Conference Best Paper Awards

Awarded for FMA's international conferences, competitive paper awards are based on a combination of reviewer scores from the initial paper evaluations and recommendations of the respective program's track chairs. This following includes the best papers for the Annual Meeting, Applied Finance Conference, Asia/Pacific Conference, European Conference, Global Finance Conference Series, Hedge Funds, Trading Strategies & Related Topics, Napa/Sonoma Conference,  Conference on Derivatives and Volatility, Consortium on Asset Management and Fintech, Consortium on Factor Investing and other conferences hosted by FMA.

Annual Meeting Best Paper Awards

FMA Annual Meeting Awards typically include "Best Paper" awards in specific disciplines such as Corporate Finance, Fintech, Investments, International Finance, Risk Management, and Market Microstructure.

2025

Best Paper - Asset Pricing & Investments
The Tokenomics of Staking
Lin William Cong, Cornell University and NBER; Zhiheng He, Renmin University of China; Ke Tang, Tsinghua University

Best Paper - Corporate Finance
Award sponsored by the Journal of Corporate Finance
Centralized Governance in Decentralized Organizations
Lin William Cong, Cornell University, ABFER, and NBER; Daniel Rabetti, National University of Singapore; Charles C.Y. Wang, Harvard University and ECGI; Yu Yan, National University of Singapore

Best Paper - Financial Markets & Institutions
Award sponsored by the International Journal of Financial Studies
Production, Trade, and Cross-Border Data Flows
Qing Chang, Tsinghua University; Lin Cong, Cornell University; Liyong Wang, Central University of Finance and Economics; Longtian Zhang, Central University of Finance and Economics

Best Paper - Market Microstructure
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
Fragmentation, Market Structure and Asset Pricing
Yunus Topbas, Peking University; Shengxing Zhang, Carnegie Mellon University

Best Paper - Options & Derivatives
Award sponsored by the International Journal of Financial Studies
Intermediary Inventory Risk and the Pricing Kernel
Alexander Ober, Rice University

2024

Best Paper - Financial Intermediation & Markets
Networks in Venture Capital Markets
Can Huang, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Best Paper - Investments 
Award sponsored by the American Association of Individual Investors
Volatility Disagreement and Asset Prices
Adem Atmaz, Purdue University; Andrea Buffa, University of Colorado Boulder

Best Paper - Corporate Finance 
Bloated Disclosures: Can ChatGPT Help Investors Process Information?
Alex Kim, University of Chicago; Maximilian Muhn, University of Chicago; Valeri Nikolaev, University of Chicago

Best Paper - Options & Derivatives 
Award sponsored by The Options Industry Council
Hedge Fund Option Usage and Skewness Risk Premium
Shuaiyu Chen, Purdue University; Shuaiqi Li, City University of Hong Kong 

Best Paper - Market Microstructure  
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
An Economic Model of a Decentralized Exchange with Concentrated Liquidity
Joel Hasbrouck, New York University; Thomas Rivera, McGill University; Fahad Saleh, University of Florida

2023

Best Paper - Financial Intermediation & Markets
Bank Branch Access: Evidence from Geolocation Data
Alexander K Zentefis, Yale Univ; Jung Sakong, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago 

Best Paper - Investments 
Award sponsored by the American Association of Individual Investors
Global Footprint of US Fiscal Policy
Sun Yong Kim, Northwestern University 

Best Paper - Corporate Finance 
Entrepreneurs' Diversification and Labor Income Risk
Jan Bena, University of British Columbia; Andrew Ellul, Indiana University; Marco Pagano, University of Naples; Valentina Rutigliano, University of British Columbia 

Best Paper - Options & Derivatives 
The Growth Effect of Uncertainty about Globalization: Evidence from the Option Market
Mobina Shafaati, Old Dominion University & Northwestern University; Mengying Wang, Indiana State University 

Best Paper - Market Microstructure  
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
A Real Cost of Free Trades: Retail Option Trading Increases the Volatility of Underlying Securities
Marc Lipson, University of Virginia; Davide Tomio, University of Virginia; Jiang Zhang, University of St. Thomas 

