Dirk Hackbarth

Dirk Hackbarth is currently a Professor of Finance at the Boston University Questrom School of Business, where he teaches graduate courses in Corporate Finance. He is a former Director, and member of the Executive Committee, of the European Finance Association and appointed research associate of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). He provides service to editorial boards of influential journals, such as Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, Management Science, Review of Finance, and Review of Financial Studies.

Dirk earned both his PhD and MS in Finance at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; his MSc in Econometrics & Mathematical Economics at the London School of Economics & Political Science; and a diploma in Business Economics at the University of Cologne. He is an expert in various areas of corporate financial management and especially valuation of contingent claims and risky cash flows. His research interests include bankruptcy, capital structure, corporate governance, law and finance, mergers and acquisitions, product markets, real options, and valuation.

As an internationally leading scholar in corporate finance, he has given more than 150 invited talks on his research at many top-tier conferences, such as the annual meetings of the American, European, and Western Finance Associations, and at many premier research universities in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. His work has been published in a variety of academic journals, including Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Management Science, Review of Economic Studies, Review of Finance, and Review of Financial Studies.

Dirk currently serves as Advisory Editor of Schmalenbach Business Review and Associate Editor of e.g. Financial Management, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, Management Science, and Review of Finance. Previously he was a Co-Editor of Finance Research Letters and more recently a Guest Co-Editor of a Special Issue on “Corporate Theory” for the Journal of Corporate Finance.

Previous appointments include the May Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Finance (tenured in 2008), College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; visiting positions at the Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE), the London Business School (LBS), the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH); and the Gutmann Center Research Fellow at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU).

Education

• PhD, Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, 2003
• MS, Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, 2000
• MS, London School of Economics, 1998
• Diploma, University of Cologne, 1997

Selected Publications

• Hackbarth, D., Sun, D. (In Press). "Corporate Investment and Financing Dynamics", Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Forthcoming
• Chen, Z., Hackbarth, D., Strebulaev, I. (2022). "A unified model of distress risk puzzles", Journal of Financial Economics, 146 (2), 357-384
• Hackbarth, D., Rivera, A., Wong, T. (2022). "Optimal Short-Termism", Management Science, 68 (9), 6477-6505
• Hackbarth, D., Taub, B. (2022). "Does the Potential to Merge Reduce Competition?", Management Science, 68 (7), 5364-5383
• Choi, J., Hackbarth, D., Zechner, J. (2021). "Granularity of Corporate Debt", Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 56 (4), 1127-1162
• Fulghieri, P., García, D., Hackbarth, D. (2020). "Asymmetric Information and the Pecking (Dis)Order*", Review of Finance, 24 (5), 961-996
• Chen, H., Hackbarth, D. (2020). "Active Sector Funds and Fund Manager Skill", The Journal of Portfolio Management, 46 (8), 64-85
• Leland, H., Hackbarth, D. (2019). "Debt Maturity and the Leverage Ratcheting Effect", Finance, Vol. 40 (3), 13-44
• Choi, J., Hackbarth, D., Zechner, J. (2018). "Corporate debt maturity profiles", Journal of Financial Economics, 130 (3), 484-502
• Hackbarth, D., Zhou, B. (2018). "Examining The Role Of Market Price In Appraisal (Part 1 & Part 2)", Law360
• Hackbarth, D., Zhou, B. (2018). "Effects of New Tax Law on Capital Structure and Cost of Capital", Tax Notes, 158 (11), 1523-1528
• Arnold, M., Hackbarth, D., Puhan, T. (2018). "Financing Asset Sales and Business Cycles", Review of Finance, 22 (1), 243-277
• Gu, L., Hackbarth, D., Johnson, T. (2018). "Inflexibility and Stock Returns", The Review of Financial Studies, 31 (1), 278-321
• Fahlenbrach, R., Hackbarth, D., Rocholl, J., Theissen, E., Uhrig-Homburg, M. (2017). "The Future of Corporate Financing in Europe", Schmalenbach Business Review, 18 (3), 179-180
• Hackbarth, D., Johnson, T. (2015). "Real Options and Risk Dynamics", Review of Economic Studies, 82 (4), 1449-1482
• Hackbarth, D., Haselmann, R., Schoenherr, D. (2015). "Financial Distress, Stock Returns, and the 1978 Bankruptcy Reform Act", Review of Financial Studies, 28 (6), 1810-1847
• Goldstein, I., Hackbarth, D. (2014). "Corporate finance theory: Introduction to special issue", Journal of Corporate Finance, 29 535-541
• Hackbarth, D., Mathews, R., Robinson, D. (2014). "Capital Structure, Product Market Dynamics, and the Boundaries of the Firm", Management Science, 60 (12), 2971-2993
• Gu, L., Hackbarth, D. (2013). "Governance and Equity Prices: Does Transparency Matter?", Review of Finance, 17 (6), 1989-2033
• Campello, M., Hackbarth, D. (2012). "The firm-level credit multiplier", Journal of Financial Intermediation, 21 (3), 446-472
• Hackbarth, D., Miao, J. (2012). "The dynamics of mergers and acquisitions in oligopolistic industries", Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 36 (4), 585-609
• Hackbarth, D., Mauer, D. (2012). "Optimal Priority Structure, Capital Structure, and Investment", Review of Financial Studies, 25 (3), 747-796
• Almeida, H., Campello, M., Hackbarth, D. (2011). "Liquidity mergers", Journal of Financial Economics, 102 (3), 526-558
• Hackbarth, D., Gider, J. (2010). Financing Decisions."Behavioral Finance: Investors, Corporations, and Markets", John Wiley & Sons
• Guentay, L., Hackbarth, D. (2010). "Corporate bond credit spreads and forecast dispersion", Journal of Banking and Finance, 34 (10), 2328-2345
• Hackbarth, D. (2009). "Determinants of corporate borrowing: A behavioral perspective", Journal of Corporate Finance, 15 (4), 389-411
• Hackbarth, D. (2008). "Managerial Traits and Capital Structure Decisions", Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 43 (4), 843-881
• Hackbarth, D., Morellec, E. (2008). "Stock returns in mergers and acquisitions", Journal of Finance, 63 (3), 1213-1252
• Hackbarth, D., Hennessy, C., Leland, H. (2007). "Can the trade-off theory explain debt structure?", Review of Financial Studies, 20 (5), 1389-1428
• Hackbarth, D., Miao, J., Morellec, E. (2006). "Capital structure, credit risk, and macroeconomic conditions", Journal of Financial Economics, 82 (3), 519-550

Awards And Honors

• 2017, Research Member, European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)
• 2017, Research Fellow in Financial Economics, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
• 2014, Distinguished Service Award for the Contributions as an Associate Editor, Management Science
• 2013, Meritorious Service Award for the Contributions as an Associate Editor, Management Science
• 2013, Best Paper Award, Rothschild Caesarea Center Annual Conference, IDC Herzliya
• 2013, List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by Students, University of Illinois
• 2012, Robert and Karen May Faculty Fellow, College of Business, University of Illinois
• 2011, WU Gutmann Center Fellow, Vienna University of Economics and Business
• 2011, List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by Students, University of Illinois
• 2010, List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by Students, University of Illinois
• 2009, List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by Students, University of Illinois
• 2005, Dean's List of Excellence in Teaching, Indiana University