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  4. Robert M. Townsend
photo of Robert Townsend

Robert M. Townsend

Elizabeth & James Killian Professor of Economics

Research Fields

Development Economics, Economic Theory, Macroeconomics
Biography Publications Projects Teaching News and Selected Presentations

Contact Information

View & Download CV
Office Phone 617-452-3722
Email Address rtownsen@mit.edu
Office E52-538
Social Twitter
Assistant Name Deborah Jamiol
Assistant Phone 617-252-1618
Links LEAD- Laboratory for Economic Analysis and Design
View & Download CV

Featured Publications

Distributed Ledgers: Design and Regulation of Financial Infrastructure and Payment Systems

Distributed Ledgers: Design and Regulation of Financial Infrastructure and Payment Systems.

Robert M. Townsend
MIT Press
October 2020
Journal of Political Economy

Dynamic Bank Expansion: Spatial Growth, Financial Access, and Inequality

Yan Ji, Songyuan Teng, Robert M. Townsend
Journal of Political Economy, 131 (8): 2209-2278, 2023
August 2023

The Village Money Market Revealed: Financial Access and Credit Chain Links Between Formal and Informal Sectors

Annual Review of Financial Economics, 14 (Nov): 1-20, 2022

A Multi-Currency Exchange and Contracting Platform

IMF Working Paper No. WP/22/217

A Market Based Solution for Fire Sales and Other Pecuniary Externalities

Journal of Political Economy, 129 (4): 981–1010

All Robert M. Townsend Publications

Department of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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