2022

Best Paper - Corporate Finance
Award sponsored by AICPA-CIMA
Anti-Poaching Agreements, Corporate Hiring, and Innovation: Evidence from the Technology Industry
Daniel Ferres, University of Montevideo; Gaurav Kankanhalli, University of Pittsburgh; Pradeep Muthukrishnan, Cornell University

Best Paper - Fintech
Measuring Firm-Level Inflation Exposure: A Deep Learning Approach
Sudheer Chava, Georgia Tech; Wendi Du, Georgia Tech; Agam Shah, Georgia Tech; Linghang Zeng, Babson College

Best Paper - Options & Derivatives
Identifying Demand and Supply in Index Option Markets
Anh Thu Mai, University of Houston; Paola Pederzoli, University of Houston; Kris Jacobs, University of Houston

Best Paper - Market Microstructure
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
The Overnight Drift 
Lars Larsen, Copenhagen Business School; Nina Boyarchenko, Federal Reserve Bank New York; Paul Whelan, Copenhagen Business School

Best Paper - Financial Markets & Institutions
Bank Monitoring with On-site Inspections
Amanda Heitz, Tulane University & FDIC; Chris Martin, FDIC; Alex Ufier, FDIC

Best Paper - Investments
Award sponsored by the American Association of Individual Investors
Geographic Proximity in Short Selling
Xiaolin Huo, Renmin University of China; Xin Liu, Renmin University of China; Vesa Pursiainen, University of St. Gallen

2021

Best Paper - Corporate Finance
Award sponsored by AICPA-CIMA
Firm Statements, Consumer Political Beliefs, and the Limits of Stakeholder Capitalism
Marcus O Painter, Saint Louis University

Best Paper - Financial Markets and Institutions
Award sponsored by StockTrak
Credit Allocation and Macroeconomic Fluctuations
Karsten Müller, Princeton University and Emil Verner, MIT Sloan School of Management

Best Paper - Fintech
How can Innovation Screening be Improved? A Machine Learning Analysis with Economic Consequences for Firm Performance
Xiang Zheng, Univ of Connecticut

Best Paper - Investments
Award sponsored by AAII
Democratization, Inequality, and Risk Premia
Max Miller, University of Pennsylvania

Best Paper - Market Microstructure
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
Liquidity Spillovers: Evidence from Two-Step Spinoffs
Yakov Amihud, New York University, Sahn-Wook Huh, University at Buffalo SUNY and Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, UCLA

Best Paper - Options & Derivatives
Systemic Stress Testing under Central and Non-Central Clearing
Elena Kalotychou, Cyprus University of Technology, Barbara Casu, Bayes Business School and Petros Katsoulis, Bayes Business School

2020 

Virtual Conference

Best Paper – Options & Derivatives
Award sponsored by StockTrak
The Economic Value of Equity Implied Volatility Forecasting with Machine Learning
Paul Borochin, University of Miami & Yanhui Zhao, University of Wisconsin Whitewater

Best Paper – Corporate Finance
Award sponsored by AICPA
Skilled Immigrants, Corporate Acquisitions, and Shareholder Value
Phuong-Anh Nguyen, York University

Best Paper – Fintech
Miner Collusion and the Bitcoin Protocol
Alfred Lehar, University of Calgary & Christine A Parlour, University of California Berkeley

Best Paper - Market Microstructure
Award sponsored by Nasdaq
Insider Trading Under the Microscope
Andriy Shkilko, Wilfrid Laurier University

Best Paper – Investments
Award sponsored by AAII
Don't Take their Word for It: The Misclassification of Bond Mutual Funds
Huaizhi Chen, University of Notre Dame; Lauren Cohen, Harvard Business School & NBER; Umit G Gurun, University of Texas Dallas

Best Paper – Financial Markets & Institutions
Award sponsored by StockTrak
Does Finance Make Us Less Social?
Henrik Cronqvist, University of Miami; Mitch Warachka, Chapman University; Frank Yu China Europe International Business School

2019

Best Paper in Corporate Finance
Award sponsored by Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA)
The Economics of Trade Credit: Risk and Power
Kayla M Freeman, University of Georgia

Best Paper in Derivatives & Options
Award sponsored by Stock-Trak
Crash Risk in Individual Stocks 
Paola Pederzoli, University of Houston

Best Paper in Financial Markets & Institutions
Award sponsored by Stock-Trak
Information Intermediaries: How Commercial Bankers Facilitate Strategic Alliances
Marc Frattaroli, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne & SF Institute & Christoph Herpfer, Emory University

