Center for Financial Frictions

AQR Top Finance Graduate Award 2022

Winners 2022

• Antonio Coppola, PhD from Harvard University: In Safe Hands: The Financial and Real Impact of Investor Composition Over the Credit Cycle
• Diego Känzig, PhD from London Business School: The unequal economic consequences of carbon pricing 
• Francesca Bastianello, PhD from Harvard University: Partial Equilibrium Thinking, Extrapolation, and Bubbles
• Kerry Siani, PhD from Columbia Business School: Raising Bond Capital in Segmented Markets
• Noémie Pinardon-Touati, PhD from HEC Paris: The Crowding Out Effect of Local Government Debt: Micro- and Macro-Estimates
• Paul Fontanier, PhD from Harvard University: Optimal Policy for Behavioral Financial Crises

The Award ceremony took place at The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters on June 10, 2022.

AQR Top Finance Graduate Award 2021

Winners 2021

• Lira Mota, PhD from Columbia Business School: The Corporate Supply of (Quasi) Safe Assets 
• Jane Li, PhD from University of Chicago, Booth School of Business: The Importance of Investor Heterogeneity: An Examination of the Corporate Bond Market 
• Simon Mayer, PhD from Erasmus University Rotterdam and Tinbergen Institute: Financing Breakthroughs under Failure Risk
• Peter Maxted, PhD from Harvard University: A Macro-Finance Model with Sentiment

The Award ceremony took place at The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters on September 17, 2021.

AQR Top Finance Graduate Award 2020

Winners 2020

• Samuel Antill, PhD from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Placement: Assistant Professor at Havard Business School: Do the Right Firms Survive Bankruptcy?
• Nuno Clara, PhD from London Business School: Demand Elasticities, Nominal Rigidities and Asset Prices
• Christopher Clayton, PhD from Harvard University. Placement: Assistant Professor at Yale School of Management: Multinational Banks and Financial Stability
• Rebecca De Simone, PhD from Columbia Business School. Placement: Assistant Professor at London Business School: Financial and Real Effects of Government Monitoring: Evidence from Commercial Bank Loans
• Huan Tang, PhD from HEC Paris. Placement: Assistant Professor at London School of Economics: The Value of Privacy: Evidence from Online Borrowers
• Quentiwn Vandeweyer, PhD from Sciences Po Paris. Placement: Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago (Booth): Treasury Debt and the Pricing of Short-Term Assets

The Award ceremony took place online on September 21, 2020.

AQR Top Finance Graduate Award 2019

Winners 2019

• Gregory Buchak, PhD from University of Chicago, Booth School of Business: Financing the Gig Economy. Placement: Assistant Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Lorena Keller, PhD from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management: Capital Controls and Risk Misallocation: Evidence from a Natural Experiment. Placement: Assistant Professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
• Claudia Robles Garcia, PhD from London School of Economics: Competition and Incentives in Mortgage Markets: The Role of Brokers. Placement: Assistant Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Olivier Wang, PhD from MIT Economics: Banks, Low Interest Rates, and Monetary Policy Transmission. Placement: Assistant Professor at NYU Stern
• Chenzi Xu, PhD from Harvard University: Reshaping Global Trade: The Immediate and Long-Run Effects of Bank Failures. Placement: a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth College and joining the Stanford University Graduate School of Business in 2020
• Anthony Lee Zhang, PhD from Stanford Graduate School of Business: Competition and Manipulation in Derivative Contract Markets. Placement: Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

The winners received a cash prize of a total of 10.000 USD sponsored by AQR and presented their research in Copenhagen on June 17, 2019.

Award Selection Committee

• Nicholas Barberis, Yale University, School of Management
• Patrick Bolton, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business
• Darrell Duffie, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business
• Ralph Koijen, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
• Toby Moskowitz, Yale University, School of Management
• Lasse H. Pedersen, (Chair), Copenhagen Business School
• Michael R. Roberts, University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School
• David S. Scharfstein, Harvard Business School
• Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, University of California, Berkeley

The Award ceremony took place at The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters on June 17, 2019.

