Jonathan B. Berk

The A.P. Giannini Professor of Finance
I never provide investment advice over the internet or in chat groups. If somebody or some entity is claiming that I do, they are scamming you.
Academic Area:
Jonathan B. Berk

Bio

Jonathan Berk is The A.P. Giannini Professor of Finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business. His research covers a broad range of topics in finance, including delegated money management; the pricing of financial assets; valuing a firm’s growth potential; the capital structure decision; the interaction between labor markets and financial markets; impact investing and professional regulation . He has published articles in the American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, Journal of Political Economy, the Review of Financial Studies and other journals. His work is internationally recognized and has won numerous awards, including the Stephen A. Ross Price, TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award, the Smith Breeden Prize, Best Paper of the Year in the Review of Financial Studies, and the FAME Research Prize. His article, “A Critique of Size-Related Anomalies,” was selected as one of the two best papers ever published in the Review of Financial Studies, and was also honored as one of the 100 seminal papers published by Oxford University Press. In recognition of his influence on the practice of finance, he has received the Graham and Dodd Award of Excellence, the Roger F. Murray Prize, and the Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award. Professor Berk has also co-authored two finance textbooks: Corporate Finance and Fundamentals in Finance.

Professor Berk served as an associate editor of the Journal of Finance from 2000–2008, is currently an associate editor of the Journal of Portfolio Management, and is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has served on the board of directors of the American Finance Association and the Financial Management Association. He received his PhD in finance from Yale University. Before joining Stanford he was the Sylvan Coleman Professor of Finance at Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD, Yale University, 1990
  • MA, MPhil, Yale University, 1989
  • BA in Physics, Rice University, 1984

Awards and Honors

  • Amman Mineral Faculty Fellow, 2022–23
  • Stephen A. Ross Prize in Financial Economics, 2017 (“Mutual Fund Flows and Performance in Rational Markets”)
  • Fellow, Financial Management Association
  • “A Critique of Size Related Anomalies” selected as one of 100 seminal papers published in the history of Oxford University Press
  • “A Critique of Size Related Anomalies” selected as one of the two best papers ever published in The Review of Financial Studies
  • Bernstein Fabozzi/Jacobs Levy Award, Journal of Portfolio Management, 2006 (“Five Myths of Active Portfolio Management”)
  • TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award, 2005 (“Mutual Fund Flows and Performance in Rational Markets”)
  • FAME Research Prize, 2003 (“Mutual Fund Flows and Performance in Rational Markets”)
  • Roger F. Murray Prize (3rd Place), The Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance, 2003 (“Mutual Fund Flows and Performance in Rational Markets”)
  • Best Paper, Utah Winter Finance Conference, 2003 (“Mutual Fund Flows and Performance in Rational Markets”)
  • Honorable Mention (Teaching), Evening MBA program, 2000–01
  • Honorable Mention (Teaching), Evening MBA program, 1999–2000
  • Smith Breeden Prize (Distinguished Paper), Journal of Finance, 1999 (“Optimal Investment, Growth Options and Security Returns”)
  • Graham and Dodd Award of Excellence, Financial Analysts Journal, 1997 (“Does Size Really Matter?”)
  • Best Paper, Review of Financial Studies, 1995 (“A Critique of Size Related Anomalies”)
  • First Prize, 1996 Roger F. Murray Prize Competition, The Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance (“Does Size Really Matter?”)
  • Second Prize, Chicago Quantitative Alliance Third Annual Academic Competition, 1996 (“Optimal Investment, Growth Options and Security Returns”)
  • Richard D. Irwin Doctoral Fellowship, 1990

Service to the Profession

    • Director, American Finance Association, 2013-2016
    • Director, Western Finance Association, 2014-2016
    • Academic Director, Financial Management Association, 2010-2013
    • Advisory Board, The Journal of Portfolio Management, 2009-present

    Research Statement

    Jonathan Berk’s research is primarily theoretical in nature and covers a broad range of topics in finance including delegated money management; asset pricing (the relation between stock returns and characteristics of the firm, such as accounting numbers, investment, firm size, etc.); valuing the firm’s growth potential, the firm’s capital structure decision, and the interaction between labor markets and financial markets. He has also explored individual rationality in an experimental setting.

