Erwan Morellec

Profile

Erwan Morellec is a Full Professor of Finance at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the holder of a Swiss Finance Institute senior chair. He is the director of the Finance Institute at EPFL, the Head of the Swiss Finance Institute nation-wide PhD Program, and a CEPR Research Fellow. He holds a PhD in Finance Summa cum Laude from HEC Paris.

Erwan is an expert in corporate finance, corporate governance, and sustainable finance and has taught courses on these subjects at EPFL, HEC Lausanne, MIT Sloan, and the University of Rochester. He has published extensively in the leading academic journals in finance, such as the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Financial Studies, and Management Science, and his research has been presented at major academic conferences and seminar series around the world. He has received several research, teaching, and leadership awards and has been the recipient of several research grants.

Erwan is a co-founder of the Finance Institute at EPFL and served as its director from 2009 to 2012, returning to the role in 2024. During his first tenure, he played a key role in developing both the Institute and its Master in Financial Engineering. He was also instrumental in establishing the PhD in Finance at EPFL and the Swiss Finance Institute’s nationwide PhD program.

Recent research

Ownership dynamics and firm policies with a large shareholder

(with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer), revised December 2025

Investor Activism and the Green Transition

(with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer), revised January 2026

Keynote presentation at 10th FIN-FIRE conference on Challenges to Financial Stability 2024 

Competition, cash holdings, and financing decisions

(with Boris Nikolov and Francesca Zucchi), under revision

Journal articles

Relationship capital and financing decisions

(with Thomas Geelen and Natalia Rostova)

Management Science 71(12), 10308-10324, 2025

The dynamics of loan sales and lenders incentives

(with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer)

Review of Financial Studies 37(8), 2403-2460, 2024

Asset Life, Leverage, and Debt Maturity Matching

(with Thomas Geelen, Jakub Hajda, and Adam Winegar)

Journal of Financial Economics 154(4), 103796, 2024

Best conference paper award, French Finance Association meetings, 2022

Takeover protections and asset prices

(with Assaf Eisdorfer and Alexei Zhdanov)

Management Science 70(11), 8116-8133, 2024

Can corporate debt foster innovation and growth?

(with Thomas Geelen and Jakub Hajda)

Review of Financial Studies 35(9), 4152-4200, 2022

Understanding cash flow risk

(with Sebastian Gryglewicz, Loriano Mancini, Enrique Schroth, and Philip Valta)

Review of Financial Studies 35(8), 3922-3972, 2022

Optimal financing with tokens

(with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer)

Journal of Financial Economics 142(3), 1038-1067, 2021

Short-term debt and incentives for risk-taking

(with Marco Della Seta and Francesca Zucchi)

Journal of Financial Economics 137(1), 179-203, 2020

Agency conflicts and short- vs. long-termism in corporate policies

(with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer)

Journal of Financial Economics 136(3), 718-742, 2020

Featured in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Product market competition and option prices

(with Alexei Zhdanov)

Review of Financial Studies 32(11), 4343-4386, 2019

Agency conflicts around the world

(with Boris Nikolov and Norman Schuerhoff)

Review of Financial Studies 31(11), 4232-4287, 2018

Featured in Governance, My Science, and the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Corporate policies with permanent and transitory shocks

(with Jean-Paul Décamps, Sebastian Gryglewicz, and Stéphane Villeneuve)

Review of Financial Studies 30(1), 162-210, 2017 

Bank capital, liquid reserves, and insolvency risk

(with Julien Hugonnier)

Journal of Financial Economics 125(2), 266-285, 2017

Recipient of a Fondation Banque de France Research Grant

Debt enforcement, investment, and risk-taking across countries

(with Giovanni Favara, Enrique Schroth, and Philip Valta)

Journal of Financial Economics 123(1), 22-41, 2017

Capital supply uncertainty, cash holdings and investment

(with Julien Hugonnier and Semyon Malamud)

Review of Financial Studies 28(2), 391-445, 2015

Credit market frictions and capital structure dynamics

(with Julien Hugonnier and Semyon Malamud)

Journal of Economic Theory 157(5), 1130-1158, 2015

Financing investment: The choice between bonds and bank loans

(with Philip Valta and Alexei Zhdanov)

Management Science 61(11), 2580-2602, 2015

Corporate governance and capital structure dynamics

(with Boris Nikolov and Norman Schuerhoff)

Journal of Finance 67(3), 803-848, 2012

Featured in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Corporate investment and financing under asymmetric information

(with Norman Schuerhoff)

Journal of Financial Economics 99(2), 262-288, 2011

Dynamic investment and financing under personal taxation

(with Norman Schuerhoff)

Review of Financial Studies 23(1), 101-146, 2010

Financing and takeovers

(with Alexei Zhdanov)

Journal of Financial Economics 87(3), 556-581, 2008

Stock returns in mergers and acquisitions

(with Dirk Hackbarth)

Journal of Finance 63(3), 1213-1252, 2008

Best conference paper award (Runner-up prize) European Finance Association meetings, 2006

Closed-form solutions to stochastic switching problems

(with Pascal François)

Journal of Mathematical Economics 44(11), 1072-1083, 2008

Agency conflicts and risk management

(with Clifford W. Smith Jr)

Review of Finance 11(1), 1-23, 2007

Corporate control and real investment in incomplete markets

(with Julien Hugonnier)

Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 31(5), 1781-1800, 2007

Capital structure, credit risk, and macroeconomic conditions

(with Dirk Hackbarth and Jianjun Miao)

Journal of Financial Economics 82(3), 519-550, 2006

On the debt capacity of growth options

(with Michael J. Barclay and Clifford W. Smith Jr)

Journal of Business 79(1), 37-60, 2006

Irreversible investment with regime shifts

(with Xin Guo and Jianjun Miao)

Journal of Economic Theory 122(1), 37-59, 2005

The dynamics of mergers and acquisitions

(with Alexei Zhdanov)

Journal of Financial Economics 77(3), 642-672, 2005

Can managerial discretion explain observed leverage ratios?

Review of Financial Studies 17(1), 257-294, 2004

Capital structure and asset prices: Some effects of bankruptcy procedures

(with Pascal François)

Journal of Business 77(2), 387-411, 2004

Asset liquidity, capital structure, and secured debt

Journal of Financial Economics 61(2), 173-206, 2001

Book Chapter

Real options and risk aversion

(with Julien Hugonnier)

in Ambiguity, Real Options, Credit Risk and Insurance, 2007