Programme 2019

About the Winners

	Gregory Buchak, University of Chicago, Booth School of BusinessGregory Buchak is completing his PhD in financial economics at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on consumer finance, the industrial organization of the financial system, financial regulation, and the role that finance plays in technological growth. Next year he will join the Stanford Graduate School of Business as an assistant professor of finance.
	Lorena Keller, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of ManagementLorena Keller is a PhD candidate in finance at Northwestern University. Herresearch interests are in macro-finance. In particular, she is interestedin understanding how macroeconomic and pricing frictions affect agents at themicro level (firms and households) and how the effects at the micro level feedback to the real economy.Lorena holds an M.A and B.A in Economics from Universidad del Pacifico (Peru).Prior to her PhD studies at Northwestern, Lorena worked as a Trader at Deutsche Bank.This summer, Lorena is joining the finance department at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.Capital Controls and Risk Misallocation: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
	Claudia Robles Garcia, London School of EconomicsClaudia Robles-Garcia is a PhD candidate in Economics at the London School of Economics and a research analyst at the UK Financial Conduct Authority. Her main areas of research are household finance, industrial organization and banking.In recent work,  she studies the role of intermediaries as expert advisors, the effects of financial regulation on consumer behavior and market structure, and the impact of vertical relations on firm pricing decisions. This summer, Claudia will be joining the Stanford Graduate School of Business as an Assistant Professor of Finance.Competition and Incentives in Mortgage Markets: The Role of Brokers
	Olivier Wang, MIT EconomicsOlivier Wang is a PhD candidate in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and will be joining the finance department at the NYU Stern School of Business this summer.His current research is in macroeconomics, banking, and international finance.Prior to MIT, he received degrees in mathematics and economics from the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris.Banks, Low Interest Rates, and Monetary Policy Transmission
	Chenzi Xu, Harvard UniversityChenzi Xu’s research interests are in financial history andinternational macroeconomics, especially as it pertains to banking and financial crises. She is a PhD candidate in Economics at Harvard University.Chenzi received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Harvard and was a Harvard-Cambridge Scholar and Cambridge Overseas Trust Scholar at the University of Cambridge, where she received an M. Phil in Economic and Social History. Chenzi will join the Stanford Graduate School of Business as an assistant professor of finance in the fall 2020 after one year as theDartmouth International Economics Postdoctoral Fellow.Reshaping Global Trade: The Immediate and Long-Run Effects of Bank Failures
	Anthony Lee Zhang, Stanford Graduate School of BusinessAnthony Lee Zhang is a PhD student in Economic Analysis and Policy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He primarily works on market design and microstructure. His job market paper proposes a way to measure themanipulability of derivative contract markets.Competition and Manipulation in Derivative Contract Markets

Venue
The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
H.C. Andersens Boulevard 35
1553 København V
Denmark

Sponsor
The Top Finance Graduate Award 2018 is sponsored by AQR. AQR is a global investment management firm built at the intersection of financial theory and practical application. We strive to deliver superior, long-term results for our clients by looking past market noise to identify and isolate what matters most, and by developing ideas that stand up to rigorous testing. Our focus on practical insights and analysis has made us leaders in alternative and traditional strategies since 1998. Read more about AQR here.

AQR Top Finance Graduate Award 2018

Winners 2018

• Laura Blattner, PhD from Harvard University: When Losses Turn Into Loans: The Cost of Undercapitalized Banks. Placement:  Assistant Professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Emanuele Colonnelli, PhD from Stanford University:Corruption And Firms: Evidence From Randomized Audits In Brazil. Placement: Assistant Professor at The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
• Niels Joachim Gormsen, PhD from Copenhagen Business School: Time Variation of the Equity Term Structure. Placement: Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
• Kilian Huber, PhD from London School of Economics:Are Bigger Banks Better? Firm-Level Evidence from Germany. Placement: Assistant Professor at Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
• Yiming Ma, PhD from Stanford Graduate School of Business: Intermediation in the Interbank Lending Market. Placement:  Assistant Professor at Columbia Business School.
• Yueran Ma, PhD from Harvard University:Low Interest Rates and Risk Taking: Evidence from Individual Investment Decisions. Placement: Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
• Scott Nelson, PhD from MIT Economics:Private Information and Price Regulation in the US Credit Card Market. Placement: Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business

The winners received a cash prize of a total of 10.000 USD sponsored by AQR and presented their research in Copenhagen on June 8, 2018.

Award Selection Committee

• Nicholas Barberis, Yale University, School of Management
• Patrick Bolton, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business
• Darrell Duffie, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business
• Ralph Koijen, NYU Stern School of Business
• Toby Moskowitz, Yale University, School of Management
• Lasse H. Pedersen, (Chair), Copenhagen Business School
• Michael R. Roberts, University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School
• David S. Scharfstein, Harvard Business School
• Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, University of California, Berkeley

The Award ceremony took place at CBS on June 8, 2018.

