FUNDACION CENTRO DE ESTUDIOS MONETARIOS Y FINANCIEROS

Their core work

CEMFI is a Madrid-based graduate school and research center specializing in economics and finance, producing high-level academic research on urban economics, structural transformation, and economic development. They contribute applied econometric expertise to large European research infrastructures, particularly the SHARE survey on health, ageing, and retirement. Their work bridges theoretical economics with empirical analysis of credit markets, labor allocation, and the socioeconomic impacts of demographic change and crises like COVID-19.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

CEMFI's early H2020 work (2015–2017) centered on microeconomic theory — urban dynamics, school choice, and structural development economics. From 2019 onward, their involvement shifted significantly toward large-scale population health research through the SHARE infrastructure, including rapid response to COVID-19. This evolution shows a center originally focused on pure economic modeling that increasingly applies its quantitative methods to health and demographic questions at European scale.

CEMFI is moving from theoretical economics toward applied socioeconomic research on health and population, making them a strong partner for projects that need rigorous economic analysis of health or demographic data.

How they like to work

CEMFI operates primarily as a contributing expert rather than a consortium leader — they coordinated just 1 of 6 projects (the ERC-funded DYNURBAN), while serving as participant or third party in the rest. Their repeated involvement in the SHARE survey infrastructure (3 projects) suggests they maintain long-term relationships with specific research networks. With 19 unique partners across 12 countries, they are well-connected but selective, typical of a small research center that joins large consortia to provide specialized econometric expertise.

CEMFI has collaborated with 19 distinct partners across 12 countries, reflecting broad European reach despite their small size. Their network is anchored by the SHARE survey community, one of Europe's largest social science research infrastructures spanning 28 member states.

What sets them apart

CEMFI stands out as a compact, elite economics research center that punches well above its weight — winning an ERC Advanced Grant as coordinator while also embedding in massive pan-European survey infrastructures. Their combination of deep theoretical economics (urban dynamics, credit markets, structural transformation) with hands-on experience in large-scale cross-national data collection is unusual. For consortium builders, they offer the rigor of a top economics department with the agility of a small, focused institution.

Highlights from their portfolio

• DYNURBAN
  Their sole coordinated project and largest grant (EUR 1.3M ERC Advanced Grant), combining urban economics with big data methods — a significant award for a small institution.
• SHARE-COVID19
  Rapid-response project studying pandemic impacts across Europe using the established SHARE survey infrastructure, showing CEMFI's ability to pivot to urgent socioeconomic questions.
• EDST
  Second-largest funding (EUR 932K) addressing fundamental questions of why some economies develop and others stagnate, with focus on credit markets and resource misallocation.