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Sean Higgins

@seankhiggins.bsky.social

2.7K followers 450 following 94 posts

Prof @NorthwesternU @KelloggSchool Finance. I study how technology reduces frictions in payments markets and consumer financial markets

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Sep 8

📢JOB OPPORTUNITY📢 I am hiring a part-time or full-time research assistant in Mexico City 🇲🇽

For a project with #PierreBachas #AndersJensen to understand the impacts of a tax on firms' cash deposits at banks

seankhiggins.com/assets/pdf/I...

#EconRA @povertyaction.bsky.social @j-pal.bsky.social

seankhiggins.com

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Sep 2

Excited to announce the 2026 [email protected] Conference on #Finance and #Development

Dual submission with RFS

Apr 18-19 at Kellogg organized w/ @giorgiabarboni.bsky.social #KimFeCramer #NicolaLimodio

Submit by Nov 16 form.jotform.com/WEFIDEV/subm...

Details seankhiggins.com/assets/pdf/W...

seankhiggins.com

Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Aug 18

The #WEFIDEV #webinar series is back this fall!

We are looking for *preliminary or early-stage work* in #Finance and #Development to be presented

We also aim to have a session devoted to job candidates in finance and development on the market this fall

Submit:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Webinar in Finance and Development (WEFIDEV)

This form collects interest for presentations in the fall season of the Webinar series in Finance and Development (WEFIDEV) for junior scholars working on finance topics in developing countries. We ar...

docs.google.com

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Reposted by Sean Higgins

Johannes Haushofer @johanneshaushofer.com · Jul 24

We just opened another round of applications for Malengo's Uganda–Germany university program! Please share widely. (Note the early deadline, Aug 16!)

Malengo @malengo.org · Jul 24

📣 📣 Applications are now OPEN for Malengo's Uganda–Germany University Program! Apply by August 16th, 2025!

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Jul 23

Really interesting conference happening in #Chile in January on Promoting Financial Inclusion and Innovation in Latin America!

Jointly hosted by @berkeleyhaas.bsky.social, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, and @cega-uc.bsky.social

8 days left to apply

Submit: lnkd.in/g_eS2cuy

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

lnkd.in

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Jul 10

It was a delight giving a keynote on "Payment Systems and Financial Inclusion" at the Federal Reserve System Payments Researchers Annual Meeting

My slides: seankhiggins.com/assets/pdf/h...

Based on www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=... + a discussion of fast payments in emerging markets at the end

seankhiggins.com

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Jul 4

Very exciting that Review of Finance recognizes the importance of research on the future of payments and will have a special issue on this topic!

revfin.org/special-issu...

Special Issue: Call for Proposals on the Future of Payments—CBDC, Digital Assets and Digital Capital Markets - Review of Finance

Organisers: CEPR, European Central Bank, Review of Finance and Bocconi University (local host). Guest Editors Elena Carletti, Dirk Niepelt, Marcus M. Opp (Sponsoring RoF Editor), Claudio Tebaldi. D...

revfin.org

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Reposted by Sean Higgins

Giorgia Barboni @giorgiabarboni.bsky.social · May 12

Join us for our final #WEFIDEV Spring webinar in #Finance and #Development that takes place today at 11am ET/5pm CET. Cameron LaPoint and Smit Gade will present their work! And check www.wefidev.com for important upcoming news! With @seankhiggins.bsky.social Kim Fe Cramer and Nicola Limodio

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 30

This is because interest rates on the credit card debt are typically much higher than interest rates on savings

Then, if hit with a shock such as job loss during a recession, can always tap into the credit card line again (after having paid some of it off)

www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

Are we going into a recession? Why it's not too late to prepare.

Recession fears are rising under President Trump's new campaign of tariffs. There is still time to prepare your finances.

www.usatoday.com

Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 30

It was fantastic talking to @usatoday.com about how households can prepare for a recession

If you're considering building up a savings buffer for a recession, but also have substantial credit card debt, it makes more financial sense to pay down debt than to save

www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 25

Join us on Monday 11am ET / 5pm Europe for our #WEFIDEV #webinar on #Finance & #Development. We have exciting presentations by Will Cong and Robert Hsu Rocha on #Fintech and credit allocation!

Interested? sign up at www.wefidev.com

Kim Fe Cramer @giorgiabarboni.bsky.social Nicola Limodio

wefidev.com

Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 17

And to wrap up a day of very interesting papers, Luisa Cefalà on knowledge hoarding and its implications for technology diffusion in #Burundi 🇧🇮

Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 17

Next: Jeanne Sorin Le Guevel (from UChicago headed to @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @goldmanschool.bsky.social) on building public infrastructure (roads) on private land in #Uganda 🇺🇬

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 17

Next: Oluchi Mbonu (from @harvard.edu headed to World Bank) on market segmentation in the minibus sector in #SouthAfrica 🇿🇦

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 17

Next: Javier Feinmann (from @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social headed to @pse.bsky.social) on wage payments under the table to formal-sector employees in #Brazil 🇧🇷

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 17

Next: Tishara Garg (from MIT headed to @stanford.edu) on industrial policy and coordination failures in #India 🇮🇳

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 17

First up: Dev Patel (from @harvard.edu heading to @brown.edu) on environmental beliefs, adaptation to #ClimateChange, and farmer profits in #Bangladesh 🇧🇩

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 17

@loribeaman.bsky.social kicking off our annual Northwestern Development Economics Rookiefest where this year’s job market candidates in development from across universities present their JMPs!

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 2

Day 2: bsky.app/profile/sean...

Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 29

Day 2 of the #WEFIDEV RFS @cepr.org #Conference on #Finance and #Development starts with Silvia Prina on rehabilitating delinquent digital borrowers in sub-Saharan Africa

Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Apr 2

Thanks everyone for a fantastic #WEFIDEV #Conference on #Finance and #Development at LSE.

This was the first of three dual submission conferences with the RFS, so join us in the future!

To learn more, check out our website: www.wefidev.com

Thread on papers below ⬇️

Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 29

And to close out the conference, @akjain.bsky.social on the use of informal loans to bridge rigid, short-maturity formal loans in #Thailand 🇹🇭

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 29

Next @vaishnavisur.bsky.social on the use of formal bank credit by informal money lenders in #India 🇮🇳

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 29

Next Shang-Jin Wei on #fintech creating competition in interest rates paid on deposits in #China 🇨🇳

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 29

Next Matheus Sampaio on effect of digital payments on the adoption and use of other payment technologies in #Brazil 🇧🇷

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 29

Next Manju Puri on digital payments, open banking, and access to credit in #India 🇮🇳

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 29

Next @muhammadmeki.bsky.social comparing debt and equity-like financing for a productive asset for micro-distributors in #Kenya 🇰🇪

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 29

Day 2 of the #WEFIDEV RFS @cepr.org #Conference on #Finance and #Development starts with Silvia Prina on rehabilitating delinquent digital borrowers in sub-Saharan Africa

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 28

And to wrap the day, a session featuring projects on financing agricultural SMEs funded by @theigc.bsky.social & Aceli Africa

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 28

Next
@renpingli.bsky.social on the welfare effects of pay-as-you-go financing in #Mexico 🇲🇽

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Sean Higgins @seankhiggins.bsky.social · Mar 28

Now Tarun Ramadorai giving a keynote on asset value underreporting and optimal tax policy in Mumbai 🇮🇳

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