University of Southern California

PhD Program

Finance & Business Economics

FBE research seeks to understand how stocks, bonds and other assets are valued in the marketplace and how these valuations impact the behavior of companies, investors, governments and the economy.

Asset pricing

  • Analyzing expected returns
  • Time variation in asset returns

Corporate finance and governance

  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Evaluating professional portfolio managers
  • Executive compensation

Financial economics

  • Examining impact of financial market microstructure on performance
  • Foreign exchange rates
  • Pricing and performance of IPOs

Faculty Coordinator

Wayne Ferson, Ivadelle and Theodore Johnson Chair in Banking and Finance and Professor of Finance and Business Economics

Learn More

Learn more about finance and business economics program requirements, research, placements, and students.

Marshall Spotlight

Ran Duchin

"Marshall has an excellent blend of junior and senior faculty. The junior faculty were always very helpful and attentive, their door was always open and they were always willing to talk about new ideas and provide great feedback. At the same time, the established, well-known senior faculty brought to the table their experience and a deep, comprehensive view of Finance and Economics. Marshall always emphasized the importance of a strong theoretical background to motivate any research. I found this to be extremely useful in approaching research questions and projects."

—Ran Duchin, Assistant Professor of Finance, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan