# Mark P. Taylor
**Mark P. Taylor** is an economist and former foreign exchange trader who is the Donald Danforth, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Finance at Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, where he served as dean from 2016 to 2022[1](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374). He is known for empirical research on exchange rates: purchasing power parity and its nonlinear mean reversion, out-of-sample exchange rate forecasting against the random walk, and the role of technical analysis in the foreign exchange market[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en). In September 2019 the RePEc ranking placed him fifth among the most influential researchers in international finance in the world[3](https://source.washu.edu/2019/09/taylor-ranks-in-top-five-for-international-finance-research/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current position | Donald Danforth, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Finance, Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis; dean 2016–2022[1](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374) |
| Most-cited paper | "The use of technical analysis in the foreign exchange market" (Taylor & Allen, JIMF 1992), 1,669 citations[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en) |
| International finance standing | Fifth-most influential researcher in international finance worldwide, RePEc, September 2019[3](https://source.washu.edu/2019/09/taylor-ranks-in-top-five-for-international-finance-research/) |
| Outside academia | FX trader at Citigroup; senior economist at the Bank of England and the IMF; Managing Director at BlackRock for five years[1](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374) |
| Signature finding | Nonlinear mean reversion in real exchange rates implies faster adjustment than linear tests record[4](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2354.00144) |
| Fellowships | Royal Statistical Society (1999), Academy of Social Sciences (2009), Royal Economic Society, CEPR Research Fellow since 1987[1](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374) • [5](http://cepr.org/index%2Ephp/about/people/mark-taylor) |
## Career and appointments
Taylor's career runs across trading, policy institutions, and academia. He began as a foreign exchange trader at [Citigroup](https://www.edgepedia.org/citigroup), then worked as a senior economist at the [Bank of England](https://www.edgepedia.org/bank-of-england) and the [International Monetary Fund](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-monetary-fund) in Washington, DC[1](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374).
In academia he has held professorships at Oxford and Bayes Business School, and at Warwick he was professor of finance and dean of Warwick Business School from 2010 to 2016[6](https://source.washu.edu/2022/05/taylor-to-conclude-deanship-june-30/) • [7](https://www.brookings.edu/people/mark-taylor/). Over 1999–2004 he directed a £5 million macroeconomics research program for the UK Economic and Social Research Council, acted as Special Economic Adviser to two UK cabinet members, and worked at Barclays Global Investors on international asset allocation[8](https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/academic/taylor/biography).
**Finance industry.** He spent five years as a Managing Director at [BlackRock](https://www.edgepedia.org/blackrock), then the world's largest asset manager, leading the European arm of the Global Market Strategies Group, a large global macro investment fund; his LinkedIn profile lists this role[1](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374) • [7](https://www.brookings.edu/people/mark-taylor/). He has also advised the Bank of England, the World Bank, and the IMF[6](https://source.washu.edu/2022/05/taylor-to-conclude-deanship-june-30/), and is a Nonresident Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the [Brookings Institution](https://www.edgepedia.org/brookings-institution)[7](https://www.brookings.edu/people/mark-taylor/).
His education spans Oxford and London: a BA (1980) and MA (1984) from St John's College, Oxford; an MSc (1982, Distinction) and PhD (1984) from Birkbeck College, University of London; an MBA (2010, Distinction) from [University College London](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-college-london); a DSc (2012) from Warwick; and an ALM (2022) from Harvard[1](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374).
## The Olin deanship, 2016–2022
Taylor was appointed dean of Olin Business School in 2016, joining from Warwick[6](https://source.washu.edu/2022/05/taylor-to-conclude-deanship-june-30/). He concluded the deanship on June 30, 2022, then took a year of academic leave from July 1, 2022 before resuming as a full professor[6](https://source.washu.edu/2022/05/taylor-to-conclude-deanship-june-30/). During his tenure the school achieved triple accreditation, and Chancellor Andrew D. Martin credited him with enhancing Olin's international profile and making significant strategic investments in digital education[6](https://source.washu.edu/2022/05/taylor-to-conclude-deanship-june-30/). [Anjan V. Thakor](https://www.edgepedia.org/anjan-v-thakor), the John E. Simon Professor of Finance, served as interim dean after his departure[6](https://source.washu.edu/2022/05/taylor-to-conclude-deanship-june-30/).
