Isil Erel | Fisher College of Business

Professor of Finance

David A. Rismiller Chair in Finance

Finance

Background

Isil Erel is the David A. Rismiller Chair in Finance at the Fisher College of Business of the Ohio State University. Her research spans a variety of areas within corporate finance, with particular emphasis on private credit, financial institutions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance. This research has been published in top finance journals, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies.

Professor Erel is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)’s Corporate Finance program and a research member at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). She currently serves as the Executive Editor of the Review of Corporate Finance Studies. She also served as an associate editor of the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Banking and Finance, and Financial Management. Professor Erel is the 2010 recipient of the Pace Setters Faculty Research Award, the 2015 recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Award, and the 2020 recipient of the Recognition Award for significant out-of-classroom contributions at the Fisher College of Business. She also received the Distinguished Referee Award from the Review of Financial Studies in 2012 in addition to various research awards for her academic papers. She served on the boards of the European Finance Association (EFA), the Financial Intermediation Research Society (FIRS), the Foundation for the Advancement of Research in Financial Economics (FARFE), and the Risk Institute. Professor Erel holds a PhD in financial economics from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Areas of Expertise

Corporate Finance
- Corporate Governance
- Financial Institutions
- Mergers and Acquisitions
Industries
- Banking

Education

PhD in finance from the MIT Sloan School of Management
Bachelor of Arts in economics and business administration from Koc University, Turkey

Publications

Awards and Recognition:

Can FinTech Reduce Disparities in Access to Finance? Evidence from the Paycheck Protection Program (with Jack Liebersohn), Journal of Financial Economics, 2022, Vol. 146/1, pg. 90-118. Bradford-Osborne Research Award, 2023
Selecting Directors Using Machine Learning(with Léa Stern, Chenhao Tan, and Michael Weisbach), Review of Financial Studies. Vol. 34/7, July 2021, Pages 3226–3264. Editor's Choice
- See also: Could Machine Learning Help Companies Select Better Board Directors?, HBR, APRIL 09, 2018
Differences in Governance Practice between U.S. and Foreign Firms: Measurement, Causes, and Consequences
(with Reena Aggarwal, René Stulz, and Rohan Williamson), Review of Financial Studies (2009), Vol. 23/3, 3131-3169. Recipient of the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance (Q-Group) Research Grant
Does Governance Travel Around the World? Evidence from Institutional Investors
(with Reena Aggarwal, Miguel Ferreira and Pedro Matos), Journal of Financial Economics (2011), Vol. 100/1, 154-181. Recipient of the 2010 China International Conference in Finance Best Paper Award
- (Governance data used in this paper can be downloaded here: http://docentes.fe.unl.pt/~mferreira/data/gov41.xls)
The Effect of Bank Mergers on Loan Prices: Evidence from the United States. Review of Financial Studies (2011), Vol. 24/4, 1068-1101. Nominated as the First Runner Up for the Best Paper Award in Financial Markets and Institutions by Financial Management Association

Publications continued

Evolution of Debt Financing Toward Less Regulated Financial Intermediaries (with Eduard Inozemtsev), The Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 2025, Vol 60, pg. 1234-1271.
The International Propagation of Economic Downturns Through Multinational Companies: The Real Economy Channel (with Jan Bena and Serdar Dinc), Journal of Financial Economics, 2022, Vol. 146/1, pg. 277-304.
Why Do Firms Borrow Directly from Nonbanks? (with Sergey Chernenko and Robert Prilmeier), Review of Financial Studies, 2022, Vol. 35/11, pg. 4902–4947.
The Corporate Finance of Multinational Firms (with Yeejing Jang and Michael Weisbach) in Global Goliaths: Multinational Corporations in the 21st Century Economy, edited by F. Foley, J. Hines and D. Wessel, Brookings Institution (2021), 183-226.
Risk Capital: Theory and Applications (with Stewart C. Myers and James A. Read, Jr.), Journal of Applied Corporate Finance (Winter 2021), Vol. 33/1, 8-21.
Corporate Liquidity, Acquisitions, and Macroeconomic Conditions (with Yeejing Jang, Bernadette Minton, and Michael Weisbach), Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (2021), Vol 56/2, 443-474.
The COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis and Corporate Finance (with Andrew Ellul and Uday Rajan), Special Issue Foreword by the Editors, The Review of Corporate Finance Studies 9 (November 2020) 421–429.
Discussion: Financing Acquisitions with Earnouts, Journal of Accounting and Economics (2018), Vol. 66, 396-398.
Fire Sale Discount: Evidence from the Sale of Minority Equity Stakes (with Serdar Dinc and Rose Liao), Journal of Financial Economics (2017), Vol. 125/3, 475-490.
A Theory of Risk Capital (with Stewart C. Myers and James A. Read, Jr.), Journal of Financial Economics (December 2015), Vol. 118/3, 620-635.
Do Acquisitions Relieve Target Firms' Financial Constraints? (with Yeejin Jang and Michael Weisbach), Journal of Finance (2015), 70/1, 289-328.
Why Did Holdings of Highly-Rated Securitization Tranches Differ So Much Across Banks? (with Taylor Nadauld and René M. Stulz), Review of Financial Studies (February 2014), Vol. 27/2, 404-453.
Macroeconomic Conditions and Capital Raising (with Brandon Julio, Woojin Kim, and Michael Weisbach), Review of Financial Studies (2012), Vol. 25/2, 341-376.
Determinants of Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions(with Rose Liao and Michael Weisbach), Journal of Finance (2012), Vol. 67/3, 1045-1082.
Economic Nationalism in Mergers and Acquisitions (with Serdar Dinc), Journal of Finance (2012), Vol. 86/6, 2471-2514.

Working Papers

Risk-Adjusting the Returns to Private Debt Funds (with Thomas Flanagan and Michael Weisbach), Revise and Submit, the Journal of Financial Economics.
(Recent Media Coverage: Private Credit Offers No Extra Gains After Fees, New Study Finds, Bloomberg, 5 April 2024; Does private credit generate excess returns?, Financial Times, 9 April, 2024)
When Protectionism Kills Talent (with Mehmet Canayaz and Umit Gurun)
(Recent Media Coverage: NPR’s Marketplace, 23 May 2024)
Monetary Policy Transmission Through Online Banks (with Jack Liebersohn, Constantine Yannelis, and Samuel Earnest)
Specialized Investments and Firms’ Boundaries: Evidence from Textual Analysis of Patents (with Jan Bena, Daisy Wang, and Michael Weisbach), Revise and Submit, the Journal of Finance.
Paid Leave Pays Off: The Effects of Paid Family Leave on Firm Performance (with Benjamin Bennett, Léa Stern, and Zexi Wang), Review of Finance, forthcoming
(Featured in: Forbes; Grow the Pie Blog by Alex Edmans)
Influence of Public Opinion on Investor Voting and Proxy Advisors (with Reena Aggarwal and Laura Starks)

Courses

BUSFIN 4265 - Financial Institutions: Financial Institutions play an extremely important role in the functioning of the global economy and in the operation of our firms. When financial institutions fail to act properly the results can be catastrophic, both for financial markets and greater society as a whole. Prereq or concur: 4211 and 4221. Not open to students with credit for 726.