Law and Finance conference at Merton College

The annual Oxford-LSE conference on Law and Finance was held at Merton College on Friday May 23, 2014. The event was co-organised by John Armour of Oxford’s Law Faculty and David Kershaw of the LSE Law Department. Five papers showcasing work at the cutting edge of law and finance were presented (by Ed Morrison, Chicago Law School; Brian Cheffins, Cambridge Law Faculty; Erik Gilje, Wharton Business School; Mireia Giné, IESE Business School; and Tobias Tröger, Frankfurt University). Each was followed by an analysis of the paper by a discussant and then plenty of time for general Q&A. Collectively, a wide range of topics were covered, ranging from the impact of “say-on-pay” on firm performance, through the origins of the “market for corporate control” in the US, to the relationship between individual bankruptcy filings and other adverse life events such as car crashes and cancer diagnoses. Details and papers can be seen at the conference website[linkme]. We look forward to a similarly stimulating day’s discussions next year, when the event will be hosted at the LSE.

After the conference, a dinner was held at Balliol College to celebrate the contribution of Paul Davies, retiring this year as Allen & Overy Professor of Corporate Law, to the life and scholarship of the Faculty. The dinner was attended by a wide range of guests, including Mark Wippell of Allen & Overy, Paul’s predecessor Dan Prentice, and his successor, Luca Enriques.