21st Annual Olin Finance Conference at WashU

21st Annual Olin Finance Conference at WashU

Fall 2025

DATE October 16-17, 2025 (US Central Time)

LOCATION Charles F. Knight Center, Throop & Snow Way, St. Louis, MO

Time allocation: 25 minutes for each paper presentation, followed by 15 minutes for the discussion, and 10 minutes for audience participation.

All conference sessions will be held in Knight Center, room 210.

Day 1: Thursday, October 16, 2025

Day 2: Friday, October 17, 2025

October 16, 2025 at 10:00 AM — October 16, 2025 at 11:00 AM

Conference Check-In: Knight Center 2nd floor, outside of room 210

October 16, 2025 at 11:00 AM — October 16, 2025 at 12:00 PM

Lunch: Anheuser-Busch Dining Hall, 3rd floor, Knight Center

October 16, 2025 at 12:00 PM — October 16, 2025 at 12:10 PM

Opening Remarks: Knight Center, room 210

Anjan Thakor

Session 1: BEHAVIORAL FINANCE

Session 1 Chair: Pooya Molavi, Northwestern University

October 16, 2025 at 12:10 PM — October 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM

Set it and Forget it: Engineering Investment Habits with FinTech

Antonio Gargano (Univ of Houston), Alberto Rossi (Georgetown University)

Presenter: Antonio Gargano

Discussant: Michaela Pagel, Washington University in St. Louis

Antonio Gargano

Michaela Pagel

October 16, 2025 at 1:00 PM — October 16, 2025 at 1:50 PM

The Subjective Belief Factor

Tingyue Cui (Univ of Pennsylvania), Ricardo Delao (Univ of Southern California), Sean Myers (Univ of Pennsylvania)

Presenter: Sean Myers

Discussant: William Cassidy, Washington University in St. Louis

Sean Myers

William Cassidy

October 16, 2025 at 1:50 PM — October 16, 2025 at 2:10 PM

Coffee Break: 2nd floor break area, Knight Center

Session 2: CONSUMER FINANCE

Session 2 Chair: Mark Leary, Washington University in St. Louis

October 16, 2025 at 2:10 PM — October 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM

The Effects of Deleting Medical Debt from Consumer Credit Reports

Victor Duarte (Univ of Illinois), Julia Fonseca (Univ of Illinois), Divij Kohli (Univ of Illinois), Julian Reif (Univ of Illinois)

Presenter: Julia Fonseca

Discussant: David Sovich, Univ of Kentucky

Julia Fonseca

David Sovich

October 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM — October 16, 2025 at 3:50 PM

Monetary Policy Transmission through Housing Duration: Evidence from Reaching-for-Income Investors

Gen Li (University of British Columbia)

Presenter: Gen Li

Discussant: Maarten Meeuwis, Washington University in St. Louis

Gen Li

Maarten Meeuwis

October 16, 2025 at 3:50 PM — October 16, 2025 at 4:10 PM

Coffee Break: 2nd floor break area, Knight Center

Session 3: PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL

Session 3 Chair: Armando Gomes, Washington University in St. Louis

October 16, 2025 at 4:10 PM — October 16, 2025 at 5:00 PM

Does Fund Size Affect Private Equity Performance? Evidence from Donations to Private Universities

Abhishek Bhardwaj (Tulane University), Abhinav Gupta (Univ of North Carolina), Sabrina T. Howell (New York University), Kyle E. Zimmerschied (Univ of Missouri)

Presenter: Abhishek Bhardwaj

Discussant: Vladimir Mukharlyamov, Georgetown University

Abhishek Bhardwaj

Vladimir Mukharlyamov

October 16, 2025 at 5:00 PM — October 16, 2025 at 5:50 PM

Group Decision Making Under Real World Uncertainty: Internal Evidence from a Venture Capital Accelerator

Tristan Fitzgerald, Korok Ray (Texas A&M University)

