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Varouj A. Aivazian

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Varouj A. Aivazian

Professor of Finance and Chair of the Economics Department at University of Toronto Mississauga

Degrees:

PhD, Ohio State University
MA, Ohio State University
BSc, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Email:

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Personal Website:
http://individual.utoronto.ca/vaivazian/

Bio

Varouj Aivazian is a Professor of Finance and Chair of the Economics Department at University of Toronto Mississauga, with a cross-appointment to the Rotman School.  He has published many scholarly articles in Finance, Law & Economics, and Economic Theory in leading international academic journals. He served on the Governing Council of the University of Toronto (2006-2011), was a member and Chair of the Social Sciences Review Panel of The Connaught Committee (1992-1995), and served as Director of the Master of Financial Economics program (2002-2011).

Academic Positions

  • 1981-Present

    Univeristy of Toronto

  • 1975-1981

    McMaster University

Selected Publications - Papers

  • Bank Loan Contracting and Corporate Diversification: Does Organization Structure Matter to Lenders?

    V. Aivazian, J. Qiu, and M. Rahaman

    Journal of Financial Intermediation

    Issue:Forthcoming

  • The Market for CEOs: An Empirical Analysis

    V. Aivazian, T. Lai, and M. Rahaman

    Journal of Economics & Business

    Issue:67

    2013

    Pages: 24-54

  • Is Chapter 11 Efficient?

    with S. Zhou

    Financial Management

    Issue:41(1)

    2012

    Pages: 229-253

  • Unanticipated Growth, Tobin's Q, and Leverage

    with J. Callen and D. Gelb

    Bridging the GAAP: Recent Advances in Finance and Accounting

    2011

  • Experimental Tests of Core Theory and the Coase Theorem: Inefficiency and Cycling

    with J. Callen and S. McCracken

    Journal of Law and Economics

    Issue:November

    2009

  • Financial Constraints and Investment: Assessing the Impact of a World Bank Credit Program on Small and Medium Enterprises in Sri Lanka

    with Eric Santor

    Canadian Journal of Economics

    Issue:May

    2008

  • Why Some Firms Smooth their Dividends and Others Do Not

    with L. Booth and S. Cleary

    Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis

    Issue:June

    2006

  • Can Corporatization Improve the Performance of State-Owned Enterprises even without Privatization?

    with Y. Ge and J. Qiu

    Journal of Corporate Finance

    Issue:October

    2005

    Pages: 791-808

  • Debt Maturity Structure and Firm Investment

    with Y. Ge and J. Qiu

    Financial Management

    Issue:Winter

    2005

    Pages: 107- 119

  • Dividend Policy and the Role of Contracting Environments

    with L. Booth and S. Cleary

    FSR Forum

    Issue:December

    2005

    Pages: 13-20

  • Manager Turnover and Corporate Governance: An Unusual Social Experiment

    with Ying Ge and J. Qiu

    Journal of Banking and Finance

    2005

    Pages: 1459-1481

  • The impact of Leverage on Firm Investment: Canadian Evidence

    with J.Qiu and Y. Ge

    Journal of Corporate Finance

    Issue:March

    2005

  • Discussion of 'Does Diversification Improve Bank Efficiency?' , preceedings of a conferece held by the Bank of Canada

    proceedings of a conference held by the Bank of Canada, The Evolving Financial System and Public Policy, Bank of Canada

    Issue:December

    2004

    Pages: 128-131

  • Dividend Policy and the Organization of Capital Markets

    Varouj A. Aivazian, Laurence Booth, S. Cleary

    Financial Management

    Issue:13

    2003

  • Do Emerging Market Firms Follow Different Dividend Policies from U.S. Firms?

    Varouj A. Aivazian, Laurence Booth, S. Cleary

    Journal of Financial Research

    2003

  • The Core, Transaction Costs, and the Coase Theorem

    Varouj A. Aivazian and Jeffrey L. Callen

    Constitutional Political Economy

    2003

  • Capital Structures in Developing Countries

    with L. Booth and V. Demirguc-Kunt and V. Maksimovic

    Journal of Finance

    Issue:56

    2001

    Pages: 87-130

  • Ex Post Production Flexibility, Asset Specificity, and Financial Structure

    with M. Berkowitz

    Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance

    Issue:Vol. 13, No. 216

    1998

  • How Much Does Finance Matter in East Asia?

    Varouj A. Aivazian, J.D. Han, Walid Hejazi

    Fiscal Frameworks and Financial Systems in East Asia: How Much Do They Matter (edited by Wendy Dobson), University of Toronto Press, Toronto

    1998

    Pages: 91-183

  • Microeconomic Elements of Financial Liberalization: Perspectives from Finance Theory

    Financial Reform in DevelopingCountries (edited by M. Fanelli and R. Medhora), MacMillan, London

    1998

    Pages: 328-351

  • Microeconomic Elements of Financial Liberalization: Perspectives from Finance Theory

    J. Fanelli, and R. Medhora (eds.)

    MacMillan, London

    1997

  • Precommitment and Financial Structure: An Analysis of the Effects of Taxes

    with M. Berkowitz

    Economica

    Issue:59, (February)

    1992

    Pages: pp. 93-106

  • Risk versus Return in the Substitutability of Debt and Equity Securities

    with J. Callen, I. Krinsky and C. Kwan

    Journal of Monetary Economics

    Issue:(August)

    1990

    Pages: pp. 161-178

  • Economies of Scale versus Technological Change in the Natural Gas Transmission Industry

    with J.L. Callen, M.W.L. Chan and D.C. Mountain

    Review of Economics and Statistics

    Issue:(August)

    1987

    Pages: pp. 556-561

  • Miller's Irrelevance Mechanism: A Note

    with J.L. Callen

    Journal of Finance

    Issue:March

    1987

    Pages: pp. 169-180

  • Taxation and Capital Structure: A Selected Review

    with S.M. Turnbull, S. M. Edited by Mintz, J. and Purvis D.

    The Impact of Taxation on Business Activity, edited by J. Mintz and D. Purvis

    Issue:John Deutsch Institute, Queen's University

    1987

  • The Coase Theorem and Coalitional Stability

    with J.L. Callen and I. Lipnowski

    Economica

    Issue:Vol. 54, No. 216, (November)

    1987

    Pages: pp. 517-520

  • International Exchange Risk and Asset Substitutability

    with J.L. Callen, I. Krinsky and C. Kwan

    Journal of International Money and Finance

    Issue:5

    1986

    Pages: pp. 449-466

  • The Demand for Risky Financial Assets Held by the U.S. Household Sector

    with Jeffrey L. Callen, I. Krinsky, C. Kwan

    Quarterly Review of Economics and Business

    Issue:26 (2)

    1986

    Pages: 47-65

  • The Law of Contract Modifications: The Uncertain Quest for a Benchmark of Enforceability

    with M. Penny, Michael Trebilcock

    Osgoode Hall Law Journal

    Issue:22 (2)

    1984

    Pages: 173-212

  • Mean-Variance Utility Functions and the Demand for Risky Assets: An Empirical Analysis Using Flexible Functional Forms

    with Jeffrey L. Callen, I. Krinsky, C. Kwan

    Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis

    1983

  • Reorganization in Bankruptcy and the Issue of Strategic Risk

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    Journal of Banking and Finance

    1983

    Pages: 119-133

  • Capacity Expansion in the U.S. Natural Gas Pipeline Industry

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    Productivity Measurement in Regulated Industries (edited by Thomas Cowing and Rodney Stevenson), New York: Academic Press, New York

    1981

  • The Coase Theorem and The Empty Core

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    Journal of Law and Economics

    1981

    Pages: 175-181

  • The Unanimity Literature and the Security Market Line Criterion: The Additive Risk Case

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    Journal of Business Finance and Accounting

    1981

  • with Jeffrey L. Callen

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    in Productivity Measurement in Regulated Industries (edited by Thomas Cowing and Rodney Stevenson), New York: Academic Press, New York

    1981

  • Corporate Leverage and Growth:The Game-Theoretic Issues

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    Journal of Financial Economics

    1980

    Pages: 379-399

  • Future Investment Opportunities and the Value of the Call Provision on a Bond: Comment

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    Journal of Finance

    1980

    Pages: 1051-1054

  • Uncertain Externalities, Liability Rules, and Resource Allocation: Comment

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    American Economic Review

    1980

    Pages: 1058-1059

  • A Note on the Economics of Exhaustible Resources

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    Canadian Journal of Economics

    1979

    Pages: 83-89

  • Investment, Market Structure, and the Cost of Capital

    with Jeffrey L. Callen

    Journal of Finance

    1979

    Pages: 85-92

  • The Demand for Assets Under Conditions of Risk: Comment

    Journal of Finance

    Issue:XXXII

    1977

    Pages: 927-929

Research and Teaching Interests

Teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Corporate Finance, Investments, Microeconomics, Financial Economics, Environmental Economics and Statistics. Research interests include various issues in corporate finance, portfolio theory, welfare economics, law and economics and currently the role of the financial system in economic development.

Honors and Awards

  • 1991

    Best Paper in Corporate Finance award (for a paper with M. Berkowitz), Northern Finance Association Meetings in Montreal

  • 1998

    Citation of Excellence from ANBAR,for paper with M. Berkowitz, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance

  • 1999

    Best Paper in Corporate Finance for paper with L. Booth, V. Maksimovic and A. Demirguc-Kunt, Southern Finance Association Meetings

  • 2011

    Best paper in Corporate Finance Prize for paper with M. Rahaman and L. Sun, Financial Management Association Annual Meeting

Academic / Professional Service

  • 1994-Present

    Served on various departmental and University-wide committees at the University of Toronto and McMaster University,

  • 1994-Present

    Refereed for many academic journals in Economics and Finance.,

  • 1994-1996

    Editorial Board, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance Executive Committee, Canadian Law and Economics Association