Best Paper in Investments
Award sponsored by American Association of Individual Investors
Out of Sight No More? The Effect of Fee Disclosures on 401(K) Investment Allocations
Mathias Kronlund, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Veronika K Pool, Indiana University & Vanderbilt University; Clemens Sialm, University of Texas Austin & NBER; Irina Stefanescu, Federal Reserve System

Best Paper in Market Microstructure 
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
Institutional Order Handling and Broker-Affiliated Trading Venues
Amber Anand, Syracuse University; Mehrdad Samadi, Southern Methodist University; Jonathan Sokobin, FINRA; Kumar Venkataraman, Southern Methodist University

2018

Best Paper in Corporate Finance
Award sponsored by Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA)
Globalization, Competition and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from US Households
Hadiye Aslan, Georgia State University & Praveen Kumar, University of Houston

Best Paper in Derivatives & Options
Award sponsored by BoardEx
Addressing Systemic Risk Using Contingent Convertible Debt – A Network Analysis
Aparna Gupta, US SEC; Yueliang Lu, UNC Charlotte & Runzu Wang, University of Oklahoma

Best Paper in Financial Markets & Institutions
Award sponsored by Elsevier
Deposit Inflows and Outflows in Failing Banks: The Role of Deposit Insurance
Chris Martin, FDIC; Manju Puri, Duke University, FDIC & NBER & Alexander Brenden Ufier, FDIC

Best Paper in Investments
Award sponsored by American Association of Individual Investors (AAII)
Is Gender in the Eye of the Beholder? Identifying Cultural Attitudes With Art Auction Prices
Renée Adams, Oxford University; Roman Kräussl, Luxembourg School of Finance & Stanford University; Marco Navone, University of Technology Sydney & Patrick Verwijmeren, Erasmus University Rotterdam & University of Melbourne

Best Paper in Market Microstructure
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
Dark Trading Volume and Market Quality: A Natural Experiment
Ryan Z Farley, University of Tennessee; Eric Kelley, University of Tennessee & Andy Puckett, University of Tennessee

2017

Best Paper in Corporate Finance
Award sponsored by Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA)
For Richer, For Poorer: Banker's Skin-in-the-Game and Risk Taking in New England, 1867 - 1880
Peter Koudijs, Stanford University & NBER
Laura Salisbury, York University & NBER

Best Paper in Derivatives
Information Content of Hedge Fund Equity Option Holdings
Juha Joehväärä, University of Oulu
Mikko Kauppila, University of Oulu
Pekka Tolonen, University of Oulu

Best Paper in Financial Markets and Institutions
Costly Information Acquisition in Decentralized Markets: An Experiment
Elena Asparouhova, University of Utah
Peter Bossaerts, University of Melbourne
Wenhao Yang, University of South Carolina

Best Paper in Investments
Award sponsored by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII)
Salience Theory and Stock Prices: Empirical Evidence
Mathijs Cosemans, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Rik Frehen, Tilburg University

Best Paper in Market Microstructure
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
Option Trading Costs are Lower than you Think
Dmitriy Muravyev, Boston College
Neil D Pearson, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

2016

Best Paper in Corporate Finance
Death by Committee? An Analysis of Delegation in Corporate Boards
Renee Adams, University of New South Wales; Vanitha Ragunthan, University of Queensland; Robert Tumarkin, University of New South Wales

Best Paper in Derivatives
It's all in the Packaging: The Causal Effect of Index Formation on Financial Market Prices
Justin Balthrop, Rice University

Best Paper in Financial Markets and Institutions
Award sponsored by Elsevier
Does Bank Stakeholder Orientation Enhance Financial Stability? Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Woon Sau Leung, Cardiff University; Wei Song, Swansea University; Jie Chen, Cardiff University

Best Paper in Investments
Award sponsored by American Association of Individual Investors (AAII)
Playing favorites: Conflicts of interest in mutual fund management
Diane Del Guercio, University of Oregon; Egemen Genc, Erasmus University; Hai Tran, Loyola Marymount University

Best Paper in Market Microstructure
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
The Value of Trading Relationships in Turbulent Times
Zhaogang Song, Johns Hopkins University; Marco Di Maggio, Harvard University; Amir Kermani, University of California Berkeley

