Laurent Frésard

Laurent Frésard is Professor of Finance at the Università della Svizzera italiana. Previously, Professor Frésard was a member of the faculties at HEC Paris and the University of Maryland. His papers have been published in leading academic journals and he has received a number of grants and awards.

Expertise

Professor Frésard is currently studying how the emergence of big data and advanced analytics affects the functioning of financial markets and firms' decisions. In recent work, he shows that the abundance of alternative data in the financial sector (e.g., social media or satellite images) can lower the informativeness of financial forecasting, especially the quality of long-term forecasts. These results indicate that data abundance in finance may create important distortions, and hence that the associated costs and benefits should be studied carefully— insights that should be of interest to financial institutions and investors. Professor Frésard actively participates in SFI Knowledge Exchange activities that focus on data and technology in finance.

Expertise Fields

Financial Markets

• Financial Forecasting
• Information and Market Efficiency
• International Financial Markets and Emerging Markets

Financial Institutions

• Institutional Investors and Funds
• Pension Funds

Corporate Finance and Governance

• Bankruptcy and Liquidation
• Capital Budgeting and Investment Policy
• Corporate Governance and Managerial Compensation
• Financial Risk and Risk Management
• Financial Valuation
• Financing Policy and Capital Structure
• Mergers and Acquisitions

Frontier Topics

• Big Data and Fintech
• Sustainable Finance

Education

• PhD Université de Neuchâtel (2004 — 2009)
• MA HEC Lausanne - The Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne (2003 — 2004)
• BA Université de Neuchâtel (1999 — 2003)

Publications

• Rapidly Evolving Technologies and Startup Exits (with D. Bowen and G. Hoberg)
  Management Science (forthcoming)

• Industry Asset Revaluations around Public and Private Acquisitions (with F. Derrien, V.Slabik, and P. Valta)
  Journal of Financial Economics (forthcoming)

• Does Firm Investment Respond to Peers' Investment? (with C. Bustamante)
  Management Science (forthcoming)

• Innovation Activities and Integration through Vertical Acquisitions (with G. Hoberg and G. Phillips)
  Review of Financial Studies (forthcoming)
  Oliver Williamson Award for best paper at the 2015 ISNIE Conference
  (Internet Appendix)
  Fresard-Hoberg-Phillips vertical Relatedness Data Library

• Noisy Stock Prices and Corporate Investment (with O. Dessaint, T. Foucault, and A. Matray)
  Review of Financial Studies (2019) 32, 2625-2672
  VOXEU column

• Corporate Strategy, Conformism, and the Stock Market (with T. Foucault)
  Review of Financial Studies (2019) 32, 905-950
  (Internet Appendix)
  VOXEU column

• Extending Industry Specialization through Cross-Border Acquisitions (with U. Hege and G. Phillips)
  Review of Financial Studies (2017) 30, 1539-1582

• What's your Identification Strategy? Innovation in Corporate Finance Research (with D. Bowen and J. Taillard)
  Management Science (2017) 63, 2529-2548
  GitHub repo

• How does Corporate Investment Respond to Increased Entry Threats? (with P. Valta)
  Review of Corporate Finance Studies, (2016) 5, 1-35 (Editor's Choice)
  Tariff data for manufacturing industries (SIC4) - 1974-2005 (zipped file)

• Learning from Peers' Stock Prices and Corporate Investment (with T. Foucault)
  Journal of Financial Economics, (2014) 111, 554-577

• Regulating Conflicts of Interest: The effects of Sanctions and Enforcement (with M. Dubois and P. Dumontier)
  Review of Finance (2014) 18, 489-526
  EFA/RoF Digest

• Cross-Listing, Investment Sensitivity to Stock Price and the Learning Hypothesis (with T. Foucault)
  Review of Financial Studies (2012) 25, 3305-3350

• The Pernicious Effect of Contaminated Data in Risk Management (with C. Perignon and A. Wilhilmsson)
  Journal of Banking and Finance (2011) 35, 2569-2584

• Cash Savings and Stock Price Informativeness
  Review of Finance (2012) 16, 985-1012

• The Value of Excess Cash and Corporate Governance: Evidence from U.S. Cross-Listings (with C. Salva)
  Journal of Financial Economics (2010) 98, 359-384

• Financial Strength and Product Market Behavior: The Real Effects of Corporate Cash Holdings
  Journal of Finance (2010) 65, 1097-1122

Working Papers

• Does Alternative Data Improves Financial Forecasting? The Horizon Effect (with O. Dessaint and T. Foucault)

• Knowledge Cycles and Corporate Investment (with C. Bustamante and J. Cujean)

• Finance, Talent Allocation, and Growth (with F. D'Acunto)
  Internation Banker's article