Ajay A. Palvia, Vita – page 1 of 3 

Ajay A. Palvia

550 17th Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20429

Email: apalvia@fdic.gov

Phone: 202-898-6830

EDUCATION

Cornell University: Ph. D, Economics; MA, Economics 

Pennsylvania State University: Masters in Engineering, Computer Science

Boston University: BA, Mathematics/Statistics

REGULATORY/ACDEMIC EXPERIENCE

• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Washington, DC

Senior Economist, (2022-Present), Senior Financial Economist, (2020– 2022) 

- Work in the Quantitative Risk Analysis division, in the Center for Financial Research (CFR), where I assist in 

bank examinations evaluating bank quantitative models, pursue independent research, and assist in

various other quantitative ad-hoc assignments.

• Office of Comptroller of Currency; Washington, DC

Senior Financial Economist, (2009– 2020), Financial Economist (2007-2009)

-From 2009 to 2020, worked in the Policy Analysis Division where I assisted the agency in evaluating 

impacts of regulatory rules and policies, participated in various internal and external working groups, and 

pursued independent research. 

- From 2007-2009, worked in the Credit Risk Analysis Division and assisted in bank examinations related to 

analytical issues in bank credit risk and provided recommendations to bank examiners related to bank 

credit risk model implementation and validation

• Cornell University; Ithaca, NY

Teaching Assistant, (2002-2003, 2005-2006) 

- Assisted in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in microeconomics and econometrics.

Research Assistant, (2003 – 2005)

- Provided research assistance for health economics and financial economics research groups. 

JOURNAL ARTICLES

• “Female leadership and bank risk-taking: Evidence from the effects of real estate shocks on bank 

lending performance and default risk” (With Emilia Vähämaa and Sami Vähämaa), Journal of Business 

Research, 2020

• “The Costs and Benefits of Bank Capital—A Review of the Literature” (with Martin Birn, Olivier de 

Bandt, Matías Gutiérrez Girault, Simon Firestone, Diana Hancock, Tord Krogh, Hitoshi Mio, Donald P. 

Morgan, Valerio Scalone, Michael Straughan, Arzu Uluc, Alexander H. von Hafften, and Missaka 

Warusawitharana), Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2020

• “Can the Book-To-Market Ratio Signal Banks’ Earnings and Default Risk? Evidence around the Great 

Recession” (with Bhanu Balasubramnian and Dilip Patro), Journal of Financial Services Research, 2018

• “Banks’ Internal Capital Markets and Deposit Rates” (with Itzhak Ben-David and Chester Spatt), 

Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 2017

• “Can short sellers inform bank supervision?” (with Bhanu Balasubramnian), Journal of Financial 

Services Research, 2016

• “Are Female CEOs and Chairwomen More Conservative and Risk Averse? Evidence from the Banking 

Industry during the Financial Crisis”, (With Emilia Vähämaa and Sami Vähämaa), Journal of Business 

Ethics, 2014
Ajay A. Palvia, Vita – page 2 of 3

• “Do Banks' Internal Basel Risk Estimates Reflect Risk?” (with Irina Barakova), Journal of Financial 

Stability, 2014

• “Sample Selection Bias in Acquisition Credit Scoring Models: An Evaluation of the Supplemental-Data 

Approach” (with Irina Barakova and Dennis Glennon), Journal of Credit Risk. Vol 9 (3), Fall 2013

• “Are Regulatory Management Evaluations Informative About Bank Accounting Returns and Risk?” 

(with Lewis Gaul), Journal of Economics and Business, Vol 66. March–April 2013, Pages 1–21

• "Banks and Managerial Discipline: Does Regulatory Monitoring Play a Role?", The Quarterly Review of 

Economics and Finance, Volume 51, Issue 1, February 2011, Pages 56-68

• “Limits to Relative Performance Evaluation: Evidence from Bank Executive Turnover” (with Irina 

Barakova), Journal of Financial Economic Policy, 2010, Issue 2 (3)

BOOK CHAPTERS

• “Managerial, Turnover, Regulatory Oversight, and Performance: Evidence from Community Banks”, 

Book chapter in International Research Handbook for Banking and Governance, James R. Barth, Chen Lin 

and Clas Wihlborg (Editors), Edward Elgar Publishing , 2012

WORKING PAPERS

• “Financial Distress and CEO Changes in Community Bank: The Role of Gender in Succession” (With 

Alireza Ebrahim, Emilia Vähämaa and Sami Vähämaa), June 2022

• “How Important Is Moral Hazard For Distressed Banks” (With Itzhak Ben-David and René M. Stulz), 

Marh 2022

UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS

• “Re-Examining the Role of Market Discipline for Bank Supervision: Evidence from the Subprime Crisis” 

(with Dilip Patro), April 2011

• “Executive Loans, Corporate Governance, and Firm Performance: Evidence from Banks” (with Yaniv 

Grinstein), April 2010

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

• Community Banking in the 21st Century Research and Policy Conference: Presenter (2020)

• FDIC/JFSR Conference: Presenter (2019)

• FMA Annual Meeting: Presenter and Discussant (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015), Discussant (2016, 

2019)

• Federal Reserve Board, Deposit Modeling Forum: Presenter (2016)

• WEIA/IBEFA Summer Conference, Presenter and Discussant (2013, 2017)

• Risk Quantification Forum, Presenter (2012)

• Eastern Finance Association Annual Meeting: Presenter and Discussant (2007, 2009, 2011)

• Midwest Finance Association Annual Meeting: Presenter and Discussant (2010)

• Southwestern Finance Association Annual Meeting: Presenter and Discussant (2008)

• ICBF Conference (India): Presenter (2008)

SEMINARS

• OCC: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2019

• FDIC: 2006, 2017, 2020, 2022

• Syracuse University: 2006
Ajay A. Palvia, Vita – page 3 of 3

REFEREE

• Banking and Finance Review; Journal of Economics and Business, Journal of Financial Economic Policy;

Journal of Credit Risk; Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Financial Stability;

Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking; Management Science; North American Journal of Economics and 

Finance; Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance

AWARDS/RECOGNITION

• Economics Department assistantship award (tuition plus stipend) for the duration of PhD program (2002-2007)

• Teaching Assistant overall student ratings statistically above average for 4 out of 5 courses taught (2002-2006)

• Semi-Finalist for Best Paper Award (FMA , 2011)

• On the Spot Award (Office Of the Comptroller of Currency (2012, 2013(2), 2014(2), 2015, 2016(3), 2017(2), 

2018 (2), 2019, 2020 (2))

• STAR Award (FDIC (2021)), Individual Mission Achievement Award (FDIC (2021))