Joshua Coval

Joshua Coval, Professor of Business Administration in the Finance Area, joined HBS in July 2001. Prior to joining HBS, Joshua was an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Michigan Business School where he was on the faculty since 1996.

Joshua's research focuses on the efficiency of security prices and examination of rational and behavioral sources of mispricing. His current research investigates the structured finance market and how investor reliance on ratings and unsound pricing models led to the spectacular rise and collapse thereof. His research has been published in the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Business, and the Journal of Corporate Finance. His research awards include the 2000 and 2005 Smith-Breeden Prize for the best paper in the Journal of Finance. His research has been featured in The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Time, Money Magazine, and The Financial Times.

Joshua received his B.A. and M.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1992 and his Ph.D. in Business Economics from the Anderson School at UCLA in 1996.

AREAS OF INTEREST

• behavioral finance
• capital markets
• credit products
• financial intermediaries
• investment management

BOOKS

• Click, Reid W., and Joshua D. Coval. The Theory and Practice of International Financial Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

• Cohen, Lauren, Joshua D. Coval, and Christopher J. Malloy. "Reply: Do Powerful Politicians Really Cause Corporate Downsizing?" Journal of Political Economy 125, no. 6 (December 2017): 2232–2237.
• Cohen, Lauren, Joshua Coval, and Christopher J. Malloy. "Do Powerful Politicians Cause Corporate Downsizing?" Journal of Political Economy 119, no. 6 (December 2011): 1015–1060. (Click here (pdf) for a response to Snyder and Welch, click here for the data, and click here for the code.)
• Coval, Joshua D., Jakub W. Jurek, and Erik Stafford. "The Economics of Structured Finance." (pdf) Journal of Economic Perspectives 23, no. 1 (Winter 2009): 3–25.
• Coval, Joshua D., Jakub W. Jurek, and Erik Stafford. "Economic Catastrophe Bonds." (pdf) American Economic Review 99, no. 3 (June 2009).
• Coval, Joshua, and Erik Stafford. "Asset Fire Sales (and Purchases) in Equity Markets." (pdf) Journal of Financial Economics 86, no. 2 (November 2007).
• Baker, Malcolm, Joshua Coval, and Jeremy Stein. "Corporate Financing Decisions When Investors Take the Path of Least Resistance." (pdf) Journal of Financial Economics 84, no. 2 (May 2007): 266–298.
• Cohen, Randolph B., Joshua Coval, and Lubos Pastor. "Judging Fund Managers by the Company They Keep." (pdf) Journal of Finance 60, no. 3 (June 2005).
• Coval, Joshua D., and Anjan Thakor. "Financial Intermediation As a Beliefs-Bridge between Optimists and Pessimists." (pdf) Journal of Financial Economics 75, no. 3 (March 2005).
• Coval, Joshua D., and Tyler Shumway. "Do Behavioral Biases Affect Prices?" (pdf) Journal of Finance 60, no. 1 (February 2005): 1–34. (Winner of Smith Breeden Prize. Best Paper For the best finance research paper published in the Journal of Finance presented by Smith Breeden Associates, Inc.​)
• Amin, Kaushik, Joshua D. Coval, and H. Nejat Seyhun. "Demand for Portfolio Insurance and Index Option Prices (pdf)." Journal of Business 77, no. 4 (October 2004).
• Cao, H. Henry, Joshua D. Coval, and David Hirshleifer. "Sidelined Investors, Trading-Generated News, and Security Returns." (pdf) Review of Financial Studies 15, no. 2 (Summer 2002).
• Coval, Joshua D., and Tyler Shumway. "Is Sound Just Noise?" Journal of Finance 56, no. 5 (October 2001).
• Coval, Joshua D., and Tobias J. Moskowitz. "The Geography of Investment: Informed Trading and Asset Prices (pdf)." Journal of Political Economy 109, no. 4 (August 2001).
• Coval, Joshua D., and Tyler Shumway. "Expected Option Returns." (pdf) Journal of Finance 56, no. 3 (June 2001).
• Coval, Joshua D., and Tobias J. Moskowitz. "Home Bias at Home: Local Equity Preference in Domestic Portfolios." (pdf) Journal of Finance 54, no. 6 (December 1999). (Winner of Smith Breeden Prize. Best Paper For the best finance research paper published in the Journal of Finance presented by Smith Breeden Associates, Inc.​)
• Chowdhry, Bhagwan, and Joshua D. Coval. "Internal Financing of Multinational Subsidiaries: Debt vs. Equity (pdf)." Journal of Corporate Finance 4, no. 1 (March 1998).

AWARDS & HONORS

• Winner of the 2005 Smith Breeden Prize for Best Paper in the Journal of Finance for "Do Behavioral Biases Affect Prices?" (with Tyler Shumway, February 2005).
• Winner of the 2000 Smith Breeden Prize for the best paper in the Journal of Finance for "Home Bias at Home: Local Equity Preference in Domestic Portfolios" (with Tobias J. Moskowitz, December 1999).