Joao Gomes

Education

• PhD, University of Rochester, 1997; MA, University of Rochester, 1996; BS, Nova SBE, Portugal, 1991

Background

Professor Gomes has been at the Wharton School since 1997. His expertise lies at the intersection of macroeconomics and financial markets where he has taught several courses to undergraduate, MBA and doctoral students both at Wharton and around the world.

Professor Gomes' research covers the determinants of the corporate investment and financing decisions of firms, their connections to movements in financial markets, and with the macroeconomic environment. His most influential work has been on the role of financial leverage in determining the cost of capital, the causes of performance variation across asset classes, and the quantitative importance of financial market imperfections to corporate decisions and business cycles.

Professor Gomes’ research has won several awards including the Smith Breeden Prize for Best Asset Pricing Paper published in the Journal of Finance, with a study on the links between leverage and returns, and was nominated for the Brattle Prize for Best Corporate Finance Paper in the same journal, with earlier work on the performance of conglomerates.

Professor Gomes's previous appointments include a professorship at the London Business School as well as several visiting appoitments at other universities and research centers, including the University of British Columbia in Canada, Nova SBE in Portugal, and the U.S. Federal Reserve. Early in his career he has also served as an adhoc economic advisor to the Ministry of Industry of Portugal.

Awards and Honors

• Marshall Blume Prize for Excellence in Financial Research, 2018
• Western Finance Association Award for Best Paper in Investment Management, 2017
• Smith Breeden First Prize for Best Asset Pricing Paper Published in the Journal of Finance, 2010
• Crowell First Prize, Best Quantitative Work, PanAgora Asset Management, 2007
• Brattle Prize Nomination, Best Corporate Finance Paper Published in the Journal of Finance, 2004
• Kaplan Memorial Prize for excellent scholarship – University of Rochester, 1994
• Banco of Portugal Award, First Prize for Highest Undergraduate Average In Economics, 1991