2015

Best Paper in Corporate Finance
Award sponsored by Elsevier
Do Compensation Consultants Enable Higher CEO Pay? New Evidence from Recent Disclosure Rule Changes
Jenny Chu, University of Cambridge; Jonathan Faasse, University of Cambridge; Raghavendra Rau, University of Cambridge

Best Paper in Derivatives
Award sponsored by Chicago Trading Company
Evaluating Corporate Bonds and Analyzing Market Participants Behaviors with Complex Debt Structure
Tian-Shyr Dai, National Chiao Tung University; Chuan-Ju Wang, University of Taipei; Liang-Chih Liu, National Chiao Tung University

Best Paper in Financial Markets and Institutions
Law and Finance Matter: Lessons from Externally Imposed Courts
James R Brown, Iowa State University; J Anthony Cookson, University of Colorado Boulder; Rawley Zachary Heimer, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Best Paper in Market Microstructure
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
Is Aggregate Idiosyncratic Risk Priced? Follow the Bid-Ask Bounce
David Lesmond, Tulane University; Yihua Zhao, Tulane University

Best Paper in Investments
Award sponsored by AAII
The Level, Slope and Curve Factor Model for Stocks
Charles Clarke, University of Connecticut

2014

Best Paper in Corporate Finance
Shadow Trading: Do Insiders Exploit Private Information About Stakeholders?
Mihir N Mehta, Temple University & MIT; David M Reeb, National University of Singapore; Wanli Zhao, SIU Carbondale

Best Paper in Derivatives
Award sponsored by Chicago Trading Company
Empirical Evidence on the Importance of Aggregation, Asymmetry,, and Jumps for Volatility Prediction
Diep N Duong, Utica College; Norman Swanson, Rutgers University

Best Paper in Financial Markets & Institutions
Bank Capital and Credit Supply: Evidence from Syndicated Loans
Yongqiang Chu, University of South Carolina; Donghang Zhang, University of South Carolina; Yijia Zhao, University of South Carolina

Best Paper in Investments
Award sponsored by American Association of Individual Investors (AAII)
Information Processing and Non-Bayesian Learning in Financial Markets
Stefanie Schraeder, Université de Lausanne & Swiss Finance Institute

Best Paper in Market Microstructure
Award sponsored by NASDAQ
Order Flow Segmentation and the Role of Dark Pool Trading in the Price Discovery of US Treasury Securities
Giang Nguyen, UNC Chapel Hill; Michael Fleming, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Applied Finance Conference Best Paper Awards

2025

Hidden Duration: Interest Rate Derivatives in Fixed Income Funds
Oliver Randall, University of Melbourne; Minsoo Kim, University of Melbourne; Jaewon Choi, Seoul National University

2024

From Transcripts to Insights: Uncovering Corporate Risks Using Generative AI
Alex Kim, The University of Chicago; Maximilian Muhn, The University of Chicago; Valeri Nikolaev, The University of Chicago

2023

Demand Elasticities, Nominal Rigidities and Asset Prices
Nuno Clara, Duke University

2022

Back to Taylorism? Job-Task Concentration and (In)significance of Employee Satisfaction in the Age of Automation
Iftekhar Hasan, Fordham University; Alev Yildirim, Southern Connecticut State University; Erdem Dogukan Yilmaz, HEC Lausanne

2019

Late to Recessions: Stocks and the Business Cycle
Roberto Gómez-Cram, University of Pennsylvania

2018

Intraday Option to Stock Volume Ratios and Stock Return Predictability
Kelley Bergma, Ohio University; Andy Fodor, Ohio University; Vijay Singal, Virginia Tech; Jitendra Tayal, Ohio University

2017

M&A Rumors: Why Sellers Hate Them
Yan Alperovych, EMLYON Research Centre for Entrepreneurial Finance; Douglas Cumming, York University; Alexander Peter Groh, EMLYON Research Centre for Entrepreneurial Finance

2016

Personal Trading by Employees of Financial Intermediaries
Henk Berkman, University of Auckland; Paul Koch, University of Kansas; P Joakim Westerholm, University of Sydney

2015

Do Long-Term Investors Improve Corporate Decision Making?
Jarrad Harford, University of Washington; Ambrus Kecskés, York University; Sattar Mansi, Virginia Tech

