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Subfield · Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Finance research

Finance is a subfield of Economics, Econometrics and Finance. Science Explorer counts 380k research works in it since 1950. 20.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: academic discipline studying businesses, financing, investments and protection of economic value.

Research works
380k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
77k
per year above
Top-10% rate
20.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
16
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+4%
the tick is no change

What is Finance research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Finance, Liquidity, Monetary Policy, Asset Pricing, Stock Returns, Banking. Gaining share since 2009–13: Climate Finance, Green Bonds, Investment, Sustainable Development, Health Financing. Losing share: Financial Markets, European Union, Investment Under Uncertainty, Real Options.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Finance16k▲ 1.17×2 topics
  2. Liquidity15k◆ 1.00×2 topics
  3. Monetary Policy15k▲ 1.16×3 topics
  4. Asset Pricing14k◆ 1.09×1 topic
  5. Stock Returns14k◆ 1.09×1 topic
  6. Banking12k◆ 1.09×1 topic
  7. Credit12k◆ 1.09×1 topic
  8. Capital Flows10k▼ 0.75×2 topics
  9. Health Financing9,203▲ 2.1×1 topic
  10. Universal Coverage9,203▲ 2.1×1 topic
  11. Corporate Governance8,700◆ 0.95×3 topics
  12. Exchange Rate Regimes8,162▼ 0.73×1 topic
  13. Financial Integration8,162▼ 0.73×1 topic
  14. Financialization8,063▲ 1.21×1 topic
  15. Shareholder Value8,063▲ 1.21×1 topic
  16. Risk Management6,994▼ 0.70×3 topics
  17. Market Integration6,680▼ 0.77×2 topics
  18. Option Pricing6,530▼ 0.76×1 topic
  19. Stochastic Calculus6,530▼ 0.76×1 topic
  20. GARCH Models6,358▼ 0.86×1 topic
  21. Volatility6,358▼ 0.86×1 topic
  22. Investment5,509▲ 2.5×2 topics
  23. Sustainable Development5,509▲ 2.5×2 topics
  24. Impact Investing3,252▲ 1.65×1 topic
  25. Social Impact Bonds3,252▲ 1.65×1 topic
  26. Financial Crisis3,241▼ 0.63×3 topics
  27. Credit Spread Changes3,020▼ 0.76×1 topic
  28. Default Risk3,020▼ 0.76×1 topic
  29. Investment Under Uncertainty2,657▼ 0.62×1 topic
  30. Real Options2,657▼ 0.62×1 topic
  31. Climate Finance2,257▲ 12×1 topic
  32. Green Bonds2,257▲ 12×1 topic
  33. ECB's Rescue Facility1,996▼ 0.85×1 topic
  34. TARGET2 Balances1,996▼ 0.85×1 topic
  35. European Union1,821▼ 0.55×2 topics
  36. Financial Regulation1,499▼ 0.72×1 topic
  37. Global Governance1,499▼ 0.72×1 topic
  38. Global World1,427▼ 0.82×1 topic
  39. Seventeenth Century1,427▼ 0.82×1 topic
  40. Financial Markets322▼ 0.27×1 topic

Which countries lead Finance research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and the United Kingdom rank highest in Finance. By volume, the United States and China publish the most (10k and 8.4k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #3 all time 26.1% top 10% · 8.4k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 17.5% top 10% · 10k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom · #2 all time 22.6% top 10% · 4.4k works
  4. 4 India · #11 all time 16.1% top 10% · 3.9k works
  5. 5 Italy · #6 all time 22.5% top 10% · 1.9k works
  6. 6 Germany · #4 all time 17.1% top 10% · 2.7k works
  7. 7 Australia · #8 all time 23.4% top 10% · 1.8k works
  8. 8 France · #5 all time 15.5% top 10% · 2k works
  9. 9 Canada · #7 all time 18.7% top 10% · 1.5k works
  10. 10 Netherlands · #9 all time 19.8% top 10% · 975 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 54 countries ranked in Finance. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Finance

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 10k works
  2. 2 China 8.4k works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 4.4k works
  4. 4 India 3.9k works
  5. 5 Germany 2.7k works
  6. 6 France 2k works
  7. 7 Italy 1.9k works
  8. 8 Australia 1.8k works
  9. 9 Indonesia 1.7k works
  10. 10 Türkiye 1.5k works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 26.9%China: 21.6%United Kingdom: 11.3%India: 10.2%6 others listed: 29.9%27%largest
United States10k · 26.9%China8,367 · 21.6%United Kingdom4,370 · 11.3%India3,941 · 10.2%6 others listed12k · 29.9%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Finance research?

London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom) ranks first in Finance on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Central University of Finance and Economics and Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom · London · #9 all time 24.4% top 10% · 170 works
  2. 2 Central University of Finance and Economics China · Beijing 26.2% top 10% · 155 works
  3. 3 Southwestern University of Finance and Economics China · Chengdu 26.2% top 10% · 167 works
  4. 4 University College London United Kingdom · London · #35 all time 24.2% top 10% · 158 works
  5. 5 University of Oxford United Kingdom · Oxford · #18 all time 24.5% top 10% · 187 works
  6. 6 Columbia University United States · New York · #10 all time 17.5% top 10% · 184 works
  7. 7 Federal Reserve Board of Governors United States · Washington D.C. · #12 all time 21.2% top 10% · 169 works
  8. 8 Peking University China · Beijing · #89 all time 25.7% top 10% · 170 works
  9. 9 Renmin University of China China · Beijing 20.7% top 10% · 168 works
  10. 10 University of International Business and Economics China · Beijing 28.5% top 10% · 112 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 135 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Finance.