Programme 2018

About the Winners

	Laura Blattner, Standford University  Laura Blattner is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Laura earned her Ph.D. in Economics and Political Economy at Harvard University. Her research interests are banking, corporate finance, and macroeconomics. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) and a Master of Philosophy in Economics at the University of Oxford (Nuffield College). Prior to her Ph.D., she completed a six-month internship at the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. In July 2018, she will be joining the Stanford Graduate School of Business as an Assistant Professor of Finance.   When Losses Turn Into Loans: The Cost of Undercapitalized Banks(joint with Luísa Farinha, Banco de Portugal and Francisca Rebelo, Boston College)
	Emanuele Colonnelli, Stanford UniversityEmanuele is a PhD candidate in Economics at Stanford University. His research lies at the intersection of corporate finance and development, with a special interest in topics of entrepreneurship and political economy. A unifying theme of his research agenda is the understanding of how institutional frictions affect the real economy, by studying their impact on firm and entrepreneurial dynamics, as well as resource allocation across and within firms. Emanuele holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Siena, an MSc in Economics from Bocconi University, and he spent an academic year visiting Pembroke College, Oxford University. Prior to joining Stanford, he worked as a researcher at IGIER (Bocconi University). He is also the recipient of a number of grants and awards, such as the Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship, and he volunteers as a research advisor for various government agencies. Next summer, Emanuele will be joining the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.Corruption And Firms: Evidence From Randomized Audits In Brazil
	Niels Joachim Gormsen, Copenhagen Business SchoolNiels Joachim Gormsen is a PhD candidate at Copenhagen Business School. His main area of research is empirical asset pricing. In recent work he has studied the equity term structure, the conditional CAPM, the low-risk effect, and how the distribution of equity returns varies over time. Niels received a Bachelor’s degree in International Business and a Master’s degree in Economics and Finance, both from Copenhagen Business School. During his PhD, Niels spend a year at Harvard University as a visiting student. This summer, Niels will be joining the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Time Variation of the Equity Term Structure
	Kilian Huber, London School of EconomicsKilian Huber's research studies the interaction between the financial sector and the real economy. His recent publication in the American Economic Review, entitled "Disentangling the Effects of a Banking Crisis: Evidence from German Firms and Counties", shows that lending cuts by banks have persistent effects on the real economy. Lending cuts do not only affect firms through restricted access to credit, but can also indirectly harm firms with undisturbed bank loan supply, through reduced aggregate demand and local spillovers. Kilian’s new paper "Are Bigger Banks Better? Firm-Level Evidence from Germany" shows empirically that increases in bank size may not lead to real economic benefits. Kilian will be a Research Fellow at the Becker Friedman Institute of the University of Chicago in 2018/19, before joining the Booth School of Business as Assistant Professor of Economics. Kilian is about to complete his graduate studies at the Department of Economics of the London School of Economics. He holds Bachelor and Master degrees from the London School of Economics.Are Bigger Banks Better? Firm-Level Evidence from Germany
	Yiming Ma, Stanford Graduate School of BusinessYiming Ma is a PhD candidate in finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is also a visiting researcher at the German Bundesbank. Her research applies tools from industrial organization to questions in financial intermediation, financial stability and monetary policy. Before graduate school, she received a BA in Mathematics, Economics and Global Affairs from Yale University and interned with the People's Bank of China. Next fall, Yiming will be joining the faculty at Columbia Business School.  Intermediation in the Interbank Lending Market(joint with Ben Craig, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and Deutsche Bundesbank)
	Yueran Ma, Harvard UniversityYueran Ma will join Chicago Booth as an assistant professor of finance in July 2018. Her main research interest is empirical studies at the intersection of finance and macroeconomics. Her work covers topics including low interest rates and financial markets, debt contracts and macroeconomic implications, non-financial firms and financial frictions, and expectations in finance and macroeconomics. She has also worked on questions in real estate and urban economics. She received B.A. summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in applied mathematics in 2014, and Ph.D. in business economics in 2018, from Harvard University.Low Interest Rates and Risk Taking: Evidence from Individual Investment Decisions(joint with Chen Lian, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carmen Wang, Harvard University)
	Scott Nelson, MIT EconomicsScott Nelson is a Ph.D. candidate in Economics at MIT. His research studies how market structure and regulation affect loan terms and information generation in consumer credit markets, and how the sources of consumer credit demand affect the risks that lenders face. In his job market paper, Scott studies the efficiency and distributional effects of the 2009 Credit CARD Act in the US credit card market. In other work Scott studies the design of the US consumer bankruptcy and debt collection system, the formation of consumers’ financial expectations, how consumer income expectations and uncertainty drive borrowing demand, and the effects of recent regulation on the use of consumer credit report data. Previously Scott has worked as a research fellow with the City of Boston Office of Financial Empowerment, graduate intern and research analyst at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, assistant economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and research assistant at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), where he was a member of the US Household Finance Initiative. In 2019 Scott will join the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business as Assistant Professor of Finance, after a year of post-doctoral research. Private Information and Price Regulation in the US Credit Card Market

Venue
Solbjerg Plads 3
Room: SPs12
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark

Sponsor
The Top Finance Graduate Award 2018 is sponsored by AQR. AQR is a global investment management firm built at the intersection of financial theory and practical application. We strive to deliver superior, long-term results for our clients by looking past market noise to identify and isolate what matters most, and by developing ideas that stand up to rigorous testing. Our focus on practical insights and analysis has made us leaders in alternative and traditional strategies since 1998. Read more about AQR here.

AQR Top Finance Graduate Award 2017

Winners 2017

• Simona Abis, PhD from INSEAD: Man vs. Machine: Quantitative and Discretionary Equity Management. Placement: Assistant Professor at Columbia Business School.
• Jessica Jeffers, PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School: The Impact of Restricting Labor Mobility on Corporate Investment and Entrepreneurship. Placement: Assistant Professor at The University of Chicago (Booth).
• Moritz Lenel, PhD from Stanford University: Safe Assets, Collateralized Lending and Monetary Policy. Placement Research Fellow at the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago, will join Princeton in 2018.
• Pascal Noel, PhD from Harvard University: The Effect of Debt on Default and Consumption: Evidence from Housing Policy in the Great Recession. Placement: Assistant Professor at The University of Chicago (Booth).
• Emily Williams, PhD from London Business School: Monetary Policy Transmission and the Funding Structure of Banks. Placement Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School.
• Alexander K. Zentefis, PhD from University of Chicago, Booth School of Business: Bank Net Worth and Frustrated Monetary Policy. Placement: Assistant Professor at Yale School of Management.

The winners received a cash prize of a total of 10.000 USD sponsored by AQR and presented their research in Copenhagen on May 29, 2017.

Award Selection Committee

• Nicholas Barberis, Yale University, School of Management
• Patrick Bolton, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business
• Darrell Duffie, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business
• Ralph Koijen, NYU Stern School of Business
• Toby Moskowitz, Yale University, School of Management
• Lasse H. Pedersen, (Chair), Copenhagen Business School
• Michael R. Roberts, University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School
• David S. Scharfstein, Harvard Business School
• Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, University of California, Berkeley

The 2017 awards were presented by Award Selection Committee member Ralph Koijen from New York University, Stern School of Business.
The Award ceremony took place at CBS on May 29, 2017.

