Ulrike Malmendier
Professor | Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance | Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, UNITED STATES
Leading expert on behavioral science, behavioral finance, and corporate finance.
Areas of Expertise (7)
Behavioral Finance
Behavioral Economics
Corporate Finance
Law and Finance
Contract Theory
Economics of Organizations
Law and Economics
About
Ulrike Malmendier is the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance at Berkeley Haas and Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley. Her research interests include corporate finance, behavioral economics/behavioral finance; economics of organizations; contract theory; law and economics; law and finance. Her area of focus is the intersection of economics and finance, and why and how individuals make decision—specifically how individuals make mistakes and systematically biased decisions. Some of her work includes research on CEO overconfidence, the long-term frugality of Depression “babies” and the decision-making behind gym membership.
In 2013, Malmendier was awarded the prestigious Fisher Black Prize from the American Finance Association, given biennially to the top financial scholar under the age of 40. The award citation referred to Malmendier’s work in corporate finance; behavioral economics and finance; and contract theory and noted the originality and creativity of her research.
Malmendier has received fellowships and grants from numerous institutions in the U.S. and Europe and many honors, awards, and prizes, including the 2017 Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, as well as several Emerald Citations of Excellence by Emerald and Distinguished or Keynote Speaker engagements. In 2015 she was awarded the Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California at Berkeley’s most prestigious honor for teaching.
She received her PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University in 2002, and her PhD in Law (summa cum laude) from the University of Bonn in 2000. She joined Berkeley in 2006 as an Assistant Professor, after having been at Stanford as Assistant Professor of Finance since 2002. She is also a research associate at NBER—Corporate Finance and Labor Economics—and a faculty research fellow at IZA, a CESifo affiliate, and a CEPR research affiliate. She has been a Visiting Scholar at the Max-Planck Institute in Bonn, a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University, and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Education (6)
Harvard University: PhD, Business Economics
Harvard University: AM, Business Economics
University of Bonn: PhD, Law
University of Bonn: MA, Economics
University of Bonn: BA equiv., Law
University of Bonn: BA, Economics
Links (7)
Honors & Awards (15)
Gustav Stolper Prize
Verein für Socialpolitik (German Economic Association) 2019
JFE Best Paper Prize
(Jensen Prize for Corporate Finance and Organizations, 1st prize) 2017
Guggenheim Fellow
2017
Thomson Reuter Highly Cited Researcher
2016
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2016
Bessel Prize for Outstanding Research, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
2015
Thomson Reuter Highly Cited Researcher
2015
FMA Europe Best Paper award
“M&A Negotiations and Lawyer Expertise” 2015
Citation of Excellence by Emerald Management Reviews
(one of the 50 best articles published in management in 2014) for the paper “Who makes acquisitions? CEO overconfidence and the market’s reaction” 2015
Distinguished Teaching Award, University of California, Berkeley
2015
The Fischer Black Prize
Awarded biennially by the AFA to a leading finance scholar under 40 2013
“Rising Star in Finance” award, Fordham/NYU Rising Stars Conference
New York 2012
Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow
2010 - 2012
Citation of Excellence by Emerald Management Reviews
2009
Fellow, The Econometric Society
2021
Selected External Service & Affiliations (11)
- Guest Associate Editor, Management Science, Special Issue on Behavioral Economics and Finance
- Associate Editor, Journal of the European Economic Association
- Associate Editor, Journal of Financial Intermediation
- Associate Editor, Economic Journal
- American Finance Association, Western Finance Association, Financial Management Association, European Finance Association, Financial Intermediation Research Society (FIRS) conference, Annual Conference in Corporate Finance
- Washington University
- Memberships: Econometric Society, American Economic Association, American Finance Association
- Referee Service: Academy of Management Review, American Economic Review, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, Econometrica, Economic Journal, Economic Letters, Experimental Economics, Financial Management, Games and Economic Behavior, German Economic Review, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Economic Literature, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Journal of European Economic Association, Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Industrial Economics, Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Public Economic Theory, Labour Economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Management Science, RAND Journal of Economics, Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economics and Statistics, Review of Finance, Review of Financial Studies
- 2009-present: Telecom Council of Silicon Valley. Industry panels on IoT; SD-WAN; connected car; AI; unlicensed spectrum; national broadband plan; entertainment; wireless and government policy; 5G; small cells; and more
- 2014-present: Japan Society of Northern California. Opportunities in the On-Demand Economy; Sharing Economy in Japan; global venture capital; Silicon Valley’s return to Japan; venture capital; and more
- September 2014: CTIA – The Wireless Association, SuperMobility Conference.
