Raghavendra Rau

Professor Rau is the Sir Evelyn de Rothschild Professor of Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School. He is also a past president of the European Finance Association, and a past editor of Financial Management. He is a founder and director of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) and a member of the Cambridge Corporate Governance Network (CCGN).

Professional experience

Professor Rau was Principal at Barclays Global Investors, then the largest asset manager in the world, in San Francisco from 2008-2009. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Corporate Finance, the Journal of Banking and Finance, Financial Review, the Quarterly Journal of Finance, among others. His research has frequently been covered by the popular press including the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Economist, among others.

Previous appointments

Professor Rau has taught at a number of universities around the world, including the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences PO), Université Paris-Dauphine, Purdue University, the University of California at Los Angeles and most recently, the University of California at Berkeley.

Awards & honours

• Cambridge Judge Business School Teaching Award, 2022
• FMA Competitive Paper in Corporate Finance Award for the paper “Do compensation consultants enable higher CEO pay? New evidence from recent disclosure rule changes”, 2015
• Ig Nobel Prize in Management for the paper “What doesn’t kill you will only make you more risk-loving: early life disasters and CEO behavior”, 2015
• International Finance & Banking Society best paper in conference award for the paper “What doesn’t kill you will only make you more risk-loving: early life disasters and CEO behavior”, 2015
• Keynes Senior Fellowship, 2014
• Club 7 Member, Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley (for teaching excellence, based on student evaluations), 2009, 2010, 2018
• The Chinese Finance Association Best Paper in Corporate Finance Award, 2008
• Runner-Up, Salgo-Noren Teaching Award for Outstanding MBA Teacher of the Year, Purdue University, 2007
• Dean’s Outstanding MBA Core Course Teaching Award, Purdue University, 2005, 2007
• Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance (Q Group) Award, 2003
• Chicago Quantitative Alliance Award, 2002
• School of Management Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award, Purdue University, 2001
• John and Mary Willis Young Faculty Scholar Award, 2001
• EFA Barclays Global Investor Award, 2000
• Krannert Faculty Fellow Award, 1999
• FMA “Best of the Best” Award, 1996
• FMA Competitive Award for Business Finance, 1996
• Indian Institute of Management Merit Scholarship, 1988
• Delhi University Merit Scholarship, 1987
• National Talent Merit Scholar, India, 1982

Selected publications

Cheung, Y., Rau, P.R. and Stouraitis, A. (2021) “What determines the return to bribery? Evidence from corruption cases worldwide.” Management Science, 67(10): 6235-6265 (available online via the SSRN)

Dai, Y., Rau, P.R., Stouraitis, A. and Tan, W. (2020) “An ill wind? Terrorist attacks and CEO compensation.” Journal of Financial Economics, 135(2): 379-398

Chu, J., Faasse, J. and Rau, P.R. (2018) “Do compensation consultants enable higher CEO pay? A disclosure rule change as a separating device.” Management Science, 64(10): 4915-4935

Bernile, G., Bhagwat, V. and Rau, P.R. (2017) “What doesn’t kill you will only make you more risk-loving: early-life disasters and CEO behavior.” Journal of Finance, 72(1): 167–206

Mola, S., Rau, P.R. and Khorana, A. (2013) “Is there life after the complete loss of analyst coverage?” The Accounting Review, 88(2): 667-705

Rau, P.R. and Xu, J. (2013) “How do ex ante severance pay contracts fit into optimal executive incentive schemes?” Journal of Accounting Research, 51(3): 631-671