Hello! I am an Assistant Professor of Finance at Rice University. I study corporate finance, including topics related to managerial compensation and contracting, managerial human capital, shareholder voting, and capital budgeting, among others.
I have a PhD in Finance from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Sociology (PPES) from Trinity College Dublin.
Updates
- 2025.05.23: New paper Human Capital, Competition and Mobility in the Managerial Labor Market
- 2025.05.15: Human capital paper (above): presentations in May at FIRS and UNSW Corporate Finance Conference
Job market paper
- Shareholder Voice and Executive Compensation
December 2024
ssrn
Abstract
I estimate a model of CEO compensation with non-binding shareholder approval votes (Say-on-Pay). The Board sets compensation and (relative to shareholders) may prefer high total pay; shareholders can fail the vote and punish the Board for high pay. Failed votes are perceived as costly by the Board and shareholders: Say-on-Pay resembles a costly punishment mechanism, raising firm value by 2.4% on average, despite only 7% of votes failing. I analyze a counterfactual binding vote: failure binds pay to prior levels, which may not reflect current information about CEO ability. The failure rate falls, pay levels increase and firm value decreases.