Nishant Dass

Nishant Dass is the Charles M. Stone Professor of Finance in the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance at CMC as well as the Director of CMC’s Financial Economics Institute (FEI). He is an empiricist by training and his field of research is Corporate Finance. He started his research career with a focus on two broad fields within Corporate Finance – Financial Intermediation and Corporate Governance. His interest in Financial Intermediaries was motivated by the important role that these entities play in capital allocation in the economy. His research in this field has highlighted both the effect that financial intermediaries have on firms as well as the internal functioning of these intermediaries, which include commercial banks, mutual funds, and venture capital firms. His interest in research on Corporate Governance is primarily driven by the fundamental role that Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Boards of Directors play within the firm. A special focus of his research has been the advisory role of directors and the effect of CEO’s incentive contracts. Over time, his research in financial intermediation and corporate governance intersected to highlight the role of innovative firms, thus sparking a new line of research on innovation over the last few years. He continues to research the many unique aspects of innovative firms and their special role in the economy. Lately, his research focus has evolved into analyzing a specific type of innovation taking place in finance – in the emerging field of "fintech". He has also identified Fintech as the area of focus for FEI over the next several years. To that end, he has launched several new FEI initiatives in Fintech, such as the Practicum, Hackathon, and new courses on Fintech. You can learn more about FEI at fei.cmc.edu.