Top 100 Finance institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 European Central Bank Germany 219 works
  2. 2 University of Oxford United Kingdom 187 works
  3. 3 Columbia University United States 184 works
  4. 4 London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom 170 works
  5. 5 Peking University China 170 works
  6. 6 Federal Reserve Board of Governors United States 169 works
  7. 7 Renmin University of China China 168 works
  8. 8 Southwestern University of Finance and Economics China 167 works
  9. 9 University College London United Kingdom 158 works
  10. 10 Sapienza University of Rome Italy 157 works

Who are the leading researchers in Finance?

Among the most productive authors in Finance, William Diebold, Paúl Krugman and Robert J. Barro rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 William Diebold United States · #33 worldwide 3.8k citations · 208 works
  2. 2 Paúl Krugman United States · #35 worldwide 4.4k citations · 167 works
  3. 3 Robert J. Barro United States · #36 worldwide 7.9k citations · 165 works
  4. 4 Joseph E. Stiglitz United States · #43 worldwide 7.4k citations · 383 works
  5. 5 M. Hashem Pesaran United States · #64 worldwide 9.1k citations · 161 works
  6. 6 Martin McKee United Kingdom · #78 worldwide 5.4k citations · 369 works
  7. 7 Paul A. Samuelson United States · #91 worldwide 3.6k citations · 170 works
  8. 8 William J. Baumöl United States · #108 worldwide 3.6k citations · 187 works
  9. 9 Richard N. Cooper United States · #109 worldwide 2.7k citations · 185 works
  10. 10 Lawrence H. Summers United States · #195 worldwide 3.9k citations · 125 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,908 highest-output authors in Finance. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Finance researchers

Where is Finance research done?

The largest centres of Finance research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), London (United Kingdom), Washington D.C. (United States) and Shanghai (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Seoul, Parkes and Roubaix.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 1.7k works
  2. 2 London United Kingdom 1.4k works
  3. 3 Washington D.C. United States 902 works
  4. 4 Shanghai China 812 works
  5. 5 New York United States 793 works
  6. 6 Paris France 686 works
  7. 7 Moscow Russia 634 works
  8. 8 Nanjing China 520 works
  9. 9 Tokyo Japan 506 works
  10. 10 Seoul South Korea 497 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. SeoulKR · 26.7 works50×
  2. ParkesAU · 22.5 works33×
  3. RoubaixFR · 38.9 works19×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Finance than the world average.

See Finance on the map

Finance research by country

The best places for Finance research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Finance?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics and Central University of Finance and Economics score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 29.96%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City: 45, 44.2%Southwestern University of Finance and Economics: 167, 26.2%Central University of Finance and Economics: 155, 26.2%London School of Economics and Political Science: 170, 24.4%University of International Business and Economics: 112, 28.5%Ho Chi Minh University of Banking: 37, 30.2%Zhongnan University of Economics and Law: 77, 36.5%Shanghai University of Finance and Economics: 132, 25.5%Capital University of Economics and Business: 82, 33.0%Copenhagen Business School: 104, 24.9%University of Econom…Southwestern Univers…Central University o…London School of Eco…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 72.044.2%9.2×45 +354.4%
2Southwestern University of Finance and Economics China 67.326.2%18.8×167 +59.3%
3Central University of Finance and Economics China 64.426.2%21.7×155 +31.1%
4London School of Economics and Political Science United Kingdom 64.024.4%11.6×170 -1.3%
5University of International Business and Economics China 63.928.5%18.8×112 +43.2%
6Ho Chi Minh University of Banking Vietnam 62.130.2%27.1×37 +1240.8%
7Zhongnan University of Economics and Law China 61.536.5%12.2×77 -8.4%
8Shanghai University of Finance and Economics China 61.325.5%21.1×132 +3.8%
9Capital University of Economics and Business China 59.433.0%18.2×82 -12.4%
10Copenhagen Business School Denmark 57.824.9%10.2×104 -16.8%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Finance research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 4% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Sustainable Finance and Green Bonds, Healthcare Systems and Reforms and Community Development and Social Impact.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Sustainable Finance and Green Bonds+630%
  2. Healthcare Systems and Reforms+205%
  3. Community Development and Social Impact+158%
  4. European Monetary and Fiscal Policies+112%
  5. Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism+108%
  6. Global Financial Regulation and Crises+105%
  7. Capital Investment and Risk Analysis-4%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Finance include?

Financial Markets and Investment Strategies: 56k fractional worksBanking stability, regulation, efficiency: 51k fractional worksGlobal Financial Crisis …48kGlobal Financial Crisis and Policies: 48k fractional worksStochastic processes and…39kStochastic processes and financial applications: 39k fractional worksHousing, Finance, and Neoliberalism: 36k fractional worksFinancial Risk and Volatility Modeling: 32k fractional worksHealthcare Systems and R…28kHealthcare Systems and Reforms: 28k fractional worksCapital Investment and Risk Analysis: 18k fractional worksCredit Risk and Financial Regulations: 15k fractional worksCommunity Development and Social Impact: 12k fractional worksEuropean Monetary and Fiscal Policies: 12k fractional worksFinancial Crisis of the 21st Century: 11k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.