PhD
Finance
The Finance group at MIT Sloan delves into the study of markets for real and financial assets, emphasizing the practical applications of modern financial theory widely adopted by Wall Street and corporations. Students gain a robust understanding of foundational theories and acquire the tools necessary for conducting both theoretical and applied research. After completing coursework in microeconomics and macroeconomics, students tailor their research programs with faculty guidance, often contributing to and expanding on faculty research. Notable faculty members include Hui Chen, whose research intersects asset pricing and corporate finance; Deborah Lucas, known for her work on public sector financial management; and Maryam Farboodi, who explores the economics of big data and its impact on financial markets.
Research from Finance Faculty
Samsung Electronics performance bonus system under fire
Professor Emeritus Bengt Holmstrom said: "It is an unsustainable strategy for a comprehensive electronics company like Samsung Electronics to follow the performance bonus structure of a semiconductor-specialized company like SK Hynix."
The era of AI spending money on its own… who will take responsibility?
Research scientist Christian Catalini wrote: "The critical constraint of agentic commerce is not whether the agent can act, but whether someone is willing to take responsibility for the actions committed by that agent."
'The loneliest part of getting older is discovering which friendships depended solely on you.'
A study by professor Sandy Pentland, associate professor Abdullah Almaatouq, and co-authors analyzed various friendship networks and found that only about half were truly reciprocal. In many relationships, one person considers the friendship close while the other experiences it much more superficially.
Thesmar and Landier: 'The AI peace proposed by the Pope aims to slow down progress, whereas we need to accelerate it.'
Professor David Thesmar said: "I am less in favor than the Pope of an 'AI peace.' AI peace means a concerted slowdown of technological progress, whereas we should, on the contrary, be accelerating it. Humanity faces many challenges, and the solution to some of them seems to be within reach of this technology. In short, it is far from certain that, for the well-being of humanity, even morally and spiritually, the organized stagnation of AI is a good thing."
Select Finance Faculty
Full-Time Faculty
Paul Asquith
Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance
Paul Asquith is the Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance and a Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Asquith is a specialist in corporate finance and a media source for the field of corporate finance and control, including…
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Hui Chen
Nomura Professor of Finance
Hui Chen is the Nomura Professor of Finance and a Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His research focuses on asset pricing and its connections with corporate finance. Chen is particularly interested in the interactions…
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Taha Choukhmane
Albert F. (1942) & Jeanne P. Clear Career Development Assistant Professor in Global Management
John C. Cox
Nomura Professor of Finance, Emeritus
John Cox is the Nomura Professor of Finance, Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management. A leading authority on corporate finance and finance theory, Cox has developed an inter-temporal financial model broad enough to include the fundamental…
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