Research Areas
History of securities markets; corporate governance (comparative and historical); comparative economic systems; globalization
Current Projects
Major program of research on the relationship between financial institutions and the corporate economy across countries and over time. Results will form the basis for a book, tentatively titled Money In, Money Out: Financial Systems and Economic Change across Nations, Industries and Firms.
Representative Publications
Contests for Corporate Control: Corporate Governance and Economic Performance in the United States and Germany. Oxford University Press, March 2000.
“Theoretical Fashions and Historical Facts: The Expansion of the US Securities Markets, 1885-1930,” Enterprise and Society, 8: 3, September 2007.
“Acting Out Institutional Change: Understanding the Recent Transformation of the French Financial System,” Socio-Economic Review, 5:3, July 2007.
“Living with the U.S. Financial System: the Experiences of GE and Westinghouse in the Last Century”, Business History Review, 80:4, Winter 2006.
Education
Phd, Harvard University, 1996; MBA, Harvard Univerity, 1992; B. Comm., University College Dublin, 1988
Recent Consulting
Member of the expert Group on Knowledge for Growth to the European Commissioner for Research, Janez Potocnik, 2005-present
Career and Recent Professional Awards; Teaching Awards
Helen Kardon Moss Anvil Award awarded to the Outstanding Teacher in the Wharton MBA Program, 2007; Excellence in Teaching Award, awarded to the Top 8 Teachers in the Wharton MBA Program, 2008; INSEAD Outstanding Teacher Award for an MBA Elective, 1997 and 2000 and nominee for the same award in 1998, 1999 and 2001 for course on “Innovation, Strategy, and Corporate Governance”; Harvard University Graduate Society, Dissertation Completion Scholarship, July 1996- December 1996; Harvard Business School Dean’s Doctoral Fellowship for full term of PhD studies; Center for European Studies Travelling Fellowship, research in Germany, January 1995; Harvard Business School Baker Scholar (graduated in top 5% of 1992 M.B.A. class); Recipient of International Academy of Management Medal in 1988 for academic achievement; Dean’s List in University College Dublin for three years; first place in B. Comm. graduating class
Academic Positions Held
Wharton: 2005-present. Previous appointments: INSEAD (The European Institute of Business Administration)
Other Positions
Business Analyst, McKinsey and Company, Inc., London, 1988-1990
Professional Leadership 2005-2009
Member of the Nominating Committee (elected by the society members) of the Business History Conference (the leading professional association for business history), 2008-2009; Member of the Program Committee, Business History Conference, 2008; Member of the Selection Committee for the John H. Rovensky Doctoral Fellowship in American Business and Economic History, 2006-2008;
Member of the Evaluation Board for Senior Fellowships for the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences;
Member of the expert Group on Knowledge for Growth to the European Commissioner for Research, Janez Potocnik, 2005-present
