Pollack Center for Law & Business

5th Annual NYU/Penn Conference on Law & Finance

Jointly sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Law and Economics, Wharton’s Financial Institutions Center, and NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business.

Friday, February 27, 2009
9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Saturday, February 28, 2009
8:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

NYU School of Law
Lester Pollack Colloquium Room, Furman Hall
245 Sullivan Street, between Washington Square South and West Third Street

Conference Organizers:
William Allen
NYU Stern School of Business and NYU School of Law
Pollack Center for Law & Business
New York University

Yakov Amihud
Stern School of Business
New York University

Michael Roberts
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania

Ed Rock
Institute for Law & Economics
University of Pennsylvania Law School

Conference Schedule:

Friday, February 27
9:30 a.m.
Registration and Breakfast

10:00 a.m.
Welcoming Remarks

William Allen
New York University

10:15-11:15 a.m.
Comparing Legal and Alternative Institutions in Finance and Commerce
Franklin Allen
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania
Co-Author Jun “QJ” Qian, Boston College

Commentator:
Curtis Milhaupt, Columbia University

Moderator:
William Allen, New York University

11:15-11:30 a.m.
Coffee Break

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Motions for Lead Plaintiff in Securities Class Actions
Stephen Choi
New York University School of Law

Commentator:
Alexander Dyck, University of Toronto

Moderator:
Ed Rock, University of Pennsylvania

12:30-1:30 p.m.
Lunch

1:30-2:30 p.m.
Internal Governance of Firms
Raghuram Rajan
Graduate School of Business
University of Chicago
Co-Authors Viral Acharya, LBS, NYU and CEPR
Stewart Myers, MIT and NBER

Commentator:
Alan Schwartz, Yale University

Moderator:
Marcel Kahan, New York University

2:30-3:30 p.m.
The Decisions of Corporate Special Litigation Committees: An Empirical Investigation
Minor Myers
Brooklyn Law School

Commentator:
Sanjai Bhagat, University of Colorado at Boulder

Moderator:
Gerald Rosenfeld, New York University

3:30-3:45 p.m.
Coffee Break

3:45-4:45 p.m.
The Market Value of the Vote: A Contingent Claims
Avner Kalay
University of Utah
Co-Author Shagun Pant, University of Utah

and

One Share-One Vote is Unenforceable and Sub-optimal
Shagun Pant, University of Utah

Commentator:
Henry Hu, University of Texas

Moderator:
Gerald Rosenfeld, New York University

5:00-6:00 p.m. Cocktails
Aurora SOHO

6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Dinner
Aurora SOHO

Saturday, February 28
8:30 a.m.
Breakfast

9:00-10:00 a.m.
The Returns to Hedge Fund Activism
Wei Jiang
Columbia Business School
Co-Authors Alon Brav, Duke University
Frank Partnoy, University of San Diego
Randall Thomas, Vanderbilt University

Commentator:
Stuart Gillan, Texas Tech University

Moderator:
Richard Kihlstrom, University of Pennsylvania

10:00-11:00 a.m.
Rationalizing Appraisal Standards in Compulsory Buyouts
Lawrence Hamermesh
Widener's Institute of Delaware Corporate Law
Co-Author Michael L. Wachter, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Commentator:
Daniel Wolfenzon, Columbia University

Moderator:
Richard Kihlstrom, University of Pennsylvania

11:00-11:15 a.m.
Coffee Break

11:15-12:15 p.m.
Does Board Classification Matter for Industry Rivals? Evidence of Spillover Effects in the Market for Corporate Control
Kose John
NYU Stern School of Business
Co-Author Dalida Kadyrzhanova, University of Maryland

Commentator:
Alicia Davis Evans, University of Michigan

Moderator:
Michael Wachter, University of Pennsylvania

12:15-12:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks & Lunch