David Thesmar

David Thesmar is the Franco Modigliani Professor of Financial Economics and a Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

He is an expert in corporate finance, financial intermediation, entrepreneurship, and behavioral economics. Recently, he has studied the impact of financing constraints on the real economy. Thesmar also investigates risk management and systemic risk in banking. He has also researched firm organization and non-rational decision making on corporate strategies. His work makes systematic use of large datasets but emphasizes a parsimonious modelling approach to address economic questions.

A native of France, Thesmar has been involved in policy advising both at the French and European level. He was a member of the council of economic advisors to the French prime minister from 2007 to 2013, and is currently a scientific adviser to the European Systemic Risk Board. An active participant in the public debate, Thesmar is the author of several books, and a regular columnist for the French daily newspaper Les Echos. He has also held numerous consulting positions in the private sector, with a focus on big data related topics.

Thesmar hold a BA in Physics and Economics from École Polytechnique, and a PhD from Paris School of Economics.

Current Research Focus:   Thesmar’s research focuses on banking, asset management, behavioral economics, and the determinants of firm and industry productivity. Recently, he has studied the European interbank market during the past financial crises. He also works on quantifying the effects of financing constraints on investment and aggregate productivity.

Areas of Interest

• Corporate finance and organisation
• Financial intermediation
• Entrepreneurship and productivity
• Behavioral economics
• Behavioural finance