Xavier Giroud

Xavier Giroud, who graduated from NYU Stern’s PhD program in May 2011, headed to MIT as an Assistant Professor of Finance. He credits the faculty support and mentorship he received during the program as one of the main contributors to his success. “Having professors who were always very accessible and always willing to spend time on me was key in learning how to conduct research. Moreover, the quality of the finance faculty meant I always had experienced scholars to confront my ideas with,” says Xavier.

While pursuing his PhD, Xavier co-authored two notable articles on corporate governance with NYU Stern Finance Professor Holger Mueller, which were published in the Journal of Finance and the Journal of Financial Economics, two of the top finance journals. These articles provide empirical evidence suggesting that better corporate governance improves firms' performance only in industries that lack sufficient competitive pressure. In contrast, in highly competitive industries, competitive pressure already enforces sufficient discipline on managers, and improvements in corporate governance consequently add little additional value.

Xavier received the Herman E. Krooss Award for the best doctoral dissertation at Stern’s graduation. In his dissertation, Xavier examines how proximity to corporate headquarters influences plant-level outcomes. He found that the introduction of new airline routes that reduce the travel time between headquarters and plants leads to a significant increase in both plant-level investment and productivity.

Xavier is originally from Switzerland. He earned a M.A. from the University of St. Gallen, majoring in quantitative economics and finance, before coming to Stern.