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David Becher, PhD

Dean's Industry Fellow, Professor

Finance

Biography

Dr. David Becher is the Dean’s Industry Fellow, Professor of Finance, faculty for Corporate and Executive Education, and Fellow for the Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute at Drexel’s LeBow College of Business. His research centers on mergers, governance, and banking/deregulation, where he focuses on the actions of boards and executives and the impact of conflicts of interest. Dr. Becher has worked with a number of Fortune 500 as well as private corporations through consulting and executive education programs. His research helps explains how corporations are run, how they are impacted by a changing competitive landscape, and how they evolve over time.

Dr. Becher has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, CNN, Dow Jones Newswire, Fox Business News, LA Times, Reuters, among others and provided media interviews to NBC News, CNN News, NPR Marketplace, WHYY, and CN8. His work has been published in the Journal of Financial Economics, Management Science, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and others. He earned a B.A. in Economics and International Relations at the College of William and Mary, specialized in International Economics at the University de Montpellier, France, and obtained his Ph.D. concentrating in Finance at the Pennsylvania State University. He has been awarded two University-wide honors: (1) 2020 Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award, and (2) 2019 Outstanding Mentor of the Year for STAR (Students Tackling Advanced Research) program.

Areas of Expertise

  • Banking and Bank Regulation
  • Corporate Governance
  • Corporate Control and Mergers and Acquisitions
  • Executive Compensation
  • Board of Directors
  • Finance

Recent Media Mentions

Selected Works

Articles

Nini, Gregory, Griffin, Thomas P., and Becher, David A., Creditor Control of Corporate Acquisitions. Review of Financial Studies 35 (Apr 2022):1897-1932.

Becher, David A., Jensen, Tyler K, and Liu, Tingting, Acquisitions and Funding Conditions. Journal of Corporate Finance 65 (Dec 2020).

Bates, Thomas W, and Becher, David A., Bid Resistance by Takeover Targets: Managerial Bargaining or Bad Faith?. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 52 (Jun 2017):837-866.

Becher, David A., Cohn, Jonathan, and Juergens, Jennifer L., Do Stock Analysts Influence Merger Completion? An Examination of Post-Merger Announcement Recommendations. Management Science 61 (Oct 2015):2430-2448.

Becher, David A., Mulherin, Harold, and Walkling, Ralph A., Industry Shocks and Merger Activity: An Analysis of U.S. Public Utilities. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (Feb 2012).

Becher, David A., and Frye, Melissa B., Does Regulation Substitute or Complement Governance?. Journal of Banking and Finance 35 (Mar 2011):736-751.

Becher, David A., Bidder Returns and Merger Anticipation: Evidence from Banking Deregulation. Journal of Corporate Finance 15 (Feb 2009):85-98.

Bates, Thomas W., Becher, David A., and Lemmon, Michael L., Board Classification and Managerial Entrenchment: Evidence from the Market for Corporate Control. Journal of Financial Economics 87 (Mar 2008):656 – 677.

Becher, David A., Campbell, Terry L., and Frye, Melissa B., Incentive Compensation for Bank Directors: The Impact of Deregulation. Journal of Business 78 (Sep 2005):1753-1777.

Anderson, Christopher W., Becher, David A., and Campbell, Terry L., Bank Mergers, the Market for Bank CEOs, and Managerial Incentives. Journal of Financial Intermediation 13 (Sep 2004):6-27.

Becher, David A., The Valuation Effects of Bank Mergers. Journal of Corporate Finance 6 (Sep 2000):189-214.

Chapters

Becher, David A., “The Valuation Effects of Bank Mergers.” Mergers & Corporate Governance, Ed. J. Harold Mulherin. (2004): :90-115.

Presented Research

Becher, David A., Griffin, Thomas P., and Nini, Gregory, Congruence in Governance: Evidence from Credito…, Western Finance Association Meetings: Huntington Beach, CA, (Jun 2019):

Becher, David A., Griffin, Thomas P., and Nini, Gregory, Creditor Control of Corporate Acquisitions, Financial Intermediation Research Society (FIRS): Savannah, GA, (May 2019):

Bates, Thomas W., Becher, David A., and Wilson, Jared I, Performance-Based Turnover on Corporate Boards, EUROFIDAI International Paris Finance meetings;: Paris, France, (Dec 2018):

Becher, David A., Griffin, Thomas P., and Nini, Gregory, Congruence in Governance: Evidence from Credito…, Cass M&A Research Centre Conference: London, UK, (Aug 2018):

Bates, Thomas W., Becher, David A., and Wilson, Jared I, Performance-Based Turnover on Corporate Boards, European Finance Association (EFA): Manheim, Germany, (Aug 2017):

Bates, Thomas W., Becher, David A., and Wilson, Jared I, Performance-Based Turnover on Corporate Boards, Financial Intermediation Research Society (FIRS): Kowloon, Hong Kong, (Jun 2017):

Bates, Thomas W., Becher, David A., and Wilson, Jared I, Performance-Based Turnover on Corporate Boards, American Finance Association (AFA): Chicago, IL, (Jan 2017):

Becher, David A., and Gordon, Rachel, Why Hire Your Rival? The Case of Bank Debt Underwriting, FDIC-JFSR Fall Banking Research Conference: Washington, DC, (Sep 2016):