Programme 2017

About the Winners

	Moritz Lenel, Stanford UniversityMoritz Lenel’s research interests are in macroeconomics and finance. He is expected to receive a PhD in Economics from Stanford University in June. He will then spend a year as a research fellow at the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago. In the summer of 2018, he will join the Bendheim Center for Finance at Princeton University.His recent work studies how quantities of safe bonds affect interest rates and asset prices, a question that is relevant for understanding the transmission of unconventional monetary policy. In other projects, he analyzes the effects of housing policies on the homeownership rate and the interaction of corporate bank and bond financing. Lenel holds a degree in economics from Universität Konstanz and a master’s degree in international trade, finance, and development from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. In 2014, Lenel was awarded the Ric Weiland Graduate Fellowship in Stanford's School of Humanities & Sciences and a research fellowship from the Becker Friedman Institute's Macro Financial Modeling project. He received the 2016/17 Kohlhagen Fellowship endowed by Steve and Gale Kohlhagen through a grant to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. This May, he was a speaker on the Review of Economic Studies Tour.Safe Assets, Collateralized Lending and Monetary Policy
	Emily Williams, London Business SchoolEmily Williams is a PhD candidate in finance at London Business School. Her research focuses on financial intermediation, empirical corporate finance and monetary policy. Her primary interest is in understanding bank funding structure, financing frictions and the impact of bank financing frictions on the real economy. Emily studied for a Masters of Mathematics at Warwick University, and subsequently worked in the finance industry in various roles before completing her MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. After completion of her PhD requirements at London Business School this summer, Emily will join Harvard Business School as an Assistant Professor in the Finance unit.Monetary Policy Transmission and the Funding Structure of Banks
	Alexander K. Zentefis, University of Chicago Booth School of BusinessAlexander K. Zentefis is a PhD candidate in finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His research interests are in macro-finance, financial intermediation, asset pricing, and industrial organization. Before attending graduate school, he was a senior research assistant at the Federal Reserve Board. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance from Washington University in St. Louis. This summer, Alexander will join Yale School of Management.Bank Net Worth and Frustrated Monetary Policy
	Simona Abis, INSEADSimona Abis is a PhD candidate in Finance at INSEAD soon to join Columbia Business School as Assistant Professor. Before joining the PhD program, Simona worked as a quantitative researcher for a systematic hedge fund. Simona holds a M.Sc. in Quantitative Finance from Cass Business School and a B.Sc. in Economics from Bocconi University. Her research interest spans the fields of information economics, empirical and theoretical asset pricing, financial econometrics, microeconomics, Bayesian learning, machine learning, mutual funds, hedge funds and Fintech. Overall Simona is interested in the impact of technology on financial markets. Her current research focuses particularly on the impact of technological change on investment management through the rise of quantitative investment.Man vs. Machine: Quantitative and Discretionary Equity Management
	Pascal Noel, Harvard UniversityPascal is a PhD Candidate in Economics at Harvard University. His main research interests are in household finance, real estate, macroeconomics, and public finance.  Pascal received a Bachelor’s degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University and a Master's degree in Economics from the London School of Economics. Prior to his PhD, he worked as a policy advisor for housing markets and financial regulation at the White House National Economic Council. Next year, Pascal will be joining the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.The Effect of Debt on Default and Consumption: Evidence from Housing Policy in the Great Recession
	Jessica Jeffers, Wharton School of the University of PennsylvaniaJessica is a PhD candidate in Finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Her primary area of research is empirical corporate finance, and her interests include human capital, investment decisions, entrepreneurship, and social enterprise. She is a 2017 Kauffman Dissertation Fellow and a winner of LinkedIn's 2015 Economic Graph Challenge. Jessica holds a B.A. in Economics & Mathematics from Yale University. Prior to studying at Wharton, she worked in management consulting for the financial industry. She is joining the finance faculty at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.The Impact of Restricting Labor Mobility on Corporate Investment and Entrepreneurship

Venue
Solbjerg Plads 3
Room: SPs05 (KPMG Aud.)
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark

Sponsor
The Top Finance Graduate Award 2017 is sponsored by AQR. AQR is a global investment management firm built at the intersection of financial theory and practical application. We strive to deliver superior, long-term results for our clients by looking past market noise to identify and isolate what matters most, and by developing ideas that stand up to rigorous testing. Our focus on practical insights and analysis has made us leaders in alternative and traditional strategies since 1998. Read more about AQR here.

AQR Top Finance Graduate Award 2016

Winners 2016

• Asaf Bernstein, PhD from MIT Sloan School of Management: Household Debt Overhang and Labor Supply. Placement: Assistant Professor at University of Colorado Boulder, Leeds School of Business.
• Arpit Gupta, PhD from Columbia Business School: Foreclosure Contagion and the Neighborhood Spillover Effects of Mortgage Defaults. Placement: Assistant Professor at New York University, Stern School of Business.
• Elisabeth Kempf, PhD from Tilburg University: The Job Rating Game: The Effects of Revolving Doors on Analyst Incentives. Placement: Assistant Professor at The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.
• Song Ma, PhD from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business: The Life Cycle of Corporate Venture Capital. Placement: Assistant Professor at Yale School of Management.
• David Schoenherr, PhD from London Business School: Political Connections and Allocative Distortions. Placement: Assistant Professor at Princeton University.
• Michael Schwert, PhD from Stanford Graduate School of Business: Bank Capital and Lending Relationships. Placement: Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business.

