Initiative on Commodities & Natural Resources
2025 WORKSHOP ON COMMODITIES
The 2025 Annual Workshop on Commodities will take place at the Robin School of Business on October 3-4. Check this page for more details!
RSB Working Group on Commodities & Natural Resources
Founder: Michel A. Robe
Members:
- Accounting: Joyce van der Laan-Smith
- Analytics & Operations: Deniz Besik, Amit Eynan
- Economics: Rijal Binish, Tim Hamilton, Tim Hayes, Alex Persaud, Tom Zylkin
- Finance: Tom Arnold, Art Durnev, Nancy Tran
- Management: Olivia Aronson, Trey Sutton
About the Working Group
The working group provides a forum for cross-disciplinary discussions at the Robins School on commodities, natural resources that are currently unpriced and/or not traded (like air and common or natural spaces), and related issues. The group’s remit covers research (including research with students), policy analysis, and teaching. Topics of interest in that broad space include market and non-market valuation, physical and financial trading, risk management, logistics and operations, and natural resources accounting, etc.
Research Activities
Publications
Commodity Futures Deliveries: Theory and Evidence (2025)
Commitments of Traders Reports Puzzles: Answers from Grains and Oilseeds Futures (2024)
Does “Paper Oil” Matter? (2024) USDA Reports Affect the Stock Market, Too (2024)
Market Uncertainty & Sentiment around USDA Announcements (2022)
Seminars
Ajay Adhikari, American U (Nov. 1, 2024): Intermediaries and Corporate Sustainability
Summer Liu, U of 黑料传送门 (Nov. 8, 2024): Endogenous Preferences & Green Bond Pricing
Kris Jacobs, U of Houston (Oct. 4, 2025): Commodity Market Uncertainty
2025 Workshop on Commodities (coming soon)
Call for papers
Program Committee
Paper submissions page