Becher, David A., Walkling, Ralph A., and Wilson, Jared I, Board Changes and the Director Labor Market: Th…, Cass M&A Research Centre Conference: London, England, (Aug 2016):

Becher, David A., Performance-Based Turnover on Corporate Boards, Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting: Piscataway, NJ, (Nov 2015):

Becher, David A., Juergens, Jennifer L., and Cohn, Jonathan, Do Stock Analysts Influence Merger Completion? An Examination of Post-Merger Announcement Recommendations, Financial Intermediation Research Society: Dubrovnik, Croatia, (May 2013):

Becher, David A., and Bates, Thomas W., Bid Resistance by Takeover Targets: Manageria…, American Finance Association: Chicago, IL, (Jan 2012):

Becher, David A., Cai, Jie, and Ouyang, Wenjing, Do Shareholders Listen? M&A Advisor Opinions an…, Financial Intermediation Research Society Conference on Banking, Corporate Finance and Intermediation: Sydney Australia, (Jun 2011):

Bates, Thomas W., and Becher, David A., Bid Resistance by Takeover Targets: Managerial Bargaining or Bad Faith?, American Law & Economics Association meetings, Columbia University: New York, NY, (May 2011):

Becher, David A., Cai, Jie, and Ouyang, Wenjing, Do Shareholders Listen? M&A Advisor Opinions and Shareholder Voting, American Law and Economics Association meetings, Princeton University: Princeton, NJ, (May 2010):

Becher, David A., Mulherin, Harold, and Walkling, Ralph A., Industry Shocks and Merger Activity: An Analysis of U.S. Public Utilities, Western Finance Assocation Meetings: Waikoloa, HI, (Jun 2008):

Becher, David A., and Frye, Melissa B., Does Regulation Substitute or Complement Governance?, Financial Intermediation Research Society Conference on Banking, Corporate Finance and Intermediation: Anchorage, AK, (Jun 2008):

Becher, David A., and Juergens, Jennifer, Analyst Recommendations and Mergers: Do Analysts Matter?, 18th Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting (FEA): New York, NY, (Oct 2007):

Proceedings

Becher, David A., Deltas, George, and Pinteris, George, Reconsidering the Degree of Inefficiency of Financial Institutions, Bank Structure and Competition Conference Proceedings May 2006. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Jun 2006):

Becher, David A., and Campbell, Terry L., How do Banks Compete? Strategy, Regulation & Technology, Annual Conference on Bank Structure and Competition May 2004. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Jun 2004):

Becher, David A., Campbell, Terry L., and Frye, Melissa B., Corporate Governance: Implication for Financial Services Firms, Annual Conference on Bank Structure and Competition May 2003. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (Jun 2003):

Education

PhD Finance-Pennsylvania State University 1999

Awards

2022 Dean’s Industry Fellow (LeBow College of Business)
2022 Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2021 Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2021 Dean’s Industry Fellow (LeBow College of Business)
2020 Teaching Excellence Award - Cadre 5 (LeBow College of Business, Vanguard MBA Faculty)
2019 Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2019 Outstanding STAR Mentor (Drexel University)
2019 Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award (Drexel University)
2019 Dean’s Industry Fellow (LeBow College of Business)
2019 Governance Fellow (Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute, LeBow College of Business)
2018 Teaching Excellence Award, Cadre 3 (LeBow College of Business, Vanguard MBA Faculty)
2018 David Cohen Research Scholar in Finance (LeBow College of Business)
2018 Center for Corporate Governance Fellow (Center for Corporate Governance, LeBow College of Business)
2018 Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2017 Teaching Excellence Award, Cadre 2 (LeBow College of Business, Vanguard MBA Faculty)
2017 David Cohen Research Scholar in Finance (LeBow College of Business)
2017 Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2017 Center for Corporate Governance Fellow (Center for Corporate Governance, LeBow College of Business)
2016 Teaching Excellence Award, Cadre 1 (LeBow College of Business, Vanguard MBA Faculty)
2016 Fellow, Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2016 David Cohen Research Scholar in Finance (LeBow College of Business)
2015 Wharton Financial Institutions Center Fellow (University of Pennsylvania)
2014 Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2013 Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2013 Center of Teaching Excellence- Distinguished Fellow (LeBow College Center of Teaching Excellence)
2012 Teaching Fellow (Center for Teaching Excellence, LeBow College of Business)
2009-2012 Research Fellow (LeBow College of Business Center for Research Excellence)
2008-2012 Fellow, Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2008-2009 Best Professor - OYMBA (LeBow College of Business)
2008-2009 Best Professor - Malvern Lead (LeBow College of Business)
2008 Excelling in Teaching Award (LeBow College of Business)
2007-2008 Fellow, Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2007 Excelling in Research Award (LeBow College of Business)
2007 Drexel Class of 2007 Undergraduate recipient, Excellence in Teaching Award (LeBow College of Business)
2006-2007 Fellow, Wharton Financial Institutions Center (University of Pennsylvania)
2005 Drexel Student-Athletes Make a Difference Award (Drexel University)
2004 Excelling in Teaching Award (LeBow College of Business)

Service

Financial Review – Associate Editor (2020–Present)