I am an Assistant Professor  of Finance at the Université du Québec à Montréal (ESG UQAM). 

Working paper:

• Aiming Low: Necessity Entrepreneurs and the Choice to Incorporate with P. d’Astous and B. Scholnick

Abstract: Wage employees who are laid-off may turn to entrepreneurship to generate income. Conventional wisdom suggests that these necessity entrepreneurs perform poorly because they lack entrepreneurial skills and financing. In this paper we challenge this view, using data from matched employee-employer tax records that cover incorporated and unincorporated firms. We find that employees subject to mass layoffs, who “aim low” and start unincorporated companies, perform better than matched voluntary entrepreneurs starting similar firms. However, necessity entrepreneurs who start incorporated companies perform worse than their voluntary counterparts. This suggests that a lack of human and financial inputs has a smaller impact on achieving success in unincorporated firms.

Presentations: NFA 2024 (PhD Poster session), SFA 2024, SCSE  2024 ,  NFA(2025)  AFA (2026) ,

• Labor market implications of tax enforcement measures with M. Boyer and P. d’Astous.

Abstract:  Tax enforcement is challenging for governments because firms routinely offset implemented measures using different margins of adjustment. When governments enforce stricter revenue monitoring, firms respond by increasing reported expenses, which can hamper tax collection efforts. In this paper, we examine a novel margin of adjustment used by firms: changes in workforce composition. We show that in response to increased revenue monitoring firms increase reported wages paid to incumbent workers and reported new hires, consistent with a formalization effect. Importantly, immigrants constitute a significant portion of the workforce increase. We find no effects on worker earnings from other sources, suggesting that our results represent an increase in reported earnings rather than an increase in labor supply. Accordingly, we find that workers collect less social assistance benefits.y.

Presentations: HEC Montréal 2025 , BADA 2025

Work in progress

• Are income shocks predictable? An empirical test using bank data  (draft available upon request) 

Abstract: We analyze how individuals respond to a change in income using administrative account-level data  provided by a large  North American financial institution. The data includes records of the client's total monthly income deposits, and allows us to link month-end balances of all assets (savings and checking accounts) and liabilities (mortgages, credit lines and term loans) held by clients at this bank. Using an event-study methodology, we first test whether households in the sample can predict income changes. We then study how households use their financial products to adjust to a change in economic resources. We do not find evidence of anticipation of future income but rather an adjustment to the shock. We also document the responsiveness of mortgages, consumer term loans and credit lines to the change in economic resources.   

Presentations: HEC Montréal 2023