Rui Esteves

Rui Esteves is a Professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, affiliated with the Faculty of International History and Politics and the Centre for Finance and Development. He holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, he taught at the University of Oxford and Simon Fraser University. His research focuses on monetary and financial history, straddling international finance, institutional economics, and public finance. Key areas include financial globalization, sovereign debt crises, emigrant remittances, and political corruption in historical contexts.

Research interests include the globalisation of finance, financial crises, sovereign debt, financial market architecture, exchange rate regimes, and corruption. Geographically, he specializes in Europe (particularly Southern Europe and Italy/Portugal). Recent projects include the reconstruction of international capital flows (1880-1913), the architecture of the pre-WWI monetary system, and the evolution of political corruption from the Ancien Régime to modern eras.

Publications span influential journals like the Journal of Economic History, Economic History Review, and Journal of International Money and Finance. Notable contributions include analyses of Eurobond moral hazard, railway investment logrolling in 19th-century Britain, and the role of remittances in pre-WWI balance of payments.

Awards include the Arthur H. Cole Prize (2009) and Figuerola Prize (2014). He supervises doctoral students like Emanuele Properzi, Noa Reggiani, and others. Academic service roles include editorial work for Financial History Review and affiliation with the CEPR's Economic History Program.

Current teaching includes courses on corruption histories and international finance, though he is on a Spring 2025 teaching buyout. Office hours are Tuesdays 10AM-12PM in room P2-515.