a sizeable listing premium on top-tier cryptocurrency exchanges, with average cumulative abnormal returns of about 7.2% around the listing date. It further develops a conditional event-study framework to analyze how private information is revealed through sequential and simultaneous multi-exchange listings. The findings offer new insights into price discovery in cryptocurrency markets and have broader implications for research on IPO underpricing and cross-listings.