Rita Biswas

Faculty Expertise and Achievement

Rita Biswas, PhD is Associate Professor of Finance and past Associate Dean of International Initiatives and Executive Education and Chair of the Finance Department. Prior to earning a PhD from Texas A&M University in international finance and banking, she obtained a Master’s in International Economics from University of Rochester (1985) and a Master’s in Economics from Calcutta University (1983). 

Professor Biswas’ research interests include international financial markets, macro-finance and entrepreneurship in emerging economies. She has published in leading journals such as The Financial Review, Journal of Financial Services Research, Review of Futures Markets, Global Finance Journal, International Journal of Media Management, Journal of Risk Management in Financial Institutions and more recently, in Financial Management and Finance Research Letters. She also serves as the editor for Research in Finance, Emerald Publishing.  

Professor Biswas’ teaching interests are in cross-border valuation, M&As, and international corporate finance. She has won several undergraduate and graduate teaching awards including the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2013) as well as the SUNY system-wide Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2013). She is a frequent teacher in Executive MBA programs worldwide, including at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Bankakademie, Germany and at Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Biswas has also led student groups for Global Business courses to destinations around the world including Poland, Peru and Panama. 

Research Interests

My research focus has been in international financial markets and exchange rates.  Almost all of my recent work has been around comparing developed (DEV) versus less developed economies (LDCs), with respect to international finance issues.  Is the Uncovered Interest Rate Parity driven by differential risk premia equally in DEV versus LDCs?  Do ML techniques improve macro-fundamentals-based exchange rate determination equally in DEV vs. LDCs.  Do financial variables predict economic aggregates in LDCs as well as they do in DEVs? 

I used my recent sabbatical leave to pursue a project with potential social impact in an emerging economy, i.e., Colombia.  Inspired by a UAlbany, School of Business colleague’s research on Entrepreneurial Orientation, I conducted a psychometric survey and interview of micro-entrepreneurs in urban and rural areas of Colombia to explore the Individual Entrepreneurial Orientation (IEO) metric in a novel context and using text analytics techniques in a foreign language.  The intent is to analyze the link between IEO and entrepreneurial success in the Colombian context. 

Research Websites

• Google Scholar Profile
• SSRN

Teaching Interests and Areas

• International Finance (Undergrad and Grad)
• Corporate Finance (Undergrad and Grad)
• Money and Capital Markets

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