This is an interesting moment for the critical study of global finance. As the intellectual challenges posed by the 2007-2009 financial crisis have lost their integrative force, scholars have expanded research agendas to include a broader range of topics, including financial subordination, financial hegemony, central banking, digital finance, sustainable finance, and more.

As research topics have multiplied, so have methodological repertoires. Current work encompasses methodologies as diverse as experimental design, network analysis, expert interviews, and archival work and at the same time utilises a growing range of public and private data sources. But while the empirical and theoretical expansion of global finance scholarship has received considerable attention, its methodological pluralism has remained underexplored.

Guadalupe Moreno, Ruben Kremers and I have launched a new research network on the methods used to study global finance in order to address this gap. The ‘Global Finance Methods’ project aims to build a collaborative research network dedicated to exploring, discussing, and reflecting upon the different data sources and methodological tools used in global finance research.

From 2024 to 2026, we will organize a series of activities, including a series of methodological trainings as well as a major conference. The activities of the ‘Global Finance Methods’ Network will contribute to fostering methodological debates among scholars of global finance. This project is funded through the Rhine-Main-Universities (RMU) Alliance.

See below the program, CfP and impressions from our 2025 Conference that was supported by the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET):