Stavros Zenios
Stavros Zenios is a Cypriot citizen with a long career in the USA. His current research focuses on sovereign debt issues, especially in relation to the challenges posed by climate change and political risks. He is working on the development of stochastic dynamic models for debt sustainability analysis and risk management for sovereigns, on sovereign contingent debt, and on the asset pricing effects of political risks. He has published more than 150 articles in leading academic journals, encyclopedias, and handbooks, and edited numerous collected works. He regularly appears on national media discussing issues relating to the economy, transparency and corruption and is consulted by the international press on Eurozone crisis issues. He was Vice chairman of the Cyprus Council of Economic Advisors and served on the Board of the Central Bank of Cyprus. He served two terms as President of UNICA-Universities of European Capitals and two terms as Rector of the University of Cyprus.
He is a Professor of Operations Management and Finance at Durham University (UK), on leave from the University of Cyprus, where he has been a Professor of Finance and Management Science since 1991. Prior to that, he was a tenured faculty member at the Wharton School, USA, where he remains a Senior fellow of the Financial Institutions Center. He is a Member of Academia Europaea and of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts.
Disclosure of interests
Featured work
Sovereigns on thinning ice: debt sustainability, climate impacts and adaptation
Climate change could trigger debt crises, with adaptation providing only partial relief
Climate change is likely to significantly undermine sovereign debt sustainability, especially from the mid-2040s
Are bad governments a threat to sovereign defaults? The effects of political risk on debt sustainability
In this paper, we ask whether the level of political risk in a country threatens its debt sustainability
Incorporating political risk into analysis of sovereign debt sustainability
Political risk is not taken into account when assessing whether countries can manage their debts, but it could be and should be
Memo to the commissioner responsible for economic and financial affairs
Climate change, the next big financial threat
A warming planet poses new risks to European sovereign debt. How can the continent protect itself?
The longer-term fiscal challenges facing the European Union
Since 2020, the European Union has suffered two large shocks, which have created new fiscal challenges for the EU.
The ripple effect of financial education
A financial literacy course for university students in Cyprus also improved the financial knowledge of their parents.
How effective has the pandemic emergency purchase programme been in ensuring debt sustainability?
The ECB’s pandemic emergency purchase programme has improved substantially the debt dynamics of euro-area countries, with durable effects.
The risks from climate change to sovereign debt in Europe
European Union institutions and national fiscal authorities should incorporate climate risk in debt sustainability analysis.
Growth uncertainty, European Central Bank intervention and the Italian debt
European Central Bank intervention provides a buffer against the uncertainty faced by European Union economies in the face of COVID-19. For the time b
Coronavirus and the politics of a common fiscal instrument
Coronavirus means many European Union countries will soon face major increases in their sovereign debt burdens, exacerbated by the sudden collapse of
Incorporating political risks into debt sustainability analysis
DSA applies to crisis countries only, but an early warning system identifying vulnerabilities is relevant for all countries. A more general, less stri
State contingent debt as insurance for euro-area sovereigns
Since the financial crisis, EU countries' economies have recovered to the point that they are exiting their adjustment programmes. Institutional stabi
EU borders: walking backwards from Northern Ireland to Cyprus
The Good Friday agreement put to rest age-old conflicts on Ireland. It also offered hope that the reunification of Cyprus might be possible within the