Jian Cai

Jian Cai is a Professor of Finance at Washington University in St. Louis specializing in financial networks, banking, and systemic risk. His research focuses on loan syndication structures, bank interconnectedness, and the systemic implications of financial networks.

His research interests include financial networks, banking systems, systemic risk measurement, loan syndication structures, and financial interconnectedness. He has made significant contributions to understanding how bank diversification affects systemic risk through portfolio overlaps in syndicated loans. His work demonstrates that bank interconnectedness is primarily driven by diversification strategies rather than bank size or overall market size.

His publications highlight the relationship between bank interconnectedness and systemic risk measures such as SRISK, DIP, and CoVaR, showing that this relationship intensifies during economic recessions. His research underscores how institution-level risk reduction through diversification creates negative externalities for the broader financial system.

His work has been published in leading finance journals and working paper series, with notable contributions to understanding the structural aspects of loan syndication networks and their implications for financial stability.