Languages (2)
- German
- Italian
Positions Held (2)
At Haas since 2010
2012 – present, Professor of Finance, Haas School of Business 2012 – present, Professor of Economics, University of California Berkeley 2009 – present, Research Associate, Corporate Finance and Labor Economics, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) 2007 – present, Research Affiliate, Financial Economics, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) 2006 – present, Research Affiliate, Labour Economics, CEPR 2006 – present, Affiliate, CESifo 2005 – present, Faculty Research Fellow, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) 2010 – 2012, Associate Professor of Finance (with tenure), Haas School of Business 2008 – 2012, Associate Professor of Economics (with tenure), University of California, Berkeley 2006 – 2009, Faculty Research Fellow, Corporate Finance, NBER 2006 – 2008, Assistant Professor of Economics, UC Berkeley 2004 – 2009, Faculty Research Fellow, Labor Economics, NBER 2002 – 2006, Assistant Professor of Finance, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Visiting Positions
2005, Visiting Fellow, Department of Economics, Princeton University 2005, Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago 2000, Visiting Scholar, Max Planck Institute "Law of Common Goods," Bonn (Germany) 1998, Visiting Scholar, Nuttfield College, Oxford University
Media Appearances (20)
Steering Toward Sustainable Growth
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco online
2022-04-20
Mary C. Daly, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said in a speech that the longer inflation remains high, the more risk there is that rising prices will become part of public psychology. She cited research co-authored by Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, who found that individuals form inflation expectations based on realized inflation during their lifetimes.
Beyond 'The Great Resignation': How the U.S. Job Market Broke
KQED online
2022-02-11
Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, discussed the so-called “Great Resignation" interpreting what the data means. Malmendier said the U.S. is in quite an unusual situation compared to the rest of the world. The rate of quitting in the U.Ss is at an all time high, which surprised many economists, she said. She added that the teaching and healthcare industries are experiencing particular employee burnout.
The best way to quit your job is to hire a celebrity on Cameo to do it for you
Mashable online
2021-12-15
In August, 4.3 million Americans, or 2.9 percent of the entire workforce, quit their jobs. They've done it for a variety of reasons, from low pay to family pressure to boredom. But one huge reason, according to Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, is because the pandemic and remote work have "changed the way we view our lives and the world."
Worried About Inflation? Here’s What That May Reveal About You.
The New York Times online
2021-12-14
The way people feel about inflation varies. Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, has found that response to inflation depends on past experiences, which “explains the substantial disagreement between young and old individuals in periods of high inflation,” she said.
This is your brain on high inflation: ‘scarcity’ and financial anxiety
MarketWatch online
2021-11-16
Inflation puts a hit on a person’s wallet, but it can also impose a psychological toll. Discomfort, anxiety, scaled-down spending are some of the ways people may react to increasing prices, according to Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, who researches how crisis events influence future actions. “Temporary or not, that’s an experience to people and it will leave its mark,” said Malmendier.
Opinions about opinions
Investors' Chronicle online
2021-11-16
Investors think they make fact-based decisions, but it’s more complicated than that because what they experience in their formative years also matters. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, has shown that people who experienced hard times in their youth own fewer equities even decades later than those who experienced good times.
People are leaving jobs more than ever before
News-Press NOW online
2021-11-10
In this op-ed, the writer mentions research by Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance. Malmendier believes that teleworking, homeschooling, and other social and economic changes that occurred during the pandemic will continue to shape our choices long after the viral danger of Covid recedes. At the very least, many people will have switched careers.
Reexamining retention strategies in the ‘Great Resignation’ era
Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly online
2021-11-09
In August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that 4.3 million Americans, or 2.9% of the entire workforce, quit their jobs. One common motivation is a need to reassess what matters most in a time when the pandemic and the rise of remote work have altered how we view our lives, according to Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance.
How crises rewire our brains
VoxTalks Economics radio
2021-10-29
Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, discusses how her research found that many people act differently after living through a crisis. Big events can exert long-term influence. “At this point we have accumulated enough evidence to show (the impact) is long-lasting,” she said.
Calling it quits
Yahoo! News online
2021-10-29
Some people are quitting their jobs, inspired by new dreams that they’ve discovered during the pandemic—or maybe just because they hate their jobs. Research by Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, theorizes that the pandemic and remote work have changed the way people view their lives and the world.
Why are so many Americans quitting their jobs?
NPR's Planet Money online
2021-10-09
In a new working paper, Ulrike Malmendier, Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, suggests there's something existential behind the Great Resignation: The pandemic and the rise of remote work have changed the way we view our lives and the world.
How Stress Affects CEO Aging and Mortality
Knowledge@Wharton online
2021-09-28
Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, found that the average CEO’s lifespan increased by two years when anti-takeover laws insulated them from corporate raiders, but decreased by 1.5 years when faced with an industry-wide downturn. Exposure to a “distress shock” during the Great Recession caused them to age faster.
What Is Life Like Now for the Pandemic Generation?
Greater Good Magazine online
2021-09-09
Students will be impacted later in life by their pandemic experiences. Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance. Malmendier studies how financial turmoil early in life can shape a person’s long-term attitudes and decisions.