## Research contributions
**Exchange rate economics.** Taylor's 1995 survey in the *Journal of Economic Literature* reviewed two decades of exchange rate economics, covering market efficiency, exchange rate determination, intervention effectiveness, and target zones[9](http://danica.popovic.ekof.bg.ac.rs/taylor-exr-jel-1995.pdf). It documented a shift in professional consensus on purchasing power parity (PPP): pre-float support for stable real exchange rates gave way after the 1970s collapse of PPP and the 1980s finding that real exchange rates behave like random walks[9](http://danica.popovic.ekof.bg.ac.rs/taylor-exr-jel-1995.pdf). The same survey reported that Lothian and Taylor's two-century sterling-dollar and sterling-franc dataset found strong evidence of mean reversion in real exchange rates, work published in the *Journal of Political Economy* in 1996[9](http://danica.popovic.ekof.bg.ac.rs/taylor-exr-jel-1995.pdf) • [2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en).
**Nonlinear PPP reversion.** With David Peel and Lucio Sarno, Taylor's 2001 *International Economic Review* paper fit nonlinearly mean-reverting models to post-Bretton Woods real dollar exchange rates, consistent with a theoretical literature on transactions costs in international arbitrage. Half-lives of real exchange rate shocks, calculated through [Monte Carlo integration](https://www.edgepedia.org/monte-carlo-integration), implied faster adjustment speeds than hitherto recorded; the paper also showed by [Monte Carlo](https://www.edgepedia.org/monte-carlo) simulation that standard univariate unit root tests have low power under nonlinear mean reversion while multivariate tests have much higher power[4](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2354.00144). A 2002 survey with Sarno in *IMF Staff Papers* concluded that PPP may be viewed as a valid long-run international parity condition among major industrialized countries, and that mean reversion in real exchange rates displays significant nonlinearities, calling for further work on how real shocks shift the long-run equilibrium level[12](https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/imfstp/v49y2002i1p5.html).
**Out-of-sample forecasting.** With Richard Clarida, Sarno, and Giorgio Valente, Taylor authored "The out-of-sample success of term structure models as exchange rate predictors: a step beyond" (*Journal of International Economics*, 2003), and with [Lutz Kilian](https://www.edgepedia.org/lutz-kilian) the 2003 JIE paper "Why is it so difficult to beat the random walk forecast of exchange rates?", which has 1,214 citations[10](https://ideas.repec.org/e/pta36.html) • [2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en).
**Technical analysis.** Taylor's earliest highly cited paper, with Helen Allen (1992), documented the use of technical analysis in the foreign exchange market and remains his most-cited work at 1,669 citations[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en). The 2007 *Journal of Economic Literature* survey with Lukas Menkhoff established that technical analysis is widespread in the foreign exchange market and may be profitable; among four candidate explanations, the authors judged most plausible the one holding that technical analysis informs on nonfundamental influences on exchange rates[11](https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/jeclit/v45y2007i4p936-972.html). A 2014 CEPR paper with Po-Hsuan Hsu, "Forty Years, Thirty Currencies and 21,000 Trading Rules", took a data-snooping-robust approach to technical trading rules across the whole market[10](https://ideas.repec.org/e/pta36.html).
**Currency premia and carry trades.** Later work turned toward empirical asset pricing in foreign exchange: "Common Macro Factors and Currency Premia" (JFQA 2017), "Global Political Risk and Currency Momentum" (JFQA 2018), and "Forward-Looking Policy Rules and Currency Premia" (JFQA 2023)[1](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374).