    Journal Articles

    Jonathan B. Berk, Jules H. van Binsbergen
    The Journal of Finance (early access)
    February 6, 2022
    Jonathan B. Berk, Jules H. van Binsbergen, Binying Liu
    Journal of Finance
    August 28, 2017 Vol. 72 Issue 6 Pages 2467-2504
    Jonathan B. Berk, Jules H. van Binsbergen
    Financial Analyst Journal
    May 2017 Vol. 73 Issue 2 Pages 25-32
    Jonathan B. Berk, Cambell R. Harvey, David Hirshleifer
    Journal of Economic Perspective
    January 2017 Vol. 31 Issue 1 Pages 231-244
    Jonathan B. Berk, Jules H. van Binsbergen
    Journal of Portfolio Management
    2017 Vol. 42 Pages 131-139
    Jonathan B. Berk, Jules H. van Binsbergen
    Forthcoming: Annual Review of Financial Economics
    2017
    Jonathan B. Berk, Jules H. van Binsbergen
    Journal of Financial Economics
    October 2015 Vol. 18 Issue 1 Pages 1–20
    Jonathan B. Berk, Jules H. van Binsbergen
    Forthcoming: Journal of Financial Economics
    March 14, 2015
    Jonathan B. Berk, Johan Walden
    Review of Asset Pricing Studies
    2014 Vol. 3 Issue 1 Pages 1-37
    Jonathan B. Berk, Richard Stanton, Josef Zechner
    Journal of Finance
    2009 Vol. 65 Pages 891-925
    Jonathan B. Berk, Richard Stanton
    Journal of Finance
    2007 Vol. 62 Issue 2 Pages 529-556
    Jonathan B. Berk
    Journal of Portfolio Management
    2005 Vol. 31 Issue 3 Pages 27-31
    Jonathan B. Berk, Richard C. Green
    Journal of Political Economy
    2004 Vol. 112 Issue 6 Pages 1269-1295
    Jonathan B. Berk, Richard C. Green, Vasant Naik
    Review of Financial Studies
    2004 Vol. 17 Pages 1-35
    Jonathan B. Berk
    Journal of Finance
    2000 Vol. 55 Pages 407-427
    Jonathan B. Berk
    American Economic Review
    1999 Vol. 89 Pages 1319-1326
    Jonathan B. Berk, Richard C. Green, Vasant Naik
    The Journal of Finance
    1999 Vol. 54 Pages 1153-1607
    Jonathan B. Berk
    Financial Analysts Journal
    1997 Vol. 53 Pages 12-18
    Jonathan B. Berk
    Journal of Economic Theory
    1997 Vol. 73 Pages 245-257
    Jonathan B. Berk
    Economic Theory
    1997 Vol. 9 Pages 441-451
    Jonathan B. Berk, Eric Hughson, Kirk Vandezande
    American Economic Review
    1996 Vol. 86 Pages 954-970
    Jonathan B. Berk
    Review of Financial Studies
    1995 Vol. 8 Pages 275-286
    Jonathan B. Berk, Harald Uhlig
    Journal of Economic Theory
    1993 Vol. 59 Pages 275-287
    Jonathan B. Berk, Lynn Bartholomew, Richard Roll
    The Housing Finance Review
    1988 Vol. 7 Pages 31-46
    Jonathan B. Berk, Richard Roll
    Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics
    1988 Vol. 1 Pages 163-184

    Books

    Jonathan B. Berk, Peter M. DeMarzo
    Pearson
    Boston
    2023
    Jonathan B. Berk, Peter M. DeMarzo, Jarrad Harford
    Pearson
    Boston
    2023

    In the Media

    Insights by Stanford Business

    April 15, 2024
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    December 07, 2023
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    December 05, 2023
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    May 01, 2023
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    April 14, 2023
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    December 06, 2022
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    July 13, 2022
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    June 07, 2022
    In this podcast episode, we discuss how competitive markets work, and whether they lead to good economic outcomes.
    May 03, 2022
    In this podcast episode, we compare several investment strategies used for achieving social impact.
    April 20, 2022
    In this podcast episode, Larry Summers pushes back against suggestions to stop taxing companies.
    April 19, 2022
    Navigating the line between opportunity and uncertainty in the ESG boom
    April 05, 2022
    In this podcast episode, we discuss what to do when leaders can’t find common ground.
    March 23, 2022
    In this podcast episode, co-CEO of Fortress Investment Group Pete Briger shares his decision-making strategies.
    March 08, 2022
    In this podcast episode, investment legend Cliff Asness describes the “superpower” everybody needs when making decisions.
    February 22, 2022
    In this podcast episode, former general manager Billy King discusses the decision-making process of assembling a team.
    February 17, 2022
    In this podcast episode, we discuss decision-making mistakes, and how to talk about them.
    February 07, 2022
    In this podcast episode, Alphabet and Google CFO Ruth Porat talks about the risks of “going with your gut.”
    October 27, 2021
    A new analysis finds that selling off stocks in corporations that don’t meet your values has minimal impact on their behavior.
    March 26, 2020
    An open letter drafted by Stanford professors says the coronavirus stimulus package should benefit workers — not corporations and their wealthy shareholders.
    March 02, 2018
    A new study shows that professional certification requirements benefit providers more than consumers.
    July 09, 2014
    Research says top managers are good at what they do, yet most investors can’t benefit from it.
    December 01, 2008
    A finance professor argues that preventing financial crises means creating policies that align bankers' incentives with the public interest.

    School News

    October 21, 2017
    The Stephen A. Ross Prize has been awarded to the co-authors of an important 2004 paper on mutual funds’ equilibrium behavior.
    April 01, 2009
    Professors Anat Admati, Jonathan Berk, Charles Jones, Dale Miller, Jesper Sørensen, and Sarah Soule, have been honored with new academic titles.

    Videos and Podcasts

    • In this episode, we take a plunge into the world of financial markets with experts Jules van Binsbergen and Jonathan Berk. Jules is a professor of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Jonathan is a professor of finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business. They also host a popular podcast called All Else Equal, which explores the science and strategy of making better financial decisions, and have written several academic papers that challenge the status quo.

    • Jonathan Berk turns the efficient market hypothesis, which popularized the belief that mutual fund managers were “monkey investors” who consistently perform worse than the overall market, on its head to prove that mutual fund managers are in fact highly skilled investors.