The European Finance Association has held its 35th Annual Meeting in Athens (Vouliagmeni), Greece, August 27-30, 2008.

There were 1359 papers submitted to EFA 2008. Only 222 were included in the academic program, making it one of the most selective conferences in the field.

The papers presented at EFA 2008 can be downloaded through SSRN:
http://www.ssrn.com/link/EFA-2008-Athens.html

As in previous years, a one-day workshop for doctoral students was held on August 27th 2008.

The conference also included a Symposium on Endowment and Philanthropic Institutions Asset Management. Professor Elroy Dimson was the coordinator for the Symposium's academic program.

The Keynote Speaker of the 2008 EFA Annual Meeting was Professor Myron Scholes, 1997 Nobel Laureate in Economics. Follow this link here for a short description.


Maria Vassalou, PhD
Chair, EFA 2008
President-Elect of EFA

After Conference News

Awards

• Best Papers at EFA 2008:
  
• Best EFA / EIASM Doctoral Tutorial paper
  (sponsored by Chicago Quantitative Alliance − CQA, and Laws & Economics Consulting Group − LECG, for the best PhD paper on Investments)
  − Laurent Frésard, University of Neuchâtel
  “Financial Strength and Product Market Behaviors: The Real Effect of Corporate Cash Holdings”
  
• Best paper published in the Review of Finance (RoF)
  (sponsored by Goldman Sachs Asset Management − GSAM)
  − Sheridan Titman, University of Texas at Austin
  − Sergey Tsyplakov, University of South Carolina
  “A Dynamic Model of Optimal Capital Structure”
  
• Best symposium paper on Foundation and Endowment Asset Management
  (sponsored by Commonfund)
  − Stephen G. Dimmock, Michigan State University
  “Portfolio Choice, Background Risk, and University Endowment Funds”
• Best paper on Corporate Finance
  (sponsored by Laws & Economics Consulting Group − LECG)
  − Antonio Falato, Federal Reserve Board
  “Superstars or Superlemons? Top Executive Pay and Corporate Acquisitions”
  
• Best EFA 2008 Conference paper
  (sponsored by Eurobank EFG)
  − Benjamin J. Keys, University of Michigan
  − Tanmoy Mukherjee, Sorin Capital Management
  − Amit Seru, University of Chicago
  − Vikrant Vig, London Business School
  “Did Securitization Lead to Lax Screening? Evidence from Subprime Loans”

• Honorary Awards presented to Past Presidents at EFA 2008:
  
• 1976-77  -   André Farber
  (presented by Bruno Gérard)
• 1984-85  -   Richard Stapleton
  (presented by Pradeep Yadav)
• 2007 -   Rajna Gibson
  (presented by Arnoud Boot)