Presenter: Tristan Fitzgerald

Discussant: Isaac Hacamo, Indiana University

Tristan Fitzgerald

Isaac Hacamo

October 16, 2025 at 5:50 PM — October 16, 2025 at 6:45 PM

PhD Poster Session & Cocktail Reception: 2nd floor break area, Knight Center

Natasha Boreyko

Teodor Duevski

Blake Jackson

Yicheng Liu

Zhenkai Ran

Tasaneeya Viratyosin

Xuan Xie

October 16, 2025 at 7:00 PM — October 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM

Cocktails and Dinner at Whittemore House

Whittemore is located across the street from campus and is a short walk from the Knight Center

October 17, 2025 at 7:00 AM — October 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM

Breakfast: Anheuser-Busch Dining Hall, 3rd floor, Knight Center

Session 4: POLITICAL ECONOMY

Session 4 Chair: Brittany Lewis, Washington University in St. Louis

October 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM — October 17, 2025 at 9:20 AM

Firms as Electoral Monopsonies

Carlos F. Avenancio-Leon (Univ of California-San Diego), Adelina Barbalau (Univ of Alberta), Cyndi Xinyu Hou (Indiana University), Alessio Piccolo (Indiana University)

Presenter: Cyndi Xinyu Hou

Discussant: Yakshup Chopra, Univ of Miami

Cyndi Xinyu Hou

Yakshup Chopra

October 17, 2025 at 9:20 AM — October 17, 2025 at 10:10 AM

The Pricing of Geopolitical Tensions over a Century

Andrei Goncalves, Alessandro Melone, Andrea Ricciardi (The Ohio State University)

Presenter: Alessandro Melone

Discussant: Dario Caldara, Federal Reserve Board

Alessandro Melone

Dario Caldara

October 17, 2025 at 10:10 AM — October 17, 2025 at 10:30 AM

Coffee Break: 2nd floor break area, Knight Center

Session 5: ASSET PRICING AND CORPORATE FINANCE THEORY

Session 5 Chair: Hong Liu, Washington University in St. Louis

October 17, 2025 at 10:30 AM — October 17, 2025 at 11:20 AM

A Trilemma for Asset Demand Estimation

William Fuchs (Univ of Texas at Austin), Satoshi Fukuda (Bocconi University), Daniel Neuhann (Univ of Texas at Austin)

Presenter: Daniel Neuhann

Discussant: Julie Fu, Washington University in St. Louis

Daniel Neuhann

Julie Fu

October 17, 2025 at 11:20 AM — October 17, 2025 at 12:10 PM

Financial Flexibility under Financing Constraints and Non-Exclusive Lending

Yunzhi Hu (UNC Chapel Hill), Felipe Varas (Univ of Texas at Dallas)

Presenter: Yunzhi Hu

Discussant: Fenghua Song, Pennsylvania State University

Yunzhi Hu

Fenghua Song

October 17, 2025 at 12:10 PM — October 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM

Lunch: Classroom 211, 2nd floor, Knight Center

Session 6: CORPORATE AND HEALTHCARE FINANCE

Session 6 Chair: Brett Green, Washington University in St. Louis

October 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM — October 17, 2025 at 2:20 PM

The covenant-defeasance option in corporate bonds

Carsten Bienz (Norwegian School of Economics), Zsuzsanna Fluck (Michigan State University), Karin S. Thorburn (Norwegian School of Economics)

Presenter: Karin S. Thorburn

Discussant: Andrew Ellul, Indiana University

Karin S. Thorburn

Andrew Ellul

October 17, 2025 at 2:20 PM — October 17, 2025 at 3:10 PM

Price Regulation and Cream-Skimming: How Private Equity Competes with Government-Backed Firms

Cameron Ellis, Meghan Esson (Univ of Iowa)

Presenter: Meghan Esson

Discussant: Cyrus Aghamolla, Rice University

Meghan Esson

Cyrus Aghamolla

October 17, 2025 at 3:10 PM — October 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM

Closing Remarks

Anjan Thakor

Linda Schilling