Asia/Pacific Conference Best Paper Awards

2024

Asset Pricing and Investments
Unintended Benefits of Employment Protection: Households' Stock Market Participation
Chanik Jo, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Financial Institutions 
Reverse Mortgages, Housing and Consumption: An Equilibrium Approach
Ariel Sun, Imperial College; Jialu Shen, University of Missouri Shize Li, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Corporate Finance 
From Transcripts to Insights: Uncovering Corporate Risks Using Generative AI
Alex G. Kim, University of Chicago; Maximilian Muhn, University of Chicago; Valeri V. Nikolaev, University of Chicago

Best Pitch Award
Divided Government and the Stock Market pitched by Dean Ryu of Harvard University & University of Oxford

2022

Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions
(Sponsored by S&P Global Market Intelligence)

The Shadow Cost of Collateral 
Guangqian Pan, University of Sydney; Zheyao Pan, Macquarie University; Kairong Xiao, Columbia University

Asset Pricing and Investments
(Sponsored by S&P Global Market Intelligence)

Cultural Origins of Investment Behavior 
Andreas Ek, Lund University; Gunes Gokmen, Lund University; Kaveh Majlesi, Monash University 

2019

Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions
(Sponsored by CSMAR)

Inter-Firm Patent Litigation and Innovation Competition 
Jongsub Lee, Seoul National University; Seungjoon Oh, Peking University; Paula Suh, University of Georgia 

Investments and Asset Pricing
(Sponsored by CFA Institute Asia-Pacific Research Exchange)

Trading in Crowded Markets
Anna Obizhaeva, New Economic School; Yajun Wang, New Economic School; Stepan Gorban, New Economic School
 

2018

Best Paper in Investments
Award sponsored by CFA Institute
Who is afraid of BlackRock?
Massimo Massa, INSEAD; David Schumacher, McGill University; Yan Wang, McMaster University

Best Paper in Corporate Finance & Financial Institutions
Award sponsored by China Stock Market and Accounting Research Database (CSMAR)
Labor Force Demographics and Corporate Innovation
François Derrien, HEC Paris; Ambrus Kecskés, York University; Phuong-Anh Nguyen, York University

Elevator Pitch Session Best Pitch Award
The Relative Grading Bias
Presented by Ariel Yu Zhang, HKUST 

*The unique session format included 5-minute presentations of a maximum of three (3) slides with no discussants. At the end of the session, audience members ranked each presentation to select the "best pitch" award.

2017

Best Paper in Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions
Board Diversity and Director Dissent in Corporate Boards
Seil Kim, Baruch College, CUNY; Seungjoon Oh, Peking University

Best Paper in Investments/Asset Pricing
Manager Sentiment and Stock Returns
Fuwei Jiang, Central University of Finance and Economics; Josh Lee, Florida State University; Xiumin Martin, Washington University in St. Louis; Guofu Zhou, Washington University in St. Louis

2016

Does Knowledge Protection Benefit Shareholders? Evidence from Stock Market Reaction and Firm Investment in Knowledge Assets
Buhui Qui, University of Sydney; Teng Wang, Federal Reserve Board

The Information Content of Insider Sudden Silence
Claire Yurong Hong, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology; Frank Weikai Li, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Intraday Rallies and Crashes: Spillovers of Trading Halts
Bei Cui, University of Hong Kong; Arie E. Gozluklu, University of Warwick

2015

Portfolio Concentration and Performance of Institutional Investors Worldwide
Nicole Choi, University of Wyoming; Mark Fedenia, University of Wisconsin Madison; Hilla Skiba, University of Wyoming; Tatyana Sokolyk, Brock University

Knightian Uncertainty and Capital Structure: Theory and Evidence
Seokwoo Lee, George Mason University

The Freedom of Information Act and the Race Towards Information Acquisition
Award sponsored by the CFA Institute
Antonio Gargano, University of Melbourne; Alberto G Rossi, University of Maryland; Russ Wermers, University of Maryland

2014

Director Skill Sets
Award sponsored by S&P Capital IQ
Renee Adams, University of New South Wales; Ali Akyol, University of Melbourne; Patrick Verwijmeren, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Informed Trading and the Pricing of Good and Bad Private Information in the Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns
Award sponsored by S&P Capital IQ
Michael Brennan, UCLA; Sahn-Wook Huh, University at Buffalo, SUNY; Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, UCLA

Momentum is Really Momentum: US and International Evidence
Award sponsored by the CFA Institute
Qiang Gong, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics; Ming Liu, International University of Japan; Qiangqiu Liu, University of Hawaii at Manoa

European Conference Best Paper Awards

The European and Asian Conference typically award two - three "Best Paper" awards.

