
Dirk Hackbarth
Professor, Finance
Dirk Hackbarth is currently a Professor of Finance at the Boston University Questrom School of Business. He holds a PhD and MS in Finance from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE); and a Diplom in Business Economics from the University of Cologne. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in corporate finance. Dirk is a distinguished scholar in corporate finance. His research focuses on bankruptcy, capital structure, corporate governance, law and finance, mergers and acquisitions, product markets, real options, and valuation.
He has given more than 150 invited talks at many top-tier conferences, such as the annual meetings of the American, European, and Western Finance Associations, and at many premier research universities in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. His work has been published in internationally leading journals, including Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Management Science, Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Review of Economic Studies, Review of Finance, and Review of Financial Studies, and it has also received conference and publication awards.
Previous appointments include, for example, the May Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor of Finance (tenured in 2008), College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Everett Lord Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Boston University, as well as visits at Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE), Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Goethe University Frankfurt , Gutmann Center at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), London Business School (LBS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH).
Education
PhD, Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, 2003
MS, Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, 2000
MS, London School of Economics, 1998
Diploma, University of Cologne, 1997
Publications
Hackbarth, D., Sun, D. (2024). “Corporate Investment and Financing Dynamics”, Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 13 (3), 625-667
Chen, Z., Hackbarth, D., Strebulaev, I. (2022). “A unified model of distress risk puzzles”, Journal of Financial Economics, 146 (2), 357-384
Hackbarth, D., Rivera, A., Wong, T. (2022). “Optimal Short-Termism”, Management Science, 68 (9), 6477-6505
Hackbarth, D., Taub, B. (2022). “Does the Potential to Merge Reduce Competition?”, Management Science, 68 (7), 5364-5383
Choi, J., Hackbarth, D., Zechner, J. (2021). “Granularity of Corporate Debt”, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 56 (4), 1127-1162
Fulghieri, P., García, D., Hackbarth, D. (2020). “Asymmetric Information and the Pecking (Dis)Order*”, Review of Finance, 24 (5), 961-996
Chen, H., Hackbarth, D. (2020). “Active Sector Funds and Fund Manager Skill”, The Journal of Portfolio Management, 46 (8), 64-85
Leland, H., Hackbarth, D. (2019). “Debt Maturity and the Leverage Ratcheting Effect”, Finance, Vol. 40 (3), 13-44
Choi, J., Hackbarth, D., Zechner, J. (2018). “Corporate debt maturity profiles”, Journal of Financial Economics, 130 (3), 484-502
Hackbarth, D., Zhou, B. (2018). “Examining The Role Of Market Price In Appraisal (Part 1 & Part 2)”, Law360
Hackbarth, D., Zhou, B. (2018). “Effects of New Tax Law on Capital Structure and Cost of Capital”, Tax Notes, 158 (11), 1523-1528
Arnold, M., Hackbarth, D., Puhan, T. (2018). “Financing Asset Sales and Business Cycles”, Review of Finance, 22 (1), 243-277
Gu, L., Hackbarth, D., Johnson, T. (2018). “Inflexibility and Stock Returns”, The Review of Financial Studies, 31 (1), 278-321
Fahlenbrach, R., Hackbarth, D., Rocholl, J., Theissen, E., Uhrig-Homburg, M. (2017). “The Future of Corporate Financing in Europe”, Schmalenbach Business Review, 18 (3), 179-180
Hackbarth, D., Johnson, T. (2015). “Real Options and Risk Dynamics”, Review of Economic Studies, 82 (4), 1449-1482
Hackbarth, D., Haselmann, R., Schoenherr, D. (2015). “Financial Distress, Stock Returns, and the 1978 Bankruptcy Reform Act”, Review of Financial Studies, 28 (6), 1810-1847
Goldstein, I., Hackbarth, D. (2014). “Corporate finance theory: Introduction to special issue”, Journal of Corporate Finance, 29 535-541
Hackbarth, D., Mathews, R., Robinson, D. (2014). “Capital Structure, Product Market Dynamics, and the Boundaries of the Firm”, Management Science, 60 (12), 2971-2993
Gu, L., Hackbarth, D. (2013). “Governance and Equity Prices: Does Transparency Matter?”, Review of Finance, 17 (6), 1989-2033
Campello, M., Hackbarth, D. (2012). “The firm-level credit multiplier”, Journal of Financial Intermediation, 21 (3), 446-472
Hackbarth, D., Miao, J. (2012). “The dynamics of mergers and acquisitions in oligopolistic industries”, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 36 (4), 585-609
Hackbarth, D., Mauer, D. (2012). “Optimal Priority Structure, Capital Structure, and Investment”, Review of Financial Studies, 25 (3), 747-796
Almeida, H., Campello, M., Hackbarth, D. (2011). “Liquidity mergers”, Journal of Financial Economics, 102 (3), 526-558
Hackbarth, D., Gider, J. (2010). Financing Decisions.”Behavioral Finance: Investors, Corporations, and Markets”, John Wiley & Sons
Guentay, L., Hackbarth, D. (2010). “Corporate bond credit spreads and forecast dispersion”, Journal of Banking and Finance, 34 (10), 2328-2345
Hackbarth, D. (2009). “Determinants of corporate borrowing: A behavioral perspective”, Journal of Corporate Finance, 15 (4), 389-411
Hackbarth, D. (2008). “Managerial Traits and Capital Structure Decisions”, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 43 (4), 843-881
Hackbarth, D., Morellec, E. (2008). “Stock returns in mergers and acquisitions”, Journal of Finance, 63 (3), 1213-1252
Hackbarth, D., Hennessy, C., Leland, H. (2007). “Can the trade-off theory explain debt structure?”, Review of Financial Studies, 20 (5), 1389-1428
Hackbarth, D., Miao, J., Morellec, E. (2006). “Capital structure, credit risk, and macroeconomic conditions”, Journal of Financial Economics, 82 (3), 519-550