Information

Personalborn in 1957 in Ireland.

EducationPh.D. in Economics, London School of Economics, 1986.

Academic AppointmentsBarbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business, Columbia University (2005 - Present). President of the American Finance Association in 2015. Founder member and Fellow of ECGI (2002 - present). International Advisor, China Finance 40 Forum (CF40) (2017 - present).

Research Field

Prof. Bolton's research and areas of interest are in contract theory and contracting issues in corporate finance and industrial organization. A central focus of his work is on the allocation of control and decision rights to contracting parties when long-term contracts are incomplete. This issue is relevant in many different contracting areas including: the firm's choice of optimal debt structure, corporate governance and the firm's optimal ownership structure, vertical integration, and constitution design. His work in industrial organization focuses on antitrust economics and the potential anticompetitive effects of various contracting practices.