Publications
The Effect of Female Leadership on Contracting from Capitol Hill to Main Street, with Jonathan Brogaard and Maximilian Rohrer
Journal of Financial Economics, 155; 2024
Abstract: This paper provides novel evidence that female politicians increase the proportion of US government procurement contracts allocated to women-owned firms. For identification, we use a regression discontinuity design on a sample of mixed-gender elections in the US House of Representatives. The effect grows over a female representative’s tenure and concentrates in female representatives who are on powerful congressional committees. Changes in the pool of and behavior by government contractors cannot explain the result. The more gender-balanced representation in government contracting is not associated with economic costs.
Presentations: EFA (Amsterdam, August 2023), AEA (New Orleans, January 2023), BI Norwegian Business School (online, May 2022), Boca Conference (online, December 2021), Young Scholars Nordic Finance Workshop (Copenhagen, November 2021), FMA (online, October 2021), 18th Corporate Finance Day (Rotterdam, October 2021), LAMES (online, October 2021), ABF&E (online, September 2021), EEA-ESEM (online, August 2021), CICF (online, July 2021), AMES (online, June 2021), ENTFIN (online, June 2021), AFFI (online, May 2021), Future of Growth Conference (online, May 2021), MFA (online, March 2021), SWFA (online, March 2021), 33rd AFBC (online, December 2020), Paris December Finance Meeting (online, December 2020), NFN Young Scholars Finance Webinar Series (online, October 2020), NHH Finance Brownbag Series (Bergen, June 2020)
Working Papers
It's not easy being green, with Jonathan Brogaard, Daniel Kim and Maximilian Rohrer
Abstract: This paper measures the cost of greening the economy from the customer's perspective using nearly six million US federal procurement contracts from 2007 to 2024. Green contracts are on average 18 to 43 percent more expensive than comparable non-green contracts. Accounting for endogeneity with a Bartik instrument yields an even higher cost premium. The premium increases with public concern about climate change, declines with experience, and rises with regulatory complexity. Green contracts also involve greater administrative effort, including more modifications and delays. Overall, the green transition imposes substantial but partly transitory costs shaped by public sentiment, learning, and regulation.
Best Paper Award at 7th Canadian Sustainable Finance Network Conference 2026
Presentations (including presentations by coauthors): Aarhus Finance Forum (Aarhus, August 2026), Canadian Sustainable Finance Network Conference (Alberta, June 2026), Spring Finance Workshop (Ischgl, April 2026), Baruch-JFQA Climate Finance and Sustainability Conference (New York, April 2026), EUROFIDAI-ESSEC Paris December Finance Meeting (Paris, December 2025), 34th Annual Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting (Amherst, October 2024), BI Conference on Corporate Governance (Oslo, June 2024), Stavanger University seminar series (Stavanger, November 2023), University of Waterloo seminar series (Waterloo, November 2023), BI Finance Brownbag Seminar Series (Oslo, April 2023), Monash University seminar series (Clayton, February 2023)
Advising the Advisors: Evidence from ETFs, with Jonathan Brogaard and Ying Liu
Abstract: This paper is among the first to study the $7.96 trillion model portfolio marketplace. Using novel Morningstar data, we show that these recommendations heavily influence ETF flows and alter investor behavior by weakening flow-performance sensitivity. We document a self-recommendation bias: providers disproportionately recommend affiliated ETFs, which carry higher fees and lower liquidity than unaffiliated alternatives. This favoritism is unjustified, as models with affiliated funds fail to generate superior returns or alphas. Our findings suggest that providers exploit their dual role as managers and advisors to steer assets into proprietary products, highlighting significant agency conflicts in the wealth management industry.
Media Coverage: Bloomberg, ETF Stream, Financial Planning
Presentations (including presentations by coauthors): Frontiers of Factor Investing Conference (Lancaster, April 2026), Wharton Micro Finance Seminars (Philadelphia, April 2026), University of Delaware Seminar Series in Finance (Newark, April 2026), Dolomites Summer Finance Conference (Bozen-Bolzano, September 2023), 10th Conference on Professional Asset Management (Rotterdam, June 2023), 14th Annual Hedge Fund Research Conference (Paris, January 2023), FMA (Atlanta, October 2022), DGF (Marburg, September 2022), CICF (online, July 2022), FMA Europe (Lyon, July 2022), 4th Future of Financial Information Conference (Stockholm, May 2022), AFFI (Saint-Malo, May 2022), FMCG (online, April 2022), SHUFE Brownbag Series (Shanghai, December 2021), NHH Finance Brownbag Series (Bergen, October 2021)
Not by Whom but Where: Analyst Reaction to Firms' ESG Incidents, with Maximilian Rohrer
Abstract: We document that financial analysts exhibit a local-event bias. In particular, we find that analysts located in countries affected by ESG incidents start issuing lower recommendations to the committing firms compared to analysts from other countries. The effect lasts for more than a year after the event, concentrates in hard-to-value firms, and is also reflected in financial forecasts. We show that this local-event bias is distinct from the local-firm bias, the general tendency of issuing optimistic forecasts for local firms. Our evidence is consistent with an underlying preference to rely on personal experience combined with attachment to a given geographic place and is not driven by informational advantage.