2025

Best Paper in Asset Pricing and Investments

Time-Varying Anomaly Premia: Stable Fact or Disappearing Act?
    Niels Groenborg, Aarhus University
    Chun-Wei Lin, Virginia Tech
    Bradley Paye, Virginia Tech
    Allan Timmermann, University of California, San Diego

Best Paper in Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions

One Size Doesn't Fit All: Heterogeneous Depositor Compensation During Periods of Uncertainty
    Nikolaos Artavanis, Lousiana State University
    Daniel Paravisini, London School of Economics
    Claudia Robles-Garcia, Stanford University
    Amit Seru, Stanford University
    Margarita Tsoutsoura, Washington University in St. Louis

2024

Best Paper in Asset Pricing and Investments
Disagreement of Disagreement
Christian Goulding, Auburn University; Campbell Harvey, Duke University & NBER; Hrvoje Kurtovic, HEC Lausanne

Best Paper in Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions
Firms' transition to green: Innovation versus lobbying
Sungjoung Kwon, Wayne State University; Michelle Lowry, Drexel University (presenting author); Michela Verardo, London School of Economics

The Disciplining Effect of Bank Supervision: Evidence from SupTech
Hans Degryse, KU Leuven; Cedric Huylebroek, KU Leuven; Bernardus van Doornik, Bank for International Settlement

Best Pitch Awards
A Market-Level Tug of War: Asset Pricing on ... Days pitched by Lei Zhao, ESCP Business School

The value of organized networking: Evidence from the World Economic Forum? pitched by Jörg Stahl, Universidade Católica Portuguesa

2019

Price Pressure and Price Discovery in the Term Structure of Interest Rates
Scott Mixon, CFTC and Tugkan Tuzan, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Stakeholder Orientation and Firm Value
K.J. Martijn Cremers, University of Notre Dame; Scott B. Guernsey, University of Cambridge; and Simone M. Sepe, University of Arizona & Toulouse School of Economics

Elevator Session Best Pitch Award

Diversification in Lottery-Like Features and Portfolio Pricing Discounts
Xin Liu, University of Bath

*The unique session format included 5-minute presentations of a maximum of three (3) slides with no discussants. At the end of the session, audience members ranked each presentation to select the "best pitch" award.

2018

Financial Institutions & Markets
Sponsored by DNB
Fundamentals Matter: Idiosyncratic Shocks and Interbank Relations
Peter Bednarek, Deutsche Bundesbank; Valeriya Dinger, University of Osnabrueck; Natalja von Westernhagen, Deutsche Bundesbank

Corporate Finance
Sponsored by Administrative Sciences
Why are Firms Sold? Evidence from Acquisitions of European Private Firms
Yeejin Jang, Purdue University; Natalia Reisel, Fordham University

Corporate Governance
Sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers
Hedge Fund Activism and CEO Compensation
Jana P Fidrmuc, University of Warwick; Swati Kanoria, University of Warwick

Asset Pricing & Investments
Sponsored by Svenska Handelsbanken AB
Currency Regimes and the Carry Trade
Olivier Accominotti, London School of Economics; Jason Cen, University of Essex; David Chambers, University of Cambridge; Ian W Marsh, Cass Business School

Microfinance
Sponsored by Sparebanken Sør
Lending Maturity of Microcredit and Dependence on Moneylenders
Hisaki Kono, Kyoto University

2017

Trust and Debt Contracting: Evidence from the Backdating Scandal
Veljko Fotak, University at Buffalo SUNY; Feng Jiang, University at Buffalo SUNY; Haekwon Lee, University at Buffalo SUNY; Erik Lie, University of Iowa

Option Investor Rationality Revisited: The Role of Exercise Boundary Violations
Robert Battalio, University of Notre Dame; Stephen Figlewski, New York University, Robert Neal, Indiana University

