Thorsten Beck is a professor of banking and finance at Cass Business School in the City University of London, and a research fellow of CEPR. He used to work at Tilburg University and the World Bank, and also worked as a consultant for the European Central Bank, BIS, and IMF, etc. His research interest mainly focuses on corporate finance, banking, and development economics, etc. His country experience, both in operational and research work, includes Brazil, China, Mexico, Russia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, etc. He holds a PhD from the University of Virginia and an MA from the University of Tubingen in Germany. He has published papers in top economics and finance journals such as Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of International Economics, and Journal of Development Economics, etc. He is a co-editor of Journal of Banking and Finance and also a managing editor of Economic Policy, and he used to be a co-editor of Review of Finance.