## By the numbers
His most-cited works, with [Google Scholar](https://www.edgepedia.org/google-scholar) counts, are:
- "The use of technical analysis in the foreign exchange market" (Taylor & Allen, JIMF 1992)[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en)
- "The purchasing power parity debate" (A.M. Taylor & M.P. Taylor, JEP 2002)[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en)
- "The economics of exchange rates" (JEL 1995)[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en)
- "Nonlinear mean-reversion in real exchange rates" (Taylor, Peel & Sarno, IER 2001)[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en)
- "Real exchange rate behavior: the recent float from the perspective of the past two centuries" (Lothian & Taylor, JPE 1996)[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en)
- "Why is it so difficult to beat the random walk forecast of exchange rates?" (Kilian & Taylor, JIE 2003)[2](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en)
Beyond the 2019 RePEc top-five rank in international finance[3](https://source.washu.edu/2019/09/taylor-ranks-in-top-five-for-international-finance-research/), a study in the *Journal of the European Economic Association* ranked him fiftieth in the world and second in the UK by citations received during the 1990s[8](https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/academic/taylor/biography).
## Recent developments
Recent publications show a shift toward the profitability and portfolio use of foreign exchange strategies. In 2024 he published "The Out-of-Sample Performance of Carry Trades" (*Journal of International Money and Finance*, with Po-Hsuan Hsu, Zigan Wang, and Yan Li), "Importance of Transaction Costs for Asset Allocation in the Foreign Exchange Markets" (*Journal of Financial Economics*, with Ilias Filippou, Thomas Maurer, and Luca Pezzo), and "Media Sentiment and Currency Reversals" (JFQA 59(3), with Filippou and Wang)[1](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374) • [10](https://ideas.repec.org/e/pta36.html). In 2025 the same group published "On the profitability of influential carry-trade strategies: Data-snooping bias and post-publication performance" in the *Journal of Empirical Finance*[10](https://ideas.repec.org/e/pta36.html).
RePEc also records two 2026 CEPR discussion papers from him: DP21883, "Activation Costs, Fair Value, and Real Exchange Rate Adjustment", on real exchange rates, and DP21884, "Downton Revisited: Income Shocks and Aristocratic Marriage Markets, 1840–1913", an economic history paper[10](https://ideas.repec.org/e/pta36.html).
## References
1. [Mark Taylor, Olin Business School faculty profile](https://olin.wustl.edu/faculty/mark-taylor?redirectid=374)
2. [Mark P. Taylor, Google Scholar profile](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B7MOvmMAAAAJ&hl=en)
3. [Taylor ranks in top five for international finance research, The Source (September 2019)](https://source.washu.edu/2019/09/taylor-ranks-in-top-five-for-international-finance-research/)
4. [Nonlinear Mean-Reversion in Real Exchange Rates, Taylor, Peel & Sarno, International Economic Review 42(4), 2001](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2354.00144)
5. [Mark Taylor, CEPR profile](http://cepr.org/index%2Ephp/about/people/mark-taylor)
6. [Taylor to conclude deanship June 30, The Source, Washington University in St. Louis (May 2022)](https://source.washu.edu/2022/05/taylor-to-conclude-deanship-june-30/)
7. [Mark Taylor, Brookings Institution profile](https://www.brookings.edu/people/mark-taylor/)
8. [Professor Mark P. Taylor: A Short Biography, University of Warwick](https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/academic/taylor/biography)
9. [The Economics of Exchange Rates, Journal of Economic Literature 33(1), March 1995](http://danica.popovic.ekof.bg.ac.rs/taylor-exr-jel-1995.pdf)
10. [Mark P. Taylor, IDEAS/RePEc author record (Short-ID pta36)](https://ideas.repec.org/e/pta36.html)
11. [The Obstinate Passion of Foreign Exchange Professionals: Technical Analysis, Menkhoff & Taylor, JEL 45(4), 2007](https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/jeclit/v45y2007i4p936-972.html)
12. [Purchasing Power Parity and the Real Exchange Rate, Sarno & Taylor, IMF Staff Papers 49(1), 2002](https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/imfstp/v49y2002i1p5.html)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Social and behavioral scientists › Financial economists › International and comparative finance scholars*
*Initially written Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license