Erwan Morellec

Profile

Erwan Morellec is a Full Professor of Finance at EPFL and the holder of a Swiss Finance Institute senior chair. He is the director of the Finance Group at EPFL, the Head of the Swiss Finance Institute nation-wide PhD Program, and a CEPR Research Fellow.

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. Erwan has received several research, teaching, and leadership awards and has been the recipient of several research grants. He holds a PhD in Finance summa cum Laude from HEC Paris.

Recent research

A unifying theory of shareholder activism, ownership dynamics, and firm policies, with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer

Competition, cash holdings, and financing decisions, with Boris Nikolov and Francesca Zucchi

Investor Activism and the Green Transition, with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer, Journal of Financial Economics R&R

Journal articles

Relationship capital and financing decisions, with Thomas Geelen and Natalia Rostova, Management Science Forthcoming

The dynamics of loan sales and lenders incentives, with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer, Review of Financial Studies 2024

Asset Life, Leverage, and Debt Maturity Matching, with Thomas Geelen, Jakub Hajda, and Adam Winegar, Journal of Financial Economics 2024

Takeover protections and asset prices, with Assaf Eisdorfer and Alexei Zhdanov, Management Science 2024

Can corporate debt foster innovation and growth? with Thomas Geelen and Jakub Hajda, Review of Financial Studies 2022

Understanding cash flow risk, with Sebastian Gryglewicz, Loriano Mancini, Enrique Schroth, and Philip Valta, Review of Financial Studies 2022

Optimal financing with tokens, with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer, Journal of Financial Economics 2021

Short-term debt and incentives for risk-taking, with Marco Della Seta and Francesca Zucchi, Journal of Financial Economics 2020

Agency conflicts and short- vs. long-termism in corporate policies, with Sebastian Gryglewicz and Simon Mayer, Journal of Financial Economics 2020

Product market competition and option prices, with Alexei Zhdanov, Review of Financial Studies 2019

Agency conflicts around the world, with Boris Nikolov and Norman Schuerhoff, Review of Financial Studies 2018

Corporate policies with permanent and transitory shocks, with J-P Décamps, S. Gryglewicz, and S. Villeneuve, Review of Financial Studies 2017

Bank capital, liquid reserves, and insolvency risk, with Julien Hugonnier, Journal of Financial Economics 2017

Debt enforcement, investment, and risk-taking across countries, with G. Favara, E. Schroth, and P. Valta, Journal of Financial Economics 2017

Capital supply uncertainty, cash holdings and investment, with Julien Hugonnier and Semyon Malamud, Review of Financial Studies 2015

Credit market frictions and capital structure dynamics, with Julien Hugonnier and Semyon Malamud, Journal of Economic Theory 2015

Financing investment: The choice between bonds and bank loans, with Philip Valta and Alexei Zhdanov, Management Science 2015

Corporate governance and capital structure dynamics, with Boris Nikolov and Norman Schuerhoff, Journal of Finance 2012

Corporate investment and financing under asymmetric information, with Norman Schuerhoff, Journal of Financial Economics 2011

Dynamic investment and financing under personal taxation, with Norman Schuerhoff, Review of Financial Studies 2010

Financing and takeovers, with Alexei Zhdanov, Journal of Financial Economics 2008

Stock returns in mergers and acquisitions, with Dirk Hackbarth, Journal of Finance 2008

Closed-form solutions to stochastic switching problems, with Pascal François, Journal of Mathematical Economics 2008

Agency conflicts and risk management, with Clifford W. Smith, Review of Finance 2007

Corporate control and real investment in incomplete markets, with Julien Hugonnier, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 2007

Capital structure, credit risk, and macroeconomic conditions, with Dirk Hackbarth and Jianjun Miao, Journal of Financial Economics 2006

On the debt capacity of growth options, with Michael J. Barclay and Clifford W. Smith, Journal of Business 2006

Irreversible investment with regime shifts, with Xin Guo and Jianjun Miao, Journal of Economic Theory 2005

The dynamics of mergers and acquisitions, with Alexei Zhdanov, Journal of Financial Economics 2005

Can managerial discretion explain observed leverage ratios?, Review of Financial Studies, 2004

Capital structure and asset prices: Some effects of bankruptcy procedures, with Pascal François, Journal of Business 2004

Asset liquidity, capital structure, and secured debt, Journal of Financial Economics 2001

Book Chapter

Real options and risk aversion, with Julien Hugonnier, in Ambiguity, Real Options, Credit Risk and Insurance, 2007