Michael Haliassos

Michael Haliassos is a Greek–German economist specializing in macroeconomics and household finance. He is Research Professor and Executive Board Member at the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS) at Goethe University Frankfurt. He is also the founding director of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Network on Household Finance. His research examines household financial decision-making, wealth accumulation, portfolio choice, and financial literacy.

Early life and education Haliassos studied economics at the University of Cambridge, where he received a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1981 and later a Master of Arts (MA) in 1986. He subsequently pursued graduate studies at Yale University, earning a Master of Arts (MA) in 1982, a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in 1984, and a PhD in economics in 1987. His doctoral work was supervised by James Tobin and William Nordhaus.

Career Haliassos began his academic career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park (1987–1993). In 1993, he joined the University of Cyprus, where he contributed to the development of this new university, as member of the Senate and of the Governing Council and later served as Deputy Dean of the School of Economics and Business.

In December 2004, he was appointed to the Chair of Macroeconomics and Finance at Goethe University Frankfurt, a position he held until March 2026. During his tenure, he served as Director of the Center for Financial Studies from 2010 to 2015 and as founding director of the Research Center SAFE from 2013 to 2015. Following his retirement, he remained Research Professor and Executive Board Member at the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS) at Goethe University Frankfurt.

Haliassos is the founding director of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) Network on Household Finance, a role he continues to hold. In May 2025, he was named a Founding Fellow of the Royal Economic Society.

Research Haliassos's research focuses on household finance, examining how households make decisions about saving, borrowing, and investing. His work addresses topics such as portfolio choice, stock market participation, household debt, wealth inequality, and financial literacy. He is one of the authors of the major review paper on household finance in the Journal of Economic Literature.

A recurring theme in his research is the limited participation of households in equity markets despite potential long-term gains. He has studied factors influencing financial market participation, including liquidity constraints, financial knowledge, and differences across countries and institutions.

Haliassos has also examined the role of social networks and financial advice in shaping household financial decisions. His later work explores cross-country differences in household portfolios and the broader economic implications of household financial behavior.

Books Guiso, Luigi; Haliassos, Michael; Jappelli, Tullio, eds. (2001). Household Portfolios. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Guiso, Luigi; Haliassos, Michael; Jappelli, Tullio, eds. (2002). Stockholding in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan. Haliassos, Michael, ed. (2012). Financial Innovation: Too Much or Too Little?. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Haliassos, Michael, ed. (2015). Critical Writings in Household Finance. International Library of Critical Writings in Economics. Edward Elgar Publishing. Faia, Ester; Hackethal, Andreas; Haliassos, Michael; Langenbucher, Katja, eds. (2015). Financial Regulation: A Transatlantic Perspective. Cambridge University Press. Allen, Franklin; Faia, Ester; Haliassos, Michael; Langenbucher, Katja, eds. (2019). Capital Markets Union and Beyond. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.