François Guillemin – Seeking Adventure while Engaging in Serious Research

In deciding to join HSE as a post-doc fellow in the Center for Institutional Studies, François Guillemin sought to combine a sense of adventure with a post-doctoral experience that would allow him to continue his research in the field of banking regulation. HSE ended up on the top of his list, and he accepted an offer to start this September.

While at HSE, Guillemin intends to study the relationship between banking sector disclosure policies and the credit activity of commercial banks, which will give him the opportunity to continue his research on the effect that bank disclosure policy has on banks’ decision-making process.

‘The post-doctoral position at HSE will be a fabulous experience for me to investigate Russian specificities and therefore to observe whether it is significantly different than in western Europe’, he says. ‘In the meantime, I am also looking forward to exploring the variation of tonality in speeches of bank managers in press and financial reports, and its relationship with the deposit activity of commercial banks.

François Guillemin, originally from the city of Besançon in eastern France (the same city where Victor Hugo was born in 1802), describes himself as a culture enthusiast and something of an Indiana Jones when it comes to seeking adventure. After completing his undergraduate training in economics and accounting and a Master’s degree in administrative and financial management at Université de Franche-Comté, he chose to enrol in a second Master’s programme at Northern Arizona University, where he concentrated on economics and regulation before eventually pursuing PhD studies with a focus on banking regulation.

‘My appetite for going abroad played a significant role in my decision to join HSE’, he says. ‘The post-doc is a great combination of my thrill for new experiences and an incredible springboard for my future career’.

Apart from continuing his research in banking regulation, Guillemin hopes to use his time at HSE to forge connections with other researchers and develop a network of future colleagues and co-authors. Given that this will be his first time in Moscow, he hopes to make the most of his time to learn the city, study Russian, and to integrate into the Russian community as much as possible. Finally, he intends to pursue his passion for photography.

‘Moscow will be an opportunity for me to jump into street photography and to push my limits’, he says with excitement. ‘I am excited to discover the history of the architecture and the history of the city, as well as local customs and traditions’.

Anna Chernyakhovskaya, specially for HSE News service