Professor David Hillier (Accounting and Finance) gave the faculty lecture on The Psychology of Finance in November. He discussed the psychological biases of participants in the economic system and how this could result in a number of patterns in Finance. The practical focus of the presentation was on the public sector spending cuts and the government response to the banking crisis. The evening was a great success and resulted in some lively debate.
Professor Hillier also gave a keynote speech at Anderson-Strathern's annual conference on November 13 about the state of the economy and its implications for the legal sector in the UK. Anderson-Strathern is one of Scotland's leading law firms.
He has received a grant from The Actuarial Profession for £11,626 for research on pension fund return distributions. His co-applicants were Iain Clacher (University of Leeds) and Mark Freeman (University of Bradford).
Professor Hillier has also been awarded a grant of 370,000 Thai Bhat (about £5,000) from the Stock Exchange of Thailand for research into the relationship between idiosyncratic risk and corporate governance. His co-applicants were Pornanong Budsaratragoon (Chulalongkorn University) and Suntharee Lhaopadchan (Kasetsart University).
He has been appointed editor of the Journal of Economics and Business.
Finally, Professor Hillier, together with Iain Clacher (Leeds) and Patrick McColgan (Strathclyde), has contributed a chapter on Agency Theory for the book, 'Corporate Governance: A Synthesis of Theory, Research and Practice', edited by H. Kent Baker and Ron Anderson. More information.