Paul Pfleiderer

C.O.G. Miller Distinguished Professor of Finance

Professor of Law (by courtesy), School of Law

Phone: (650) 723-4495

Email: [email protected]

Academic Areas: Finance

Paul Pfleiderer’s research is primarily focused on issues arising in financial markets when traders are asymmetrically informed. He has developed theoretical models to analyze how information is incorporated in prices through trading and how information flows determine trading volume. He has also analyzed how information is sold to investors when the value of the information is reduced the more widely it is disseminated. In addition he has studied problems in measuring active funds’ performance, contracting concerns in venture financing, policy issues related to disclosure requirements, and explanations for the stock market crash of 1987. His current research concerns corporate governance.

Bio

Paul Pfleiderer received BA, MPhil, and PhD degrees from Yale University, all in the field of economics. He has been teaching at Stanford since 1981. His research, much of which has been jointly pursued with Anat Admati, another professor of finance at the GSB, is generally concerned with issues that arise when agents acting in financial markets are differentially informed. His current research concerns corporate governance. In addition to his academic research, Professor Pfleiderer has consulted for various corporations and banks and has been involved in developing risk models and optimization software for use by portfolio managers.

Academic Degrees

PhD, 1982; MPhil, 1979; BA, Yale Univ., 1976.

Professional Experience

At Stanford since 1981.

Selected Publications

  • Does It All Add Up? Benchmarks and the Compensation of Active Portfolio Managers: Journal of Business, 1997
  • Robust Financial Contracting and the Role of Venture Capitalists: Journal of Finance, 1994
  • Large Shareholder Activism, Risk Sharing, and Financial Market Equilibrium: Journal of Political Economy, 1994
  • Sunshine Trading and Financial Market Equilibrium: Review of Financial Studies, 1991
  • Direct and Indirect Sale of Information: Econometrica, 1990
  • A Theory of Intraday Trading Patterns: Review of Financial Studies, 1988

Working Papers

  • 2043: Increased-Liability Equity: A Proposal to Improve Capital Regulation of Large Financial Institutions
  • 782: The Value of Information in Speculative Trading
  • 797R: A Monopolistic Market for Information
  • 847R: Viable Allocations of Information in Financial Markets
  • 868: On Timing and Selectivity
  • 899R: Direct and Indirect Sale of Information
  • 927R3: A Theory of Intraday Trading Patterns: Volume and Price Variability
  • 978: Selling and Trading on Information in Financial Markets
  • 2065R: Fallacies, Irrelevant Facts, and Myths in the Discussion of Capital Regulation: Why Bank Equity is Not Expensive
  • 714: A Note on Performance Evaluation
  • 715: Delegated Portfolio Management
  • 1002: Divide and Conquer: A Theory of Intraday and Day-of-the-Week Mean Effects
  • 1098R: Underestimation of Portfolio Insurance and the Crash of October 1987
  • 1112: Sunshine Trading and Financial Market Equilibrium
  • 1170R: Robust Financial Contracting and the Role of Venture Capitalists
  • 1220: Large Shareholder Activism, Risk Sharing, and Financial Market Equilibrium
  • 1395: Does It All Add Up? Benchmarks and the Compensation of Active Portfolio Managers
  • 1470R: Forcing Firms to Talk: Financial Disclosure Regulation and Externalities
  • 1670R: Noisytalk.com: Broadcasting Opinions in a Noisy Environment
  • 1918R2: The "Wall Street Walk" and Shareholder Activism: Exit as a Form of Voice

Selected Cases

  • F255: Liz Claiborne, Inc.
  • SM26: A Note on the Involvement of U.S. Commercial Banks in Venture Capital

Courses Taught

  • FINANCE 330: Investment Management: Asset Allocation and Asset/Manager Selection
  • FINANCE 381: Private Equity in Frontier Markets: Creating a New Investible Asset Class
  • GSBGEN 202: Critical Analytical Thinking

Centers/Programs

  • Executive Management Program
  • Financial Management Program
  • Stanford Executive Program

Affiliations

  • Member: Econometric Society

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