Conference Program and Keynote Speaker

2024 VSB Mid-Atlantic Research Conference in Finance Program
March 22, 2024

8:15 a.m. Registration and Coffee Session

8:45 a.m.

Opening Remarks & Dean’s Welcome

9:00 a.m.

Financial Institutions Session: Chair: Ke Shen, Lehigh Univ.

Climate Risk, Credit, and Food Security
Jess Cornaggia, Penn State Univ.; Jay Li, Univ. of North Carolina at Greensboro
Discussant: Mathias Kruttli, Indiana Univ.

Information Spillover Across Credit Products
Weitong Han, Univ. of Illinois
Discussant: Raluca Roman, FRB Philadelphia

10:15 a.m.

Break
 

10:30 a.m

Investments Session: Chair: Sterling Yan, Lehigh Univ.
Mutual Funds and Consumption Risk Exposures
Robert Dittmar, Rice Univ.; John Huck, Univ. of Wisconsin – Milwaukee; Christian Lundblad, Univ. of North Carolina
Discussant: Tim Simin, Penn State Univ.

Dissecting Corporate Culture Using Generative AI – Insights from Analyst Reports
Kai Li, Univ. of British Columbia; Feng Mai, Stevens Inst. of Technology; Rui Shen, Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong; Chelsea Yang, Univ. of British Columbia; Tengfei Zhang, Rutgers Univ.
Discussant: Alejandro Lopez-Lira, Univ. of Florida


11:45 a.m.         Break
 

12:00 p.m.

Lunch and Keynote Speaker
Maureen O’Hara, Cornell University 
Presenting: Tiny Trades
 

1:15 p.m.

Financial Markets Session: Chair: Yijun Zhou, Baruch College
Green Labeling
Tuomas Tomunen, Boston College; Livia Yi, Boston College
Discussant: Giang Nguyen, Penn State Univ. 
 

Benchmarking Private Equity Portfolios: Evidence from Pension Funds
Niklas Augustin, Univ. of Missouri; Matteo Binfarè, Univ. of Missouri; Elyas Fermand, Santa Clara Univ. 
Discussant:
Vladimir Mukharlyamov, Georgetown Univ.Papers TBD

 
2:30 p.m.          Break
 

2:45 p.m.

Corporate Finance Session: Chair: Lu Liu, Univ. of Pennsylvania

What Drives Very Long-Run Cash Flow Expectations?
Paul Décaire, Arizona State Univ.; Marius Guenzel, Univ. of Pennsylvania
Discussant: Francesco D’Acunto, Georgetown Univ.

Board Diversity in Private Vs. Public Firms
Johan Cassel, Vanderbilt Univ.; James Weston, Rice Univ.; Emmanuel Yimfor, Columbia Univ.
Discussant: Vineet Bhagwat, George Washington Univ.

   

4 p.m.

Closing Remarks and Reception

 

MARC Program Track Chairs:

Corporate Finance: Kunal Sachdeva (Rice Univ.) and Christoph Herpfer (Univ. of Virginia)

Financial Institutions: Ruidi Huang (Southern Methodist Univ.)

Financial Markets / Market Microstructure: Jose Vicente Martinez (Univ. of Connecticut)  

Investments: Raisa Velthuis (Villanova Univ.) and Mila Getmansky Sherman (Univ. of Massachusetts)
 

MARC Outstanding Paper Award:

TBD

 

The MARC Conference is organized by John Sedunov.