Elevator Pitch Session Best Pitch Award in Behavioral Finance*
Cultural Traits and Corporate Debt Financing
Presented by Mascia Bedendo, Audencia Business School

2016

Mutual Funds and Mispriced Stocks
Doron Avramov, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Si Cheng, Queen’s University Belfast; Allaudeen Hameed, National University of Singapore

Employment Protection and Takeovers
Award sponsored by Elite Varainhoito
Olivier Dessaint, Universityof Toronto; Andrey Golubov, University of Toronto; Paolo Volpin, Cass Business School

2015

Best Paper in Corporate Finance and Financial Markets & Institutions
M&A Negotiations and Lawyer Expertise
Christel Karsten, Strategy& Ulrike Malmendier, University of California Berkeley & NBER; Zacharias Sautner, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management

Best Paper in Investments
When Everyone Misses on the Same Side: Debiased Earnings Surprises and Stock Returns
Chin-Han Chiang, Singapore Management University; Wei Dai, Princeton University; Harrison Hong, Princeton University, NBER & CAFR; Jun Tu, Singapore Management University

The Non-Information Cost of Trading and its Relative Importance for the Cost of Capital
Award sponsored by Dynamic Analysis & Management
Kee H Chung, University at Buffalo SUNY;  Sahn-Wook Huh, University at Buffalo SUNY

2014

Nominal Rigidities and Asset Pricing (PhD-Student Best Paper Award)
Michael Weber, University of California - Berkeley

Venture Capital and Career Concerns
Award sponsored by Bayer
Nicholas Crain, Vanderbilt University

Ambiguity, News and Asymmetric Correlations
S Mehmet Ozsoy, Ozyegin University

Global Finance Conference Series Best Paper Awards

2022 (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

Best Paper in Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions
The real effects of bank lobbying: Evidence from the corporate loan market
Manthos Delis, Audencia Business School; Iftekhar Hasan, Fordham University; Thomas To, University of Sydney; Eliza Wu, University of Sydney

Best Paper in Asset Pricing and Investments
Stakes and Mistakes
Steffen Andersen, Copenhagen Business School; Abhiroop Mukherjee, HKUST; Kasper Meisner Nielsen, Copenhagen Business School

2019 (Bogotá, Colombia)

Insider Entrenchment and Corporate Sustainability Around the World 
 Alexander Dyck, University of Toronto;  Karl V Lins, University of Utah; Lukas Roth, University of Alberta; Mitch Towner, University of Arizona; and, Hannes F Wagner, Bocconi University

The Unintended Impact of Academic Research on Asset Returns: The CAPM Alpha
 Alex R Horenstein, University of Miami 

2017 (Mexico City, Mexico)

Best Paper in Corporate Finance and Financial Institutions
Award sponsored by CFA Institute
What Drives Corporate Inversions? International Evidence
Burcin Col, Pace University; Rose Liao, Rutgers University and Stefan Zeume, University of Michigan

Best Paper in Investments
Award sponsored by CFA Institute
Fundamental Analysis and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns: A Data-Mining Approach
Xuemin (Sterling) Yan, University of Missouri; Lingling Zheng, Renmin University of China

Hedge Funds, Trading Strategies & Related Topics Best Paper Awards

2018

Slow Trading and Stock Return Predictability
Allaudeen Hameed, National University of Singapore; Matthijs Lof, Aalto University School of Business; Matti Suominen, Aalto University School of Business

The Limits of Fundamental Arbitrage: Evidence from Detailed Hedge Fund Transaction Data
Bastian von Beschwitz, Federal Reserve Board; Sandro Lunghi, Inalytics; Daniel Schmidt, HEC Paris

2017

In for the Long Haul: Activist Hedge Funds and Fragility Risk
Julia Elizabeth Reynolds, Vienna Graduate School of Finance

2015

Dancing with the Activists
Lucian A Bebchuk, Harvard University; Alon Brav, Duke University and NBER; Wei Jiang, Columbia University; Thomas Keusch, Erasmus University and Harvard University

Influencing Control: Jawboning in Risk Arbitrage
Wei Jiang, Columbia Business School; Tao Li, University of Warwick; Danqing Mei, Columbia Business School 

2014

Deleveraging Risk
Scott Richardson, London Business School & AQR Capital Management; Pedro Saffi, University of Cambridge; Kari Sigurdsson, AQR Capital Management

Ownership Crowded with Style: Institutional Investors, Liquidity, and Liquidity Risk
Alessandro Beber, Cass Business School & CEPR; Michael W. Brandt, Duke University & NBER; Mathijs Cosemans, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Michela Verardo, London School of Economics

UC Davis-FMA Napa Finance Conference Best Paper Awards

The UC Davis-FMA Napa Finance Conference awards an overall "Best Paper" award based on the rankings of conference attendees.

