ECGI Conversations - José Azar

The 2026 ECGI Finance Prize sponsored by WRDS has been awarded to Jason Chen (Auburn University), Jakub Hajda (HEC Montréal) and Joseph Kalmenovitz (University of Rochester) for their paper, “Escaping Pay-for-Performance” (ECGI Finance Working Paper 1055/2025). Finance Series Editor, Nadya Malenko (Boston College and ECGI), interviews one of the winning authors, Joseph Kalmenovitz (University of Rochester), on their prize paper. Selected by the Working Paper Series Finance Editorial Board, the paper contributes to the literature on incentive design and corporate governance by studying the compensation of the top executives of the federal government who lead regulatory agencies overseeing firms and financial markets. It shows how the structure of executive pay can simultaneously affect effort, career choices, and the composition of the leadership responsible for monitoring firms. In doing so, it extends core governance questions about executive compensation and incentives beyond firms to the public-sector executives responsible for overseeing them. Read the paper here: https://www.ecgi.global/publications/working-papers/escaping-pay-for-performance

The 2026 ECGI Law Prize sponsored by WRDS for the Best Paper in the ECGI Law Working Paper Series in 2025 has been awarded to Luca Enriques (Bocconi University and ECGI), Matteo Gatti (Rutgers Law School and ECGI) and Roy Shapira (Reichman (IDC) and ECGI) for their paper: “How the EU Sustainability Due Diligence Directive Could Reshape Corporate America”.Law Series Editor, Amir Licht (Reichman University and ECGI) interviews on their prize paper.Selected by the Working Paper Series Law Editorial Board, the paper traces how a single piece of European legislation — the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, or CS3D — interacts with the American legal system in ways that could fundamentally change how large US corporations govern themselves on human rights and environmental issues. It bridges two bodies of law that rarely speak to each other: EU regulatory law and Delaware corporate law. The paper shows that their combination is more potent than either alone, and it identifies a new mechanism through which European regulation can reshape not just what companies sell, but how they operate across their entire global supply chains.Read the paper here: https://www.ecgi.global/publications/working-papers/how-the-eu-sustainability-due-diligence-directive-could-reshape

Dr Tom Gosling interviews Prof. Jill Fisch, the Saul A. Fox Distinguished Professor of Business Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Co-Director of the Institute for Law & Economics on her recent paper "Corporate Democracy and the Intermediary Voting Dilemma", co-authored with Prof. Jeff Schwartz.

Dr Tom Gosling interviews Prof. Wolf-Georg Ringe, Professor of Law and Finance and Director of the Institute of Law & Economics at the University of Hamburg, on his recent paper "Net-Zero Transition and Divestments of Carbon-Intensive Assets ", co-authored by Alperen Gözlügöl.ECGI Conversations is a compelling new interview series aimed at uncovering valuable insights, ideas, and perspectives from cutting-edge academic research. Hosted by ECGI Executive Fellow, Dr. Tom Gosling, this series promises to bring forth engaging discussions with leading experts in the field.

Watch the latest ECGI Conversation as Dr. Tom Gosling interviews Prof. José Azar, Associate Professor of Finance at IESE Business School at the University of Navarra, on his award-winning co-authored paper ‘Revisiting the Anticompetitive Effects of Common Ownership’. This paper won the 2023 ECGI Finance Prize for the Best Working Paper.

Watch Jennifer Hill, Bob Baxt AO Professor of Corporate and Commercial Law at Monash University in conversation with Dr Tom Gosling, on her recent paper "Shareholder Engagement Inside and Outside the Shareholder Meeting", co-authored with Tim Bowley and Steve Kourabas.

Dr. Tom Gosling interviews Prof. Michelle Lowry, the TD Bank Professor of Finance at Drexel University, on her recent paper ‘Firms’ Transition to Green: Innovation versus Lobbying’, co-authored by Sungjoung Kwon & Michela Verardo.

Interview with Prof. Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at LBS, on his recent paper "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” co-authored by Caroline Flammer & Simon Glossner.ECGI Conversations is a compelling new interview series aimed at uncovering valuable insights, ideas, and perspectives from cutting-edge academic research.Hosted by ECGI Executive Fellow, Dr. Tom Gosling, this series promises to bring forth engaging discussions with leading experts in the field.For more interviews in this series, visit this page : https://www.ecgi.global/content/conversations

Interview with Prof. Anete Pajuste, Professor of Finance at Stockholm School of Economics, Riga, on her recent award-winning paper "Voice Through Divestment”, co-authored by Marco Becht & Anna Toniolo.

Dr. Tom Gosling interviews Prof. Dan Puchniak, Professor of Law at Singapore Management University, on his recent paper "No Need for Asia to be Woke: Contextualizing Anglo-America’s 'Discovery' of Corporate Purpose".