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Elisabeth Kempf

Elisabeth Kempf

Jaime and Raquel Gilinski Associate Professor of Business Administration

Jaime and Raquel Gilinski Associate Professor of Business Administration

Elisabeth Kempf is an Associate Professor in the Finance Unit, teaching Finance 1 to MBA students. She is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR).

Professor Kempf’s research interests lie at the intersection of political economy and empirical corporate finance. Her work has explored the role of political partisanship and polarization in finance, conflicts of interest in information production, as well as issues related to corporate governance. Her research has been cited in Bloomberg, CNBC, New York Times, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Monetary Economics, and Management Science.

Prior to joining Harvard Business School, Professor Kempf spent six years as a faculty member at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She holds a Ph.D. in finance from Tilburg University (Netherlands), an M.Sc. in finance from HEC Paris (France), and a B.Sc. in business administration from the University of Mannheim (Germany). Prior to her Ph.D. studies, Professor Kempf worked as an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

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Elisabeth Kempf is an Associate Professor in the Finance Unit, teaching Finance 1 to MBA students. She is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR).

Professor Kempf’s research interests lie at the intersection of political economy and empirical corporate finance. Her work has explored the role of political partisanship and polarization in finance, conflicts of interest in information production, as well as issues related to corporate governance. Her research has been cited in Bloomberg, CNBC, New York Times, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Monetary Economics, and Management Science.

Prior to joining Harvard Business School, Professor Kempf spent six years as a faculty member at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She holds a Ph.D. in finance from Tilburg University (Netherlands), an M.Sc. in finance from HEC Paris (France), and a B.Sc. in business administration from the University of Mannheim (Germany). Prior to her Ph.D. studies, Professor Kempf worked as an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

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Elisabeth Kempf
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Publications Awards & Honors

Journal Articles
Journal Articles

  • Kempf, Elisabeth, Mancy Luo, Larissa Schäfer, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "Political Ideology and International Capital Allocation." Journal of Financial Economics 148, no. 2 (May 2023): 150–173. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth, and Oliver Spalt. "Attracting the Sharks: Corporate Innovation and Securities Class Action Lawsuits." Management Science 69, no. 3 (March 2023): 1323–1934. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "Partisan Professionals: Evidence from Credit Rating Analysts." Journal of Finance 76, no. 6 (December 2021): 2805–2856. View Details
  • Fabo, Brian, Marina Jančoková, Elisabeth Kempf, and Ľuboš Pástor. "Fifty Shades of QE: Comparing Findings of Central Bankers and Academics." Journal of Monetary Economics 120 (May 2021): 1–20. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth. "The Job Rating Game: Revolving Doors and Analyst Incentives." Journal of Financial Economics 135, no. 1 (January 2020): 41–67. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth, Alberto Manconi, and Oliver Spalt. "Distracted Shareholders and Corporate Actions." Review of Financial Studies 30, no. 5 (May 2017): 1660–1695. View Details

Working Papers
Working Papers

  • Fos, Vyacheslav, Elisabeth Kempf, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "The Political Polarization of Corporate America." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-003, July 2022. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth, Alberto Manconi, and Oliver Spalt. "Learning by Doing: The Value of Experience and the Origins of Skill for Mutual Fund Managers." SSRN Working Paper Series, No. 2124896, May 2017. View Details
All Publications

Elisabeth Kempf is an Associate Professor in the Finance Unit, teaching Finance 1 to MBA students. She is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR).

Professor Kempf’s research interests lie at the intersection of political economy and empirical corporate finance. Her work has explored the role of political partisanship and polarization in finance, conflicts of interest in information production, as well as issues related to corporate governance. Her research has been cited in Bloomberg, CNBC, New York Times, The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Monetary Economics, and Management Science.

Prior to joining Harvard Business School, Professor Kempf spent six years as a faculty member at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She holds a Ph.D. in finance from Tilburg University (Netherlands), an M.Sc. in finance from HEC Paris (France), and a B.Sc. in business administration from the University of Mannheim (Germany). Prior to her Ph.D. studies, Professor Kempf worked as an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

Journal Articles
  • Kempf, Elisabeth, Mancy Luo, Larissa Schäfer, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "Political Ideology and International Capital Allocation." Journal of Financial Economics 148, no. 2 (May 2023): 150–173. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth, and Oliver Spalt. "Attracting the Sharks: Corporate Innovation and Securities Class Action Lawsuits." Management Science 69, no. 3 (March 2023): 1323–1934. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "Partisan Professionals: Evidence from Credit Rating Analysts." Journal of Finance 76, no. 6 (December 2021): 2805–2856. View Details
  • Fabo, Brian, Marina Jančoková, Elisabeth Kempf, and Ľuboš Pástor. "Fifty Shades of QE: Comparing Findings of Central Bankers and Academics." Journal of Monetary Economics 120 (May 2021): 1–20. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth. "The Job Rating Game: Revolving Doors and Analyst Incentives." Journal of Financial Economics 135, no. 1 (January 2020): 41–67. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth, Alberto Manconi, and Oliver Spalt. "Distracted Shareholders and Corporate Actions." Review of Financial Studies 30, no. 5 (May 2017): 1660–1695. View Details
Working Papers
  • Fos, Vyacheslav, Elisabeth Kempf, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "The Political Polarization of Corporate America." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-003, July 2022. View Details
  • Kempf, Elisabeth, Alberto Manconi, and Oliver Spalt. "Learning by Doing: The Value of Experience and the Origins of Skill for Mutual Fund Managers." SSRN Working Paper Series, No. 2124896, May 2017. View Details
Awards & Honors
Winner of the 2018 Best Paper Award at the Financial Research Association Annual Conference for “Partisan Professionals: Evidence from Credit Rating Analysts” with Margarita Tsoutsoura.
Awarded the 2017 J.C. Ruigrok Prize for the best economics dissertation in the Netherlands from the Royal Dutch Society for the Sciences for “Essays in Corporate Finance and Financial Intermediation” (Tilburg University, June 2016).
Awarded the 2017 KVS Medal for the best PhD thesis in economics in the Netherlands by the Royal Netherlands Economic Association for “Essays in Corporate Finance and Financial Intermediation” (Tilburg University, June 2016).
Winner of the 2016 Finanzforum Vordenken Young Innovator Award.
Winner of the AQR Top Finance Graduate Award in 2016.
Winner of the Cubist Systematic Strategies PhD Candidate Award for Outstanding Research from the Western Finance Association in 2016.
Winner of the 2016 Young Scholars Finance Consortium Best PhD Student Paper Award for “The Job Rating Game: The Effects of Revolving Doors on Analyst Incentives.”
Awarded Best EFA-DT Paper in 2016 by the European Finance Association Doctoral Tutorial for “The Job Rating Game: The Effects of Revolving Doors on Analyst Incentive.”
Additional Information
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Personal Website
In The News

