Karin S. Thorburn
- Adjunct Full Professor of Finance
Contact Information
- Primary Email:
karinsi@wharton.upenn.edu - Mobile Phone:
6037854074
- office Address:
Steinberg-Dietrich Hall
3620 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Overview
Karin S. Thorburn is an Adjunct Full Professor of Finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Research Chair Professor of Finance at NHH Norwegian School of Economics. Prior to joining NHH in 2009, she was a faculty member at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College for 11 years.
Thorburn’s research focuses on takeovers, bankruptcy, IPOs, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility. She regularly publishes in the top academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Management Science, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.
Thorburn is a Research Associate of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) in London, a Research Affiliate of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) in Brussels, a Council member of the Society for Financial Studies (SFS), and a Director of the Financial Management Association International (FMA).
She is a Director of the boards of Maritime & Merchant Bank ASA, Preferred Global Health AS, Global LNG Services AS, and Falck Advisory AS. In 2021, she was a member of an expert group that assessed the impact of climate change on the investment strategy of the Norwegian oil fund.
Thorburn holds a Ph.D. in financial economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Research
Thorburn’s research focuses on takeovers, bankruptcy, IPOs, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility.
B. Espen Eckbo, Knut Nygaard, Karin Thorburn (2021), Valuation effects of Norway’s board gender-quota law revisited, Management Science. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4031
B. Espen Eckbo, Malenko, Andrey, Karin Thorburn (2020), Strategic decisions in takeover auctions: Recent developments, Annual Review of