Francesca Cornelli

Francesca Cornelli is the dean of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. She is also a professor of finance and holds the Donald P. Jacobs Chair in Finance.

Previously, she was professor of finance and deputy dean at London Business School. She directed and advanced the highly regarded Private Equity Institute of London Business School, building a bridge between academia and practice by partnering with private equity leaders in London, alumni and top academics in the field.

Cornelli is widely respected as an accomplished scholar and a leader in business education. Her research interests include corporate governance, private equity, privatization, bankruptcy, IPOs and innovation policy. She has published several papers in the major finance and economics journals, and she gives regular talks at major conferences and universities. She has been an editor of the Review of Financial Studies, one of the top three finance journals, and previously served on the board of editors of the Review of Economic Studies and as an associate editor at the Journal of Finance. She is a research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and previously served as a director of the American Finance Association.

Cornelli has vast international experience and has taught at some of the top schools in the world, including the Wharton School, the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, The London School of Economics, the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad and the New Economic School in Moscow. In January 2016 she helped create and became a board member of AFFECT, a committee of the American Finance Association designed to promote the advancement of women academics in the field of finance. She serves on several boards, including Edizione, GSM Grosvenor Inc., Civic Consulting Alliance, and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Research Interests

• Private Equity, Entrepreneurial Finance, Innovation Policy, Privatization, IPOs, Corporate Governance, Bankruptcy

Education

• PhD, 1992, Economics, Harvard University
• Laurea, 1987, Economics, Bocconi University, Italy, Summa cum Laude

Research

• 2019 Team Stability and Performance: Evidence from Private Equity Francesca Cornelli, Elena Simintzi, Vikrant Vig Working Paper
• 2019 The Drivers of Global Patent Policy Francesca Cornelli, Josh Lerner Working Paper
• 2019 CEO Turnover in LBOs: The Role of Boards Francesca Cornelli, Oguzhan Karakas Working Paper
• 2019 Ex ante effects of ex post managerial ownership Francesca Cornelli, David D. Li Working Paper
• 2019 Do Short Selling Constraints Matter? Francesca Cornelli, Bilge Yilmaz Working Paper
• 2014 Fundraising for the Arts: The Many Forms of Enlightened Self-interest, European Financial Management Francesca Cornelli, Andrea Buraschi Article
• 2013 Monitoring Managers: Does it Matter?, Journal of Finance Francesca Cornelli, Zbigniew Kominek, Alexander Ljungqvist Article
• 2012 How to Sell a (Bankrupt) Company, International Review of Finance Francesca Cornelli, L. Felli Article
• 2008 "Corporate Governance and Private Equity: do LBOs have better boards?" in "Globalization of Alternative Investments" Francesca Cornelli, Oguzhan Karakas Working Paper
• 2006 Private Equity, EBRD Transition Report 2006 Francesca Cornelli Article
• 2006 Investor Sentiment and Pre-IPOs Markets, The Journal of Finance Francesca Cornelli, David Goldreich, Alexander Ljungqvist Article
• 2003 Stage Financing and the Role of Convertible Securities, The Review of Economic Studies Francesca Cornelli, Oved Yosha Article
• 2003 Bookbuilding: How Informative is the Order Book?, The Journal of Finance Francesca Cornelli, David Goldreich Article
• 2002 Risk Arbitage in Takeovers, The Review of Financial Studies Francesca Cornelli, David D. Li Article
• 2001 Book-building and Strategic Allocation, The Journal of Finance Francesca Cornelli, D. Goldreich Article
• 1999 Patents Renewals and R&D Incentives, RAND Journal of Economics Francesca Cornelli, Mark Schankerman Article
• 1998 The Capital Structure of Firms in Central and Eastern Europe Francesca Cornelli, Richard Portes, Mark Schaffer Book Chapter
• 1997 Large Shareholders, Control Benefits and Optimal Schemes for Privatization, RAND Journal of Economics Francesca Cornelli, David D. Li Article
• 1997 Ex-ante Efficiency of Bankruptcy Procedures, European Economic Review Francesca Cornelli, L. Felli Article
• 1996 Optimal Selling Procedures with Fixed Costs, Journal of Economic Theory Francesca Cornelli

Academic Positions

• Deputy Dean (Programmes), London Business School, 2018-2019
• Director of Private Equity, London Business School, 2009-2019
• Professor, Finance, London Business School, 2000-2019
• Visiting Professor, ISB, Hyderabad, 2006-2006
• Associate Professor, Finance, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 2000-2001
• Assistant Professor, Finance, London Business School, 1994-2000
• Visiting Assistant Professor, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1999-2000
• Visiting Assistant Professor, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1997-1998
• Visiting Professor, New Economic School, Moscow, Russia, 1994-1994
• Lecturer, Economics, The London School of Economics & Political Science, 1992-1994