Bio

Ben is a Senior Lecturer in Finance at the University of Edinburgh Business School. Ben's research interests include corporate finance, corporate governance, law and finance, and financial intermediation. His research papers have been published in several leading finance and management journals, and have been selected for presentation at various international conferences, including EUROFIDAI Paris Finance Conference, Financial Management Association (FMA) Conferences, and European Financial Management Associations (EFMA) Annual Meeting.

Ben has served as an ad-hoc reviewer for several ABS-rated journals including Management Science, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, and Journal of Accounting and Public Policy.

Ben sits on the Editorial Board of Corporate Governance: An International Review and Finance Research Letters. Ben's research projects have won research funding from the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Carnegie Trust.

Working Papers

Corporate Hiring Under Uncertainty

(with Louis Nguyen)

Pay transparency and financial leverage

(with Woon Sau Leung and Xuan Tian)

Pasture green: Corporate investment in green skills and toxic plant emissions

(with Jens Hagendorff and Louis Nguyen)

Publications

2025

Little emperor CEOs: Firm risk and performance when CEOs grow up without siblings

Journal of Corporate Finance, 90: 102658.

(with Angelica Gonzalez, Jens Hagendorff, and Tianxi Wang)

2024

Does shareholder litigation risk cause public firms to delist? Evidence from securities class action lawsuits

Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 59(4): 1726-1759.

(with Jonathan Brogaard, Nhan Le, and Louis Nguyen)

2022

Does marriage equality promote credit access? Evidence from same-sex marriage laws

Journal of Corporate Finance, 77: 102315.

(with Jens Hagendorff and Louis Nguyen)

Climate change risk and the costs of mortgage credit

(with Louis Nguyen, Steven Ongena, and Sushen Qi)

Review of Finance, 26(6): 1509-1549.

Media Coverage: Duke University

Policy impact: United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, quoted in a letter to the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 

2021

Does shareholder litigation affect corporate information environments?

(with Nhan Le and Louis Nguyen; FMA Asia Best Paper Award Finalist)

Journal of Financial Markets, 56: 10060.

Gender diversity and the spillover effects of women on boards

(with Maria Boutchkova, Angelica Gonzalez, and Brain Main, CGIR Editor's Pick / Lead Article)

Corporate Governance: An International Review, 29(1): 2-21.

Does cooperation of women in top positions enhance or impede firm performance?

(with Angelica Gonzalez and Lu Xing, Lead Article)

British Accounting Review, 53(4): 1-20.

2020

Do anti-bribery laws reduce the cost of equity? Evidence from the U.K. Bribery Act 2010

(with Suhee Kim and William Rees)

Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 47(3-4): 438-455.

2019

Does corporate culture affect bank risk-taking? Evidence from loan-level data

(with Louis Nguyen and Linh Nguyen)

British Journal of Management, 30(1): 106-133.

Media coverage: LSE Business Review, Scottish Financial News

2017

Independent director reputation incentives and stock price informativeness

(with Angelica Gonzalez and Jens Hagendorff)

Journal of Corporate Finance, 47: 219-235.

2016

Women on board: Does boardroom gender diversity affect firm risk?

(with Angelica Gonzalez and Jens Hagendorff)

Journal of Corporate Finance, 36: 26-53.

Media coverage: CFA Digest, LSE Business Review, Board Agenda

Teaching

Research Methods in Finance I, 2022 2022 

Financial Valuation (MSc), 2021 2022

Foundations of Econometrics (PhD), 2017 – 2022

Quantitative Research Methods in Finance (MSc), 2013 – 2021

Financial Modelling with Excel (MA Hons), 2015 – 2018

Investments and Securities Markets (MA Hons), 2015 – 2017

Investment Management (MSc), 2015 – 2017

Statistics for Finance (MSc), 2013 – 2014

Contact information

University of Edinburgh Business School

29 Buccleuch Place

Edinburgh EH8 9JS

Email: ben.sila (at) ed.ac.uk