The winners received a cash prize of a total of 10.000 USD sponsored by AQR and presented their research in Copenhagen on May 30, 2016.

Award Selection Committee

• Nicholas Barberis, Yale University, School of Management
• Patrick Bolton, Columbia University
• Darrell Duffie, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business
• Ralph Koijen, London Business School
• Toby Moskowitz, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
• Lasse H. Pedersen (Chair), Copenhagen Business School
• Michael R. Roberts, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
• David S. Scharfstein, Harvard Business School
• Annette Vissing-Jørgensen, University of California, Berkeley

The Award ceremony took place at CBS on May 30, 2016.

Programme 2016

About the Winners

	Asaf Bernstein, MIT Sloan School of Management Asaf is a PhD candidate in Financial Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Sloan School of Management. His primary area of research is empirical corporate finance, but his interests generally lie at the intersection of policy and finance and include economic history, asset pricing, and household finance. His research has looked at the effect of financial regulations and institutions, including the Federal Reserve, rating agencies, centralized clearing, and mortgage assistance programs. His research has been published in the Journal of Financial Economics and selected for inclusion in the SFS Finance Cavalcade and Western Finance Association annual meetings in 2016. Prior to graduate school, he received his B.S. in Economics and Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and worked as a quantitative trader at an investment bank in New York. Next year, Asaf will be joining the finance faculty of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado at Boulder.More information about Asaf BernsteinJob market paper: Household Debt Overhang and Labor Supply
	Arpit Gupta, Columbia Business School Arpit Gupta is a PhD Candidate in Finance and Economics at Columbia Business School. His research focuses on household finance, real estate, and corporate finance. Arpit earned degrees in Mathematics and Economics as an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. Next fall, Arpit will join the Finance Department at the NYU Stern School of Business.More information about Arpit GuptaJob market paper: Foreclosure Contagion and the Neighborhood Spillover Effects of Mortgage Defaults
	Elisabeth Kempf, Tilburg University Elisabeth is a PhD Candidate in Finance at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Her main research interests are in empirical corporate finance, financial intermediation, and labor in finance. Elisabeth received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Mannheim, Germany, and a Master’s degree in Finance from HEC Paris. Prior to her PhD, she spent one year at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, as an Analyst in the Group Strategy & Planning division. Next year, Elisabeth will be joining the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.More information about Elisabeth KempfJob market paper: The Job Rating Game: The Effects of Revolving Doors on Analyst Incentives
	Song Ma, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business Song is a Ph.D. candidate in Finance at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. His main research interests include corporate finance, entrepreneurial finance, and the economics of innovation. In recent work, he has studied how corporate financial decisions and capital markets affect entrepreneurship and innovation. Prior to attending Duke, Song earned his BA in Economics with highest honor from Zhejiang University, China. He is joining the Yale School of Management as an Assistant Professor of Finance in July 2016.More information about Song MaJob Market Paper: The Life Cycle of Corporate Venture Capital
	David Schoenherr, London Business School David Schoenherr  is a PhD Candidate in Finance at London Business School. Originally, he is from Frankfurt, Germany, where he obtained a Diploma in Business Adminstration with a focus on Finance at Goethe University, Frankfurt. David’s research interests are in areas of Financial Contracting, in particular bankruptcy law, and the effects of social and political connections on economic outcomes. David will join the Economics department at Princeton University this summer.More information about David SchoenherrJob market paper: Political Connections and Allocative Distortions
	Michael Schwert, Stanford Graduate School of Business Michael Schwert is a PhD candidate in Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His research interests include credit markets, financial intermediation, and corporate finance. He is originally from Rochester, New York and earned undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Economics from Duke University. Michael will be an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University starting this summer.More information about Michael SchwertJob market paper: Bank Capital and Lending Relationships

Venue
Solbjerg Plads 3
Room: SPs05 (KPMG Aud.)
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark

Sponsor
The Top Finance Graduate Award 2016 is sponsored by AQR. AQR is a global investment management firm built at the intersection of financial theory and practical application. We strive to deliver superior, long-term results for our clients by looking past market noise to identify and isolate what matters most, and by developing ideas that stand up to rigorous testing. Our focus on practical insights and analysis has made us leaders in alternative and traditional strategies since 1998. Read more about AQR here.

AQR Top Finance Graduate Award 2015

Winners 2015

• Svetlana Bryzgalova, PhD from London School of Economics: Spurious Factors in Linear Asset Pricing Models. Placement: Assistant Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Benjamin Hébert, PhD from Harvard University: Moral Hazard and the Optimality of Debt. Placement: Assistant Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Sabrina Howell, PhD from Harvard University: Financing Constraints as Barriers to Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants to Energy Startups. Placement: Assistant Professor at New York University Stern School of Business
• Lawrence Jin, PhD from Yale School of Management: A Speculative Asset Pricing Model of Financial Instability. Placement: Assistant Professor at California Institute of Technology
• Lawrence Schmidt, PhD from University of California, San Diego: Climbing and Falling Off the Ladder: Asset Pricing Implications of Labor Market Event Risk. Placement: Assistant Professor at the University of Chicago
• Emil Siriwardane, PhD from NYU Stern School of Business: Concentrated Capital Losses and the Pricing of Corporate Credit Risk. Placement: Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School

The winners received a cash prize of a total of 10.000 USD sponsored by AQR and presented their research in Copenhagen on June 11, 2015.