Seasons of change: How challenge and crisis will shape the pandemic generation
UC Berkeley News online
2021-08-30
Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, has studied how experiences shape behavior and how crisis rewires the brain. “I haven’t yet studied the Class of 2022,” she said, “but my bet is that there will be some implications in risk attitudes, in social behavior, in job choices and career path that will be detectable years and decades from now.” She said this generation has gone through a traumatizing experience "that will be deeply ingrained."
Who Is Right about Inflation?
Chicago Booth Review online
2021-08-09
Consumers seem unfazed by inflation, apparently already operating with the understanding that prices are rising fast. Work co-authored by Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, has found that grocery prices have a big influence on consumer expectations about inflation. Moreover, women and men in households tend to have different expectations of inflation, with women expecting higher inflation, possibly because they shop more often.
Paying Australians $300 to get vaccinated would be value for money
The Conversation online
2021-08-03
Paying people to get a vaccine may work: Research on small payments shows they are extraordinarily effective, and often more effective than big ones. A study co-authored by Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, found that a small gift persuaded the subject of an experiment to award contracts to one of two fictional companies 68% of the time instead of the expected 50%.
Why we lose track of spending in a cashless society
Financial Times online
2021-06-17
The endlessly renewable subscription seems like a convenience, but it’s no gift to consumers. Stefano DellaVigna, the Daniel Koshland, Sr., Distinguished Professor of Economics, and Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, compared consumers paying for health club memberships in three different ways: with a 10-visit pass, on an annual membership and with an auto-renewing monthly subscription. The monthly consumers paid nearly twice as much per gym visit in the end.
There’s a Big Divergence Developing in Inflation Expectations
Bloomberg online
2021-06-15
Research by Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, found that expectations about issues such as inflation are influenced not only by fact, but by personal experience. She found that expectations are history-dependent and young people put more weight on what has happened recently than older people do.
Here's Why Facebook's Q1 Earnings Report Is Bad News for Your Business
Inc. online
2021-05-25
Facebook’s recent revenue bump stems from the way the company sells ads today: by creating an auction environment that forces brands to bid against one another in real time for inventory. The problem with auctions is they consistently make bidders act irrationally, a finding backed up by research co-authored by Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance.
Economics profession needs greater diversity to enhance innovative thinking
The Irish Times online
2021-05-21
At the annual conference of the Irish Economic Association, Prof. Ulrike Malmendier, the Edward J. and Mollie Arnold Professor of Finance, presented her research on how past experiences affect financial choices. Those who grew up in Depression-era America were much more risk-averse, and less likely to invest in the stock market, she found.
Selected Papers & Publications (20)
Exposure to Grocery Prices and Inflation Expectations
Journal of Political Economy
Ulrike Malmendier, F. D'Acunto, J. Ospina and M. Weber
Forthcoming
Behavioral Corporate Finance: Life Cycle of a CEO Career
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance
Ulrike Malmendier and M. Guenzel
2020
The Making of Hawks and Doves: Inflation Experiences on the FOMC
Journal of Monetary Economics
Ulrike Malmendier, S. Nagel and Z. Yan
2020
Investor Experiences and Financial Market Dynamics
Journal of Financial Economics
Ulrike Malmendier, D. Pouzo and V. Vanasco
2020
Investor Experiences and International Capital Flows
Journal of International Economics
Ulrike Malmendier, D. Pouzo and V. Vanasco
2020
Emotional Tagging and Belief Formation - The Long-Lasting Effects of Experiencing Communism
AEA Papers & Proceedings
Ulrike Malmendier, C. Laundenbach and Niessen-Ruenzi
2019
Behavioral Corporate Finance
Handbook of Behavioral Economics
Ulrike Malmendier, D. Bernheim, S. DellaVigna, and D. Laibson
2018
Winning by Losing: Evidence on Overbidding in Mergers
Review of Financial Studies
Ulrike Malmendier, E. Moretti and F. Peters
2018
Winning by Losing: Evidence on Overbidding in Mergers
Review of Financial Studies.
Ulrike Malmendier, E. Moretti and F. Peters
2016
Learning from Inflation Experiences
Quarterly Journal of Economics
Ulrike Malmendier and S. Nagel
2016
Target revaluation after failed takeover attempts: Cash versus stock
Journal of Financial Economics
Ulrike Malmendier, M. Opp and F. Saidi
2016
Voting to Tell Others
Review of Economic Studies
Ulrike Malmendier, S. DellaVigna, J. List and G. Rao
2015
On the Verges of Overconfidence
Journal of Economic Perspectives
Ulrike Malmendier and Timothy Taylor
2015
Depression Babies: Do Macroeconomic Experiences Affect Risk-Taking?
Quarterly Journal of Economics
Ulrike Malmendier and Stefan Nagel
2011
Contractibility and the Design of Research Agreements
American Economics Review
Ulrike Malmendier and Josh Lerner
2010
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