Presentations (including presentations by coauthors): FMA (online, October 2022), 19th Corporate Finance Day (Amsterdam, October 2022), DGF (Marburg, October 2022), 4th Israel Behavioral Finance Conference (Tel-Aviv, June 2022), FMCG (online, April 2022), NHH Macro Brownbag Series (Bergen, November 2021), NFN Webinar Series (online, October 2021), NHH Finance Brownbag Series (Bergen, October 2021),
And the CAR goes to... Shock to Brand Capital: Evidence from the Oscars, with Damiano Maggi
Abstract: We identify the effect of changes in the brand capital on stock market performance. Using hand-collected data on the red carpet outfits during the Academy Awards ceremonies, we find that companies providing outfits to nominees experience a positive stock market performance with respect to a control group of comparables. This outperformance is unlikely to be attributable to differential risk, while Google search trends suggest the Academy Awards ceremonies have a positive impact on investor attention.
FIBE Best Paper Award 2020
Presentations (including presentations by coauthors): 34th AFBC (online, December 2021), FMA Europe (online, June 2021), PhD Nordic Finance Workshop 2020 (Oslo, May 2020), FIBE 2020 (Bergen, January 2020), Brown Bag Seminar Norwegian School of Economics (Bergen, April 2019)
Abstract: I document that political connections are an important driver of investment strategies of US mutual funds. I collect data on mutual fund holdings of US Congress members and equity holdings of mutual funds from 2004 to 2013. I show that funds whose shares belong to politicians place larger bets and trade more actively in stocks of politically sensitive firms, and in stocks of firms that operate in industries under the scope of politicians' congressional committees. Connected mutual funds perform significantly better on these equity holdings than their non-connected peers.
Presentations: Future of Financial Information Webinar Series (online, April 2020), 2nd Marstrand Finance Conference (Marstrand, June 2019), DGF 2018 (Trier, September 2018), IFABS 2018 (Porto, June 2018), European Conference FMA (Kristiansand, June 2018), 2018 Consortium on Trading Strategies and Institutional Investing (Cambridge, February 2018), Netspar International Pension Workshop 2018 (Leiden, January 2018), 2017 Auckland Finance Meeting (Queenstown, December 2017), 30th AFBC (Sydney, December 2017), 7th Asset Management Conference (Lisbon, November 2017), CICF (Hangzhou, July 2017), Collegio Carlo Alberto (Turin, February 2017), Vienna University of Economics and Business (Vienna, February 2017), University of Vienna (Vienna, February 2017), University of Groningen (Groningen, January 2017), Rotterdam School of Management (Rotterdam, January 2017), Norwegian School of Economics (Bergen, January 2017), Bank of Canada (Ottawa, January 2017), Brown Bag Seminar University of Lausanne (Lausanne, October 2016)
Do Prime Brokers Induce Similarities into Hedge Funds Performance?
Abstract: Hedge fund performance is highly correlated across funds in complex ways. Using a sample of prime brokerage relationships, I document that the performance of hedge funds that deal with the same broker is 53% more correlated. The results are robust to different performance measures, different subperiods, and other possible determinants of performance similarity as the hedge funds’ domicile and investment style. Overall, my results reveal prime brokers’ lending activity and information sharing as important determinants of the cross-sectional correlation of hedge fund performance.
Presentations: CICF (Xiamen, July 2016), Alternative Investments Conference (Monaco, June 2016), Eastern Finance Association (Baltimore, 2016), SFA (Florida, November 2015), Amsterdam DSF/TI PhD Seminars (Amsterdam, November 2014), WFC (Venice, July 2014), 21st Annual MFS Conference (Prague, June 2014), Best Doctoral Paper Award, IFABS 2014 (Lisbon, June 2014), SFI Research Days (Gerzensee, June 2014), Ph.D. Workshop at the 31st International French Finance Association Conference (Aix-en-Provence, May 2014)
Strategic Interaction between Hedge Funds and Prime Brokers, with Eric Jondeau
Abstract: We develop a framework of strategic interaction between prime brokers and hedge funds. The hedge fund optimally determines its cash holdings and the fraction of shorted securities. The prime broker optimally determines its cash holdings, the margin rates, and the rehypothecation rate. The lending rate is determined at the equilibrium. Optimal decisions are obtained when the hedge fund and the prime broker maximize their expected return on equity. To do so, we describe how the evolution of the market return affects the equity of the hedge fund and may force it to delever or even default. As the eventual default of the hedge fund would severely affect the prime broker’s performance, the broker tries to mitigate the risk induced by the fund by fixing the margin rates (or haircuts) it imposes to the hedge fund. We then explore the interaction between the hedge fund and the prime broker decisions by calibrating and solving our model for realistic parametrizations. We find that the interaction between the hedge fund and the prime broker may give rise to some undesirable implications such as an increase in overall risk and/or leverage.
Presentations: Young Scholars Nordic Finance Workshop (Bergen, November 2018), 8th Annual Hedge Fund Research Conference (Paris, January 2016)