Department of Finance

Job Market Candidates

Below you will find current and former Job Market Candidates. The Job Market Candidates in 2023/2024 are Kristoffer Halskov and Donghyun Kang.

JOB MARKET CANDIDATES 2023/2024
	Kristoffer Halskov Personal website CV Areas of Interest: Empirical Asset Pricing, Machine Learning, Climate Finance, Power Markets Job Market Paper: A Deep Structural Model for Empirical Asset Pricing This paper proposes a new type of modelling framework that use machine learning techniques to estimate the parameters of structural models: Deep Structural Models (DSMs). I implement a DSM with a simple Merton (1974) model as a foundation, and show that the DSM jointly estimates expected equity returns and (co)variances with higher predictive power than leading benchmark models. I form long-short and mean variance efficient portfolios with significantly higher average excess returns, alphas, and Sharpe ratios, compared to those formed on the basis of a state-of-the-art machine learning model. Economically, the DSM suggests that systematic risk compensation is the largest contributor to the average expected equity return of firms, while mispricing is the primary driver of the dispersion of expected returns. Finally, the DSM provides evidence that firm leverage is the main reason for an increased equity premium during economic recessions.
	Donghyun Kang Personal website CV Areas of Interest: Empirical Corporate Finance, Bankruptcy and Financial Distress Job Market Paper: Wealth Protection in Bankruptcy and Serial Entrepreneurship I study whether wealth protection in personal bankruptcy provides a second chance to failed entrepreneurs. I exploit windfall wealth from inheritances to proxy for exogenous variation in personalwealth after bankruptcy. Windfallwealth increases reentry to business only among entrepreneurs who did not experience severe losses in personal income or wealth before bankruptcy. Those who respond to windfall wealth by starting new businesses have lower profits, indicating their lower entrepreneurial quality. Overall, the findings suggest that bankruptcy policies increasing wealth protection can promote serial entrepreneurship, but their effectiveness is limited by low entrepreneurial quality and personal experience of severe losses.

JOB MARKET CANDIDATES 2023/2024

Kristoffer Halskov

Personal website
CV

Areas of Interest: Empirical Asset Pricing, Machine Learning, Climate Finance, Power Markets

Job Market Paper: A Deep Structural Model for Empirical Asset Pricing

This paper proposes a new type of modelling framework that use machine learning techniques to estimate the parameters of structural models: Deep Structural Models (DSMs). I implement a DSM with a simple Merton (1974) model as a foundation, and show that the DSM jointly estimates expected equity returns and (co)variances with higher predictive power than leading benchmark models. I form long-short and mean variance efficient portfolios with significantly higher average excess returns, alphas, and Sharpe ratios, compared to those formed on the basis of a state-of-the-art machine learning model. Economically, the DSM suggests that systematic risk compensation is the largest contributor to the average expected equity return of firms, while mispricing is the primary driver of the dispersion of expected returns. Finally, the DSM provides evidence that firm leverage is the main reason for an increased equity premium during economic recessions.

Donghyun Kang

Personal website
CV

Areas of Interest: Empirical Corporate Finance, Bankruptcy and Financial Distress

Job Market Paper: Wealth Protection in Bankruptcy and Serial Entrepreneurship

I study whether wealth protection in personal bankruptcy provides a second chance to
failed entrepreneurs. I exploit windfall wealth from inheritances to proxy for exogenous variation in personalwealth after bankruptcy. Windfallwealth increases reentry to business only among entrepreneurs who did not experience severe losses in personal income or wealth before bankruptcy. Those who respond to windfall wealth by starting new businesses have lower profits, indicating their lower entrepreneurial quality. Overall, the findings suggest that bankruptcy policies increasing wealth protection can promote serial entrepreneurship, but their effectiveness is limited by low entrepreneurial quality and personal experience of severe losses.

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The page was last edited by: Department of Finance // 11/15/2023