Award Selection Committee

• Nicholas Barberis, Yale University, School of Management
• Patrick Bolton, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business and Department of Economics
• John Campbell, Harvard University, Department of Economics
• Darrell Duffie, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business
• Ralph Koijen, London Business School
• Toby Moskowitz, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
• Lasse H. Pedersen (Chair), Copenhagen Business School and New York University

The Award ceremony took place at CBS on June 11, 2015.

Programme 2015

About the Winners

	Svetlana Bryzgalova, PhD from London School of EconomicsSvetlana is a PhD Candidate in Economics at London School of Economics. Originally she is from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and before coming to London, she studied at Higher School of Economics, Russia, where she obtained BA in Economics (Mathematics) and MSc in Financial Economics. Svetlana is interested in macro finance, empirical asset pricing and the issues involved in the estimation of these models. She is joining the finance group at Stanford Graduate School of Business in September 2015.Job market paper: Spurious Factors in Linear Asset Pricing Models
	Benjamin Hébert, PhD from Harvard University, Department of Economics and Harvard Business School Hébert is an associate professor of finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Benjamin received his PhD from Harvard University in 2015. Prior to graduate school, he worked as a proprietary trader at an investment bank in New York for several years. He holds undergraduate degrees in physics and computer science from MIT. His main research interests are in macroeconomics and finance.  Job market paper: MORAL HAZARD AND THE OPTIMALITY OF DEBT
	Sabrina Howell, PhD from Harvard UniversitySabrina Howell recently graduated from Harvard University with a PhD in the Economics track of the Political Economy and Government program. Sabrina is joining the NYU Stern School of Business Finance Department in July 2015. She studies entrepreneurial finance, energy finance, and innovation. Sabrina earned her BA from Yale in 2008, where she majored in both Economics and East Asian Studies. Subsequently, she worked for Charles River Associates in Houston, Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) in Washington DC, and as an intern at the White House National Economic Council. Sabrina has a special interest in China, and speaks Mandarin. She is originally from New York City, where she attended Stuyvesant High School. Job market paper: Financing Constraints as Barriers to Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants to Energy Startups
	Lawrence Jin, PhD from Yale School of ManagementLawrence J. Jin will receive his Ph.D. in Financial Economics from Yale University in May 2015. His research focuses on asset pricing, behavioral finance, financial intermediaries, and household finance. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Physics from Tsinghua University and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Caltech. Prior to attending Yale, he spent two years as a research and trading analyst at Citigroup. His research has been published in the Review of Financial Studies and the Journal of Financial Economics. His JFE paper "X-CAPM: An Extrapolative Asset Pricing Model" received the Q-Group's 2014 Jack Treynor Prize. Next year, Lawrence Jin will be joining the California Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor of Finance.Job market paper: A Speculative Asset Pricing Model of Financial Instability
	Lawrence Schmidt, PhD from University of California, San DiegoLawrence is a PhD Candidate in Economics at the University of California, San Diego. Next year, he will be joining the faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at the University of Chicago. His research is at the intersection of finance and macroeconomics, with a particular emphasis on asset pricing. He uses a unique combination of theory and applied econometrics to offer a richer picture of risks faced by financial market participants--households, institutional investors, and financial intermediaries--and shed new light on underlying economic mechanisms linking financial markets with the real economy. A common thread in his research agenda is the study of conditional distributions and higher moments, with an emphasis on the evolution of cross-sectional distributions over time in response to macroeconomic events. While the majority of empirical research emphasizes conditional means and variances, other aspects of the distribution often reveal interesting asymmetries and nonlinearities which yield new insights about the propagation of aggregate shocks. Examples from his research consider the interaction between asset returns and idiosyncratic tail risk in the labor market, as well as the strategic behavior of investors during the money market panic of 2008.Job market paper: Climbing and Falling Off the Ladder: Asset Pricing Implications of Labor Market Event Risk
	Emil N. Siriwardane, PhD from NYU Stern School of BusinessEmil Siriwardane is a PhD Candidate in Finance at the NYU Stern School of Business.  In recent work, he has studied how the risk bearing capacity of large financial institutions impacts the pricing of credit risk in credit default swap markets.  His other research interests include macro-finance, the pricing of tail risks, and volatility econometrics.  Emil was a finalist for the 2013 Best Finance PhD Award in Honor of Professor Stuart I. Greenbaum, and his paper “Structural GARCH: The Volatility-Leverage Connection” was nominated for the 2014 AQR Insight Award.  Prior to his graduate studies, he received a Bachelor of Science in Operations Research and Financial Engineering degree from Princeton University.  Next year, Emil will be joining the finance department at Harvard Business School.Job market paper: Concentrated Capital Losses and the Pricing of Corporate Credit Risk

Venue
Solbjerg Plads 3
Room: SPs05 (KPMG Aud.)
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark

Sponsor
The Top Finance Graduate Award 2015 is sponsored by AQR. AQR is a global investment management firm built at the intersection of financial theory and practical application. We strive to deliver superior, long-term results for our clients by looking past market noise to identify and isolate what matters most, and by developing ideas that stand up to rigorous testing. Our focus on practical insights and analysis has made us leaders in alternative and traditional strategies since 1998. Read more about AQR here.