In The News

    • 20 Sep 2022
    • HBS Working Knowledge

    How Partisan Politics Play Out in American Boardrooms

    • 25 Aug 2022
    • Bloomberg

    GOP Fury Over ESG Triggers Backlash With US Pensions at Risk

    • 15 Aug 2022
    • Harvard Gazette

    Top Business Execs More Polarized than Nation as Whole

    • 07 Jul 2022
    • Washington Post

    Companies Are Segregating Politically—and It’s Costing Them

    • 06 Jul 2022
    • Washington Post

    Top Business Executives Have Gotten Even More Republican, Study Finds

→More News for Elisabeth Kempf

Elisabeth Kempf In the News

In the News

20 Sep 2022
HBS Working Knowledge
How Partisan Politics Play Out in American Boardrooms

25 Aug 2022
Bloomberg
GOP Fury Over ESG Triggers Backlash With US Pensions at Risk

15 Aug 2022
Harvard Gazette
Top Business Execs More Polarized than Nation as Whole

07 Jul 2022
Washington Post
Companies Are Segregating Politically—and It’s Costing Them

06 Jul 2022
Washington Post
Top Business Executives Have Gotten Even More Republican, Study Finds

06 Jul 2022
University of Oxford
The Political Polarization of Corporate America

02 Jul 2022
Wall Street Journal
A Politically Bipartisan C-Suite May Benefit a Company’s Stock Price

01 Jul 2022
Bloomberg
Board Rooms Are Becoming More Politically Polarized

30 Jun 2022
New York Times
Reconsidering Privacy Risks After Roe

27 Jun 2022
MarketWatch
Corporate America Was Becoming More Partisan Even before Roe’s Reversal—and That’s ‘Likely Not in the Interest of Shareholders,’ Research Says

06 Oct 2020
VoxEU
Fifty Shades of QE: Central Bankers versus Academics

01 Oct 2020
Bloomberg
Central Bankers Inflate the Numbers on QE

29 Sep 2020
Wall Street Journal
Derby’s Take: New Research Says Central Bank View on Bond Buying Too Rosy

28 Sep 2020
Bloomberg
Central Bankers Finding Bigger QE Impact Saw Career Bump

22 Nov 2019
CNBC
Study Suggests That Political Views of Analysts Affect Market Calls

Additional Information
Curriculum Vitae
Personal Website

In The News

    • 20 Sep 2022
    • HBS Working Knowledge

    How Partisan Politics Play Out in American Boardrooms

    • 25 Aug 2022
    • Bloomberg

    GOP Fury Over ESG Triggers Backlash With US Pensions at Risk

    • 15 Aug 2022
    • Harvard Gazette

    Top Business Execs More Polarized than Nation as Whole

    • 07 Jul 2022
    • Washington Post

    Companies Are Segregating Politically—and It’s Costing Them

    • 06 Jul 2022
    • Washington Post

    Top Business Executives Have Gotten Even More Republican, Study Finds

→More News for Elisabeth Kempf

Elisabeth Kempf In the News

In the News

20 Sep 2022
HBS Working Knowledge
How Partisan Politics Play Out in American Boardrooms

25 Aug 2022
Bloomberg
GOP Fury Over ESG Triggers Backlash With US Pensions at Risk

15 Aug 2022
Harvard Gazette
Top Business Execs More Polarized than Nation as Whole

07 Jul 2022
Washington Post
Companies Are Segregating Politically—and It’s Costing Them

06 Jul 2022
Washington Post
Top Business Executives Have Gotten Even More Republican, Study Finds

06 Jul 2022
University of Oxford
The Political Polarization of Corporate America

02 Jul 2022
Wall Street Journal
A Politically Bipartisan C-Suite May Benefit a Company’s Stock Price

01 Jul 2022
Bloomberg
Board Rooms Are Becoming More Politically Polarized

30 Jun 2022
New York Times
Reconsidering Privacy Risks After Roe

27 Jun 2022
MarketWatch
Corporate America Was Becoming More Partisan Even before Roe’s Reversal—and That’s ‘Likely Not in the Interest of Shareholders,’ Research Says

06 Oct 2020
VoxEU
Fifty Shades of QE: Central Bankers versus Academics

01 Oct 2020
Bloomberg
Central Bankers Inflate the Numbers on QE

29 Sep 2020
Wall Street Journal
Derby’s Take: New Research Says Central Bank View on Bond Buying Too Rosy

28 Sep 2020
Bloomberg
Central Bankers Finding Bigger QE Impact Saw Career Bump

22 Nov 2019
CNBC
Study Suggests That Political Views of Analysts Affect Market Calls

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