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Prof Vefa Tarhan
Vefa Tarhan

FINANCE
Visiting Professor of Finance

Print Overview

Vefa Tarhan is visiting Professor of Finance. He is visiting from Loyola University of Chicago where he is the Ralph Marotta Professor of Free Enterprise. Professor Tarhan held visiting positions at Kellogg also during 1988-1990 and 1998-2000.

Professor Tarhan’s earlier research focused on monetary policy and banking related issues, such as, whether or not the Fed’s daily actions affect asset prices, how and why investors react to the Fed’s actions, and whether or not bank mergers improve performance. His later research covered corporate finance topics, such as, share repurchases, firms’ financing decisions, capital structure policy, and whether or not firms face constraints in raising funds. Some of the Journals in which his papers were published include the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, the Journal of Corporate Finance, the Journal of Monetary Economics, the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking.

He was honored as the professor of year at Loyola University of Chicago in 1984, at Kellogg in 1990, and at Washington University (Olin School of Business) in 1999.

He received his PhD in Economics at the University of California at Santa Barbara.



Areas of Expertise
Banking and Financial Institutions
Corporate
Corporate Capital Structure
Emerging Markets
Macroeconomics (Includes: Monetary Economics, Federal Reserve, Interest Rates)
Mergers and Acquisitions
Monetary Policy (Monetary Economics, Federal Reserve, Interest Rates)
Payout Policy (Dividends, Repurchases)
Print Vita
Education
BA , Roberts College , Istanbul, Turkey
PhD., University of California at Santa Barbara
MA, University of California at Santa Barbara

Academic Positions
Visiting Professor of Finance , Kellogg School of Management , Northwestern University , 2008-present
Ralph Marotta Professor of Free Enterprise, Finance , School of Business, Loyola University Chicago, 2000-present
Visiting Professor of Finance, Kellogg School Management , Kellogg School of Management , 1998-2000
Chairman and Professor of Finance, School Business , Loyola University Chicago, 1991-1998
Visiting Professor of Finance, Kellogg School of Management , Northwestern University , 1988-1990
Associate Professor of Finance,, Loyola University of Chicago , 1983-1988
Assistant Professor of Finance, Loyola University , 1978-1983
Lecturer of Economics, University of California at Santa Barbara, 1976-1978

 
Print Research
Articles
Gatchev, Vladimir, Paul A. Spindt and Vefa Tarhan. 2009. How Do Firms Finance their Investments? The Relative Importance of Equity Issuance and Debt Contracting Costs. Journal of Corporate Finance . 15: 179-195.
Nohel, Tom and Vefa Tarhan. 1998. Share Repurchases and Firm Performance: New Evidence on the Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow. Journal of Financial Economics. 49: 187-222.
Tarhan, Vefa. 1995. Does the Federal Reserve Affect Asset Prices?. Journal of economic Dynamics and Control. 19: 1199-1222.
Spindt, Paul A. and Vefa Tarhan. 1993. Bank Reserve Adjustment Process and the Use of Reserve Carryover as a Reserve Management Tool: A Reply. Journal of Banking and Finance. 13: 37-40.
Spindt, Paul A. and Vefa Tarhan. 1993. Performance Economies Associated with Small and Medium-Sized Banks. Journal of Banking and Finance.
Tarhan, Vefa. 1993. Policy and Volatility of Asset Returns. Journal of Economics and Business. 45: 269-283.
Strongin, Steve and Vefa Tarhan. 1990. Money Supply Announcements and the Market's Perception of Federal Reserve Policy. Journal of Money, Cedit and Banking. 22(2): 135-153.
Spindt, Paul A. and Vefa Tarhan. 1987. The Federal Reserve's New Operating Procedures: A Post Mortem. Journal of Monetary Economics . 19: 107-123.
Tarhan, Vefa. 1987. Unanticipated Interest Rates, Bank Stock Returns and the Nominal Contracting Hypothesis. Journal of Banking and Finance . 11: 99-115.
Spindt, Paul A. and Vefa Tarhan. 1984. Bank Reserve Adjustment Process and the Use of Reserve Carryover as a Reserve Management Tool. Journal of Monetary Economics. 8: 5-20.
Tarhan, Vefa and Paul A. Spindt. 1983. Bank Earning Asset Behavior and Causality Between Reserves and Money: Lagged versus Contemporaneous Reserve Accounting. Journal of Monetary Economics. 12: 331-341.
Spindt, Paul A. and Vefa Tarhan. 1980. Liquidity Structure Adjustment Behavior of Large Money Center Banks. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. 12(2): 198-208.
Working Papers
Gatchev, Vladimir, Todd Pulvino and Vefa Tarhan. Forthcoming. The Interdependent and Intertemporal Nature of Financial Decisions: An Application to Cash Flow Sensitivities. Journal of Finance .
Gatchev, Vladimir and Vefa Tarhan. Modeling and Testing Pecking Order.
Gatchev, Vladimir and Vefa Tarhan. The Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2009 Was it Really a Hundred Year Flood.
Jagannathan, Ravi, Iwan Meier and Vefa Tarhan. The Hurdle Rate Premium Puzzle.
Gatchev, Vladimir, Paul A. Spindt and Vefa Tarhan. The Capital Structure Policy: A Time Series Approach.
Meier, Iwan and Vefa Tarhan. Testing the Pecking Order Hypothesis Regression Models versus Surveys.

 
Print Teaching
Full-Time / Part-Time MBA
Finance I (FINC-430-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Analytical Finance, Finance

This course studies the effects of time and uncertainty on decision making. Topics include discounted cash flow valuation, stock and bond valuation, the term structure of interest rates, bond duration, capital budgeting under certainty and uncertainty, portfolio theory, asset pricing models and efficient markets.

Prerequisites: Knowledge of (a) probability and statistics through linear regression and (b) financial accounting. Requirement (a) may be satisfied with prior or concurrent registration in DECS-434, sufficient previous course work in statistics or attending Finance I statistics tutorials (available fall quarter only). Requirement (b) may be satisfied with prior or concurrent registration in ACCT 430 or sufficient previous course work in financial accounting. MECN-430 is recommended.

To qualify for a Finance I (FINC-430) waiver, you must have passed a comparable course with a grade of A. The type and level of material covered in the course are represented by chapters 1-13 and 23 of the text by Brealey and Myers, Principles of Corporate Finance. You need not request a Finance I waiver to enroll in FINC-440 (Turbo). To help you decide whether you should waive Finance I, take the self-assessment test online at www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/finance/curriculum/finance1waiver.htm.

Financial Decisions (FINC-442-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Analytical Finance, Finance.

This course uses case studies to enhance the student's understanding of managerial financial decision making, specifically investment and financing decisions. Topics include short- and long-term financing, capital structure and dividend decisions, cost of capital, capital budgeting, firm valuation, financial and operational restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions. The course emphasizes the basic principles of corporate finance and is sufficiently general so as to be of interest to all students. The course provides students with the opportunity to apply the concepts and theories developed in other finance courses. At its most fundamental level, the course attempts to improve problem-solving skills: problem definition, gathering and organizing the relevant information, developing feasible alternative courses of action, evaluating alternative choices, and recommending and defending the best course of action.