AQR Top Finance Graduate Award 2014

Winners 2014

• Eduardo Dávila, PhD from Harvard University: Optimal Financial Transaction Taxes. Placement: Assistant Professor at New York University, Stern School of Business
• Maryam Farboodi, PhD from University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Department of Economics: Intermediation and Voluntary Exposure to Counterparty Risk. Placement: Assistant Professor at Princeton University
• François Geerolf, PhD from Sciences Po Paris: A Theory of Power Law Distributions for the Returns to Capital and of the Credit Spread Puzzle. Placement: Assistant Professor at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
• Boris Vallée, PhD from HEC Paris: Catering to Investors through Product Complexity. Placement: Assistant Professor at Harvard Business School
• Victoria Vanasco, PhD from University of California, Berkeley: Information Acquisition vs. Liquidity in Financial Markets. Placement: Assistant Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Michael Weber, PhD from University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business: Nominal Rigidities and Asset Pricing. Placement: Assistant Professor at University of Chicago, Booth School of Business

The winners received a cash prize of a total of 10.000 USD sponsored by AQR and presented their research in Copenhagen on June 4, 2014.

Award Selection Committee

• Nicholas Barberis, Yale University, School of Management
• Patrick Bolton, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business and Department of Economics
• John Campbell, Harvard University, Department of Economics
• Darrell Duffie, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business
• Toby Moskowitz, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
• Lasse H. Pedersen (chair), Copenhagen Business School and New York University

The 2014 awards were presented by Award Selection Committee member John Campbell from Harvard University.
The Award ceremony took place at CBS on June 4, 2014

Programme 2014

About the Winners

		Boris Vallée, PhD from HEC ParisBoris Vallée is a PhD Candidate from HEC Paris. His research agenda focuses on the motives and effects of innovative financial products. His interests cover household finance, empirical corporate finance and financial institutions. He visited Duke University and Northwestern University as part of his PhD. His research has been selected for the Western Finance Association annual meetings in 2012 and 2014, and he was a finalist for the Best Finance PhD Award in Honor of Professor Stuart I. Greenbaum (10th Annual Corporate Finance Conference). Prior to his PhD, Boris worked at Deutsche Bank in London, in Leveraged Finance and Structured Derivatives, and received a MSc in Finance from HEC Paris. Next year, Boris Vallée will be joining Harvard Business School. Job market paper: What Drives Financial Complexity? A Look into the Retail Market for Structured Products
		Maryam Farboodi, PhD from Booth School of Business and Department of Economics, University of ChicagoMaryam Farboodi is a PhD Candidate in Financial Economics at the University of Chicago. Her main research interests are theoretical banking, financial macroeconomics and mechanism design. Her job market paper "Intermediation and Voluntary Exposure to Counterparty risk" focuses on network formation among financial institutions and the implications for the overall topology of the financial system as well as systemic risk. She has also done some work in mechanism design for online auctions, "Optimal Revenue Maximizing Mechanisms in Common-Value Position Auctions", corporate finance, "Financing and Control Rights: Entrepreneurial Choice of Funding Source", and macroeconomics with financial frictions, "Supply Side Frictions and Lengthy Recoveries". Before coming to Chicago, Maryam received her B.S. in Computer Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, and her M.S. in Computer Science from University of Maryland. She is originally from Tehran, Iran. Job market paper: Intermediation and Voluntary Exposure to Counterparty Risk
		Eduardo Dávila, PhD from Harvard UniversityEduardo Dávila is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Yale University. Dávila received his PhD in Economics at Harvard University in 2014. He has studied the optimal determination of transaction taxes, the optimal design of bankruptcy policies and the effects of bank size on financial fragility. Dávila is from Spain, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Pompeu Fabra University. Next year, Eduardo Dávila will be joining New York University Stern School of Business.Job market paper: Optimal Financial Transaction Taxes
		Victoria Vanasco, PhD from University of California, BerkeleyVictoria Vanasco will receive her PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, in May 2014. Her research is at the intersection of corporate finance and macroeconomics, with a focus on the role of informational asymmetries and belief heterogeneity in financial markets and the real economy. She is from Argentina, where she did her undergraduate studies in Economics and a Masters in Finance at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. Prior to attending Berkeley, she spent two years as a Junior Professional Associate at the World Bank, where she was part of the Finance Group for Latin America. Next year, Victoria Vanasco will be joining the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Job market paper: Information Acquisition vs. Liquidity in Financial Markets
		François Geerolf, PhD from Sciences Po ParisFrançois Geerolf conducts research on financial bubbles and their effects on the business cycle, the savings glut and capital accumulation, and the determinants of capital inflows and competitiveness. He holds an Engineering Degree from Ecole Polytechnique, as well as from Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées, a MSc. from Paris School of Economics, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Sciences Po Paris. He spent a year at Harvard University during his doctoral studies, and a semester at MIT as a Visiting Scholar. Next year, François Geerolf will be joining the Department of Economics at UCLA as an Assistant Professor. Job market paper: A Theory of Power Law Distributions for the Returns to Capital and of the Credit Spread Puzzle
		Michael Weber, PhD from Haas School of Business – University of California, BerkeleyMichael Weber's research lies at the intersection of Macroeconomics and Finance. In recent work he has studied the effects of nominal rigidities on stock returns, the costs of sticky prices, the term structure of equity returns, and the effect of distrust in financial institutions on stock market participation. His paper ''Conditional Risk Premia in Currency Markets and other Asset Classes'' has been awarded the 2013 AQR Insight Award. Prior to attending grad school at Berkeley, Michael received his Bachelor's and Master's degree in Business Economics from the University of Mannheim, Germany. Next year, Michael Weber will be joining the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Job market paper: Nominal Rigidities and Asset Pricing

Venue
Solbjerg Plads 3
Room: SPs05 (KPMG Aud.)
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark

Sponsor
The Top Finance Graduate Award 2014 is sponsored by AQR. AQR is a global investment management firm built at the intersection of financial theory and practical application. We strive to deliver superior, long-term results for our clients by looking past market noise to identify and isolate what matters most, and by developing ideas that stand up to rigorous testing. Our focus on practical insights and analysis has made us leaders in alternative and traditional strategies since 1998. Read more about AQR here.

Top Finance Graduate Award 2013

Winners 2013

• Jean-Noël Barrot, PhD from HEC Paris School of Management: Financial Strength and Trade Credit Provision: Evidence from Trucking Firms. Placement: Assistant Professor at MIT Sloan School of Management
• Gabriel Chodorow-Reich, PhD from University of California, Berkeley: The Employment Effects of Credit Market Disruptions: Firm-level Evidence from the 2008-09 Financial Crisis. Placement: Assistant Professor at Harvard University
• Timothy J. McQuade, PhD from Harvard University: Stochastic Volatility and Asset Pricing Puzzles. Placement: Assistant Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Marina Niessner, PhD from University of Chicago: Strategic Disclosure Timing and Insider Trading. Placement: Assistant Professor at Yale School of Management
• Felipe Varas, PhD from Stanford Graduate School of Business: Contracting Timely Delivery with Hard to Verify Quality. Placement: Assistant Professor at Fuqua School of Business, Duke University

The winners received 1500 EUR and presented their research in Copenhagen on May 31, 2013.

Award Selection Committee

• Nicholas Barberis, Yale University, School of Management
• Patrick Bolton, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business and Department of Economics
• John Campbell, Harvard University, Department of Economics
• Darrell Duffie, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business
• Toby Moskowitz, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
• Lasse H. Pedersen (chair), Copenhagen Business School and New York University

The 2013 awards were presented by Lars Rohde, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Danmarks Nationalbank.
The Award ceremony took place at CBS on May 31, 2013.

Programme 2013

About the Winners

	Jean-Noël Barrot, PhD from HEC Paris School of Management Jean-Noël Barrot conducts research in corporate finance, with a particular focus on entrepreneurial finance. In recent work, he has studied the effect of venture capital fund managers horizon on their investment decisions, the effect of trade credit on competition and entrepreneurship, and the behavior of individual investors during the recent financial crisis. His work has been awarded the Coller Prize in Private Equity Research 2012. Barrot holds an M.A. in quantitative economics and finance from Ecole Polytechnique, an M.Phil. in economics from Paris School of Economics and a Ph.D. in financial economics from HEC Paris School of Management. Next year, Jean-Noël Barrot will be joining MIT Sloan School of Management.Job market paper: Financial Strength and Trade Credit Provision: Evidence from Trucking Firms
	Gabriel Chodorow-Reich, PhD from University of California, BerkeleyGabriel Chodorow-Reich will receive his Ph.D in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2013. His research focuses on corporate finance and macroeconomics. His paper "Does State Fiscal Relief During Recessions Increase Employment? Evidence from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" recently received the AEJ: Economic Policy Best Paper Prize for 2012. Gabriel has worked as an economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and prior to graduate study as a research assistant at the Brookings Institution. He received his A.B. from Harvard in 2005. Next year, Gabriel Chodorow-Reich will be joining Harvard University.Job Market Paper: The Employment Effects of Credit Market Disruptions: Firm-level Evidence from the 2008-09 Financial Crisis
	Timothy J. McQuade , PhD from Harvard UniversityTimothy McQuade is a PhD candidate at Harvard University. He conducts research in the areas of asset pricing and housing economics. In recognition of his graduate work, he has been invited to participate in The Review of Economic Studies 2013 May Meetings. Prior to attending Harvard, Timothy worked at UBS Investment Bank and received a bachelor's degree in mathematics and economics from the University of Michigan. Next year, Timothy McQuade will be joining Stanford Graduate School of Business.Job Market Paper: Stochastic Volatility and Asset Pricing Puzzles
	Marina Niessner, PhD from University of ChicagoMarina Niessner studies topics in empirical corporate finance and behavioral finance. She earned a bachelor's degree in Economics and Statistics from the University of Chicago. She worked at the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory for two years before earning a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago. Next year, Marina Niessner will be joining Yale School of Management.Job Market Paper: Strategic Disclosure Timing and Insider Trading
	Felipe Varas, PhD from Stanford Graduate School of BusinessFelipe Varas is finishing his PhD in finance at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. His areas of research are corporate finance, dynamic contracts and dynamic games. He is from Chile and, before doing his PhD, Felipe did his undergraduate and Master's degree in economics at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. Next year, Felipe Varas will be joining Duke Fuqua School of Business.Job Market Paper: Contracting Timely Delivery with Hard to Verify Quality

Venue
Solbjerg Plads 3
Room: SPs05 (KPMG Aud.)
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark