Vito Gala
Visiting Associate Professor of Finance
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Main Topics:
- Financial economics, asset pricing and allocation, investment strategies, hedge funds
- Financial markets
- Corporate finance
His expertise covers issues related to asset pricing and investments. In his recent work he relates the properties of corporate investments to the performance of equity returns, and develops new estimation methodologies for asset pricing and structural corporate finance models.
Professional Profile:
Professor Gala is Visiting Associate Professor of Finance at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also taught at the London Business School, where he held courses for the School’s postgraduate programmes in London and Dubai. He joined the London Business School in 2006, and he was Visiting Scholar in the Finance Department at the Wharton Business School during 2011.
During his graduate studies he was teaching assistant for several courses in the PhD and MBA programs at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, including Executive MBA programs in London, Barcelona and Singapore.
Prior to this, he worked at the Financial Institutions Group of Credit Suisse First Boston in London, and was Consultant for Bain & Company in Milan. He holds a PhD in finance and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, and a BA in financial economics from Bocconi University.
His research has been published extensively in leading international academic journals, such as, the Journal of Financial Economics.
Professor Gala has received numerous honours and awards for his work. Amongst this:
- Crowell Third Prize, PanAgora Asset Management, 2011
- Research and Materials Development Fund, London Business School, 2007-2014
- Nominated for the 2010 medal for best young Italian Economist under 40, Collegio Carlo Alberto
- The Sanford J. Grossman Fellowship, 2005-2006
- Lehman Brothers Fellowship, Finalist, 2004 and 2005
- Teaching Assistant Distinction, Executive MBA, Barcelona and Singapore, 2005, 2006
- Bocconi University gold medal as top student in the graduating class 1999-2000, Nov. 2001
- Fondazione IRI Fellowship, 2004-2005
- Ente Luigi Einaudi Fellowship, 2003-2004
- Bocconi University Fellowship, 2001-2003
- CRSP Research Award, September 2002
- University of Chicago, GSB Doctoral Fellowship, 2001-2005
- Bruno Lochis scholarship, 1999-2000
- Bain & Company scholarship, 1999
- Oscar e Giulia Zannini scholarship, 1998-1999
- Giuseppe De Finetto scholarship, 1997-1998
Professor Gala is member of the American Economic Association, the American Finance Association, the Western Finance Association, the European Finance Association, the Econometric Society and the Macro-Finance Society.
He is a young dynamic economist and brilliant speaker, frequently invited to give lectures and key-notes for seminars and conferences.
Education:
- Ph.D. in Finance, University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, 2006.
Thesis: “Investment and Returns”. Committee: John Cochrane (Chair), George Constantinides, Lars Hansen, John Heaton, Monika Piazzesi, and Pietro Veronesi. - M.B.A., University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, 2006
- M.B.A., University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, 2006
- Laurea Degree in Financial Economics, Bocconi University, Italy, 2000. Graduated with Magna cum Laude and Double Honor (copyright) on the dissertation thesis.
Selected Works:
- Government Spending, Political Cycles and the Cross Section of Stock Returns”, with F. Belo and J. Li, Journal of Financial Economics, 107(2), 305–324, 2013. – Crowell Third Prize, PanAgora Asset Management, 2011. – Media: Financial Times, Oct. 31, 2012; Financial Times, Nov. 3, 2012; The Financial, Nov. 5, 2012; Business Strategy Review, 2, 2013.
- “Cash Flow Risk, Discounting Risk, and the Equity Premium Puzzle: Comment”, in Rajnish Mehra, Handbook of the Equity Risk Premium, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2008.
- “Irreversible Investment and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns in General Equilibrium”, 2013
- “Measuring Marginal q”, 2013
- “Decomposing Firm Value”, with F. Belo and C. Xue, 2013
- “Beyond Q: Investment without Asset Prices”, with J. Gomes, 2012
- “Arbitrage in ETFs Markets”, 2012
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