2025

Certain vs. Uncertain Timing

Indira Puri, New York University

2024

Can U.S. Treasury Markets Add and Subtract?

Roberto Gómez-Cram, New York University & London Business School | Howard Kung, London Business School & CEPR | Hanno Lustig, Stanford University, NBER & CEPR

2023

Financial Frictions and Human Capital Investments
Menaka V Hampole, Northwestern University

Property Tax Sales, Private Capital and Gentrification in the US
Cameron LaPoint, Yale School of Management

2022

Gender Bias in Promotions: Evidence from Financial Institutions
Ruidi Huang, Southern Methodist University | Erik J. Mayer, Southern Methodist University | Darius Miller, Southern Methodist University
(Review of Financial Studies, (37, #5))

2019

Consumer-Lending Discrimination in the FinTech Era 
Robert Bartlett, UC Berkeley; Adair Morse, UC Berkeley, Richard Stanton, UC Berkeley and Nancy Wallace, UC Berkeley
(Journal of Financial Economics, (143, #1))

2018

Front Page News: The Effect of News Positioning on Financial Markets
Anastassia Fedyk, Harvard University
(Journal of Finance, conditional accept)

2017

Strategic Default on Student Loans
Constantine Yannelis, New York University
(Journal of Finance, R&R)

2016 

Excess Volatility: Beyond Discount Rates
Stefano Giglio, University of Chicago and NBER; Bryan Kelly, University of Chicago and NBER
(The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 133, #1))

2015

Information Networks: Evidence from Illegal Insider Trading Tips
Kenneth R Ahern, University of Southern California
(Journal of Financial Economics (125, #1))

2014

The Impact of Hedge Funds on Asset Markets
Mathias Kruttli, Oxford University and Oxford-Man Institute of Quantitative Finance; Andrew J. Patton, Duke University; Tarun Ramadorai, Oxford University, Oxford-Man Institute, and CEPR
(Review of Asset Pricing Studies, (5, #2))

Conference on Derivatives and Volatility 

2023

Cross-Over Options
Oleg Bondarenko, University of Illinois Chicago

2018

Liquidity Creation as Volatility Risk
Itamar Drechsler, New York University & NBER, Alan Moreira, University of Rochester and Alexi Savov, New York University & NBER

2017

Variance Risk Premia on Stocks and Bonds
Philippe Mueller, London School of Economics, Petar Sabtchevsky, London School of Economics, Andrea Vedolin, London School of Economics and Paul Whelan, Copenhagen Business School

2025 Consortium on Asset Management

MiFID II Research Unbundling: Cross-border Impact on Asset Managers

Richard Evans, University of Virginia; Juan-Pedro Gómez, IE University; Rafael Zambrana, University of Notre Dame

2024 Consortium on Asset Management 

A New Option Momentum: Compensation for Risk

Heiner Beckmeyer, University of Münster; Ilias Filippou; Washington University in St. Louis; Guofu Zhou, Washington University in St. Louis

2023 Consortium on Asset Management

Green or Brown: Which Overpriced Stock to Short Sell?

Xintong (Eunice) Zhan, Fudan University, Weiming (Elaine) Zhang, IE Business School

2022 Consortium on Asset Management and Fintech

Π-CAPM: The Classical CAPM with Probability Weighting and Skewed Assets

Joren Koëter, Erasmus University, Joost Driessen, Tilburg University and Sebastian Ebert, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

2019 Consortium on Factor Investing

Bond Risk Premia with Machine Learning

Daniele Bianchi, Warwick Business School, Matthias Bűchner, Warwick Business School and Andrea Tamoni, London School of Economics

Best Paper Awards from Other Conferences Hosted by FMA

2016 Conference on Finance and Investment in Creative Ventures