Download CV Nov 2011

Curriculum Vitae, November 2011
BUNYAMIN “BEN” ONAL
Department of Finance, Suite 1229
Robinson College of Business
Georgia State University
35 Broad Street, Atlanta, GA, 30303
Cell: (786) 281-4927
Office: (404) 413-7318
Fax: (404) 413-7312
Email: [email protected]
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Finance, Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA, Expected May, 2012
A.B.D., Economics, Florida International University, Miami, USA, May, 2007
B.Sc., Economics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, January, 2004
AREAS OF INTEREST
• Research: Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance
• Teaching: Corporate Finance, Investments, Financial Markets and Institutions
RESEARCH
To Delegate or Not to Delegate to Stock Markets? The Case of Boards with Related Industry Expertise (Job
Market Paper) – Under review, Journal of Finance
I examine the extent to which boards with expertise in the firm’s related industries, i.e., downstream (customer) or
upstream (supplier) industries, delegate their monitoring and advisory functions to stock markets. Directors from related
industries (DRIs) are argued to acquire information about product markets more readily. This, in turn, is predicted to
alleviate the need for stock-based incentives particularly for firms with greater dependence on product markets and those
with less informative stock prices. The evidence documented in this paper is largely consistent with these predictions. A
number of additional tests suggest that this evidence is not likely to be explained by the potential conflict of interests
between the firm’s stockholders and DRIs. Hence, I conclude that boards with related industry expertise delegate to stock
markets to an optimally lesser extent due to their informational advantages.
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Seminar Series, Georgia State University, 2011 (scheduled)
Board Expertise: Do Directors from Related Industries Help Bridge the Information Gap?, with Nishant Dass,
Omesh Kini, Vikram Nanda, and Jun Wang – Under review, Review of Financial Studies
In this paper, we investigate the importance of board expertise by analyzing the role of “directors from related industries”
(DRIs) on a firm’s board. DRIs are officers and/or directors of companies in the upstream (supplier) or downstream
(customer) industries of the firm. About 40% of firm-years in our sample have at least one DRI. We propose and test
information, market structure, and agency hypotheses about when DRIs are likely to add value. Consistent with the
information hypothesis, DRIs are present when the information gap is more severe, such as in innovative firms/industries
and in firms with less informative stock prices. Consistent with the market structure hypothesis, DRIs are also more likely
in firms with larger market share and in more concentrated or vertically integrated industries. After correcting for
endogeneity, DRIs have an economically significant impact on firm value and performance – especially when information
problems are worse and boards have relatively greater power to monitor managers. Hence, a possible explanation for DRIs
not being sought more widely is managerial resistance to monitoring by a better informed board. Finally, DRIs appear to
enhance the ability of firms to handle negative industry shocks, suggesting that they narrow the information gap.
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23rd Australasian Finance and Banking Conference, 2010
Summer Research Conference in Finance, Centre for Analytical Finance, Indian School of Business, 2011
Seminar Series, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010
Seminar Series, University of Georgia, 2010
Seminar Series, Tulane University, 2010
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Curriculum Vitae, November 2011
The Influence of Directors from Related Industries in Shaping Firm Policies, with Nishant Dass, Omesh Kini,
and Vikram Nanda
We investigate how “directors from upstream (supplier) or downstream (customer) industries” (DRIs) on a firm’s board
help shape corporate policies. The literature has argued that directors can enhance firm value and has roughly ascribed this
to their monitoring and advising roles. While the directors’ role in monitoring the management is well understood, the
precise impact of their advice on corporate policies is less clear. We fill this gap in the literature by analyzing the impact of
DRIs on specific corporate policies. We find that firms that have DRIs tend to have: (1) shorter cash-conversion cycles, (2)
lower inventory, (3) lower accounts receivable and, (4) higher accounts payable. We also find that firms with DRIs are less
financially constrained, as measured by their cash-to-cash flow and investment-to-cash flow sensitivities. Further,
investment responds less to stock prices (measured by Tobin’s Q) in firms with DRIs when the stock prices are not very
informative – suggesting that DRIs act as alternative conduits of information. In a similar vein, we find that firms with
DRIs utilize their production factors more efficiently (as measured by labor and total factor productivity) – signifying that
the industry expertise of DRIs helps the firm better anticipate industry conditions and trends.
What Drives Cross-Border Bids between Countries of Different Level of Development?
This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the economic incentives in cross-border bids between developing and
developed countries. The participation of developing-country firms in cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) activity,
particularly in developed markets, has recently been on sharp rise, making them important actors in the global arena. I run
a horse race between the agency, resource-based and investor protection hypotheses on cross-border bids to detect the
incentives of these new global bidders in developed markets. I also study the incentives of developed-country bidders in
developing nations. In general, I find that the incentives of developed- and developing-country bidders differ substantially.
Consistent with the resource-based hypothesis, developing-country bidders offer a significantly higher premium to
vertically-related developed-country targets than what they offer to developing-country targets. The free cash flow theory
is not likely to explain the behavior of developing-country bidders. Developed-country bidders, on the other hand, seem to
be motivated by potential gains from improving shareholder protection in developing markets. Finally, bidders from both
developing and developed countries that target firms in their primary sector tend to avoid (or offer a lower premium to)
those in developed countries. This can be due to the presumably harsher competition in developed markets.
• Seminar Series, Georgia State University, 2008
• Financial Management Association Meetings, Reno, NV, 2009
Work in Progress
CEO Incentives Following Acquisitions in Related and Unrelated Industries
Board Expertise and Productivity of R&D Activities, with Nishant Dass, Omesh Kini, and Vikram Nanda
Market for Corporate Control and Outside Opportunities of Target Executives, with Harley E. Ryan
How do Index Additions and Deletions Affect Firm Policies? with Lixin Huang and Omesh Kini
SEMINARS/CONFERENCES
• Presenter and Discussant, Financial Management Association Meetings, Reno, NV, 2009
• Presenter, Georgia State University Seminar Series, 2008 and 2011 (scheduled)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
• Temporary Instructor ,Georgia State University, 2011 – Present
Courses taught: Advanced Corporate Finance (FI 4300) and Corporation Finance (FI 3300)
• Graduate Teaching Assistant, Georgia State University, 2010 – 2011
Courses taught: Corporation Finance (FI 3300)
• Instructor, Florida International University, 2006 – 2007
Courses taught: Principles of Microeconomics
• Teaching Assistant, Florida International University, 2004 – 2006
• Math and Statistics Tutor, Florida International University, 2006
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Curriculum Vitae, November 2011
HONORS/AWARDS
• Travel Grant for the Third Paris Spring Corporate Finance Conference, Université Paris-Dauphine and
Georgia State University, Summer 2011
• Teaching Excellence Award, Georgia State University, Spring 2011
• Temporary Instructorship, Georgia State University, Spring 2011 – Present
• Stephen D. Smith Doctoral Research Grant, Summer 2010
• Clyde Kitchens/Thoben Elrod/Delta Sigma Pi Doctoral Fellowship, Fall 2010
• Travel Grant for the Financial Management Association Meetings in Reno, Georgia State University, Fall
2009
• Max Burns Fellowship, Georgia State University, Fall 2007 – Present
• Graduate Assistantship, Florida International University, Fall 2004 – Spring 2007
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
• American Finance Association
• Financial Management Association
COMPUTER SKILLS
• Statistical: Stata, SAS, Matlab
• Databases: Compustat, CRSP, SDC Platinum, ExecuComp, BEA Input/Output Tables, CDA/Spectrum,
I/B/E/S, RiskMetrics (formerly IRRC)
PERSONAL DETAILS
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Languages: English (Fluent), Turkish (Native), Kurdish (Mother Tongue)
Date of Birth: May 1, 1982
Citizenship: Turkey
US Visa Status: F-1
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES/HOBBIES
Soccer, Basketball, Cooking, History Books, Music, Folk Dances, Turkish Student Association at GSU (as Vice
President), and International Student Association Council (ISAC) at GSU
REFERENCES:
Omesh Kini (Dissertation Chair)
Professor of Global Markets and
Professor of Finance
Georgia State University
Phone: (404) 413-7343
Email: [email protected]
Mark A. Chen
Associate Professor of Finance
Georgia State University
Phone: (404) 413-7339
Email: [email protected]
Nishant Dass
Assistant Professor of Finance
Georgia Institute of Technology
Phone: (404) 894-5109
Email: [email protected]
Vikram K. Nanda
Professor of Finance and Chair in Finance
Georgia Institute of Technology
Phone: (404) 385-8156
Email: [email protected]
Harley (Chip) E. Ryan
SunTrust Professor of Capital Markets and
Associate Professor of Finance
Georgia State University
Phone: (404) 413-7337
Email: [email protected]
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