I am an assistant professor of finance at the Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
My research interests are in asset pricing, macro finance, financial intermediation, and household finance.
My CV is available here.
Heterogeneous Intermediary Asset Pricing
Abstract: I show that the composition of the financial sector has important asset pricing implications beyond the health of the aggregate financial sector. To assess the impact of massive balance sheet adjustments within the intermediary sector during the Great Recession and resolve conflicting asset pricing evidence, I propose a dynamic asset pricing model with heterogeneous intermediaries facing financial frictions. Asset flows between intermediaries are quantitatively important for both level and variation of risk premia. An empirical measure of the composition of the intermediary sector negatively forecasts future excess returns and is priced in the cross-section with a positive price of risk.
Student Loans, Marginal Costs, and Markups: Estimates From the PLUS Program (with William Mann)
Review of Financial Studies, Revise and Resubmit
Coverage at Forbes.com
Abstract: We estimate small marginal costs and large markups at private colleges in the United States, and discuss implications for the design of financial aid. For identification, we exploit a tightening of credit standards in the PLUS loan program, which decreased enrollment, revenues, and expenditures at private colleges with low-income students. We estimate that markups represented more than half of charges for students disqualified by the change. Markups were higher at for-profit schools, and in states with fewer public schools and lower education spending. Our results complement prior evidence on the Bennett Hypothesis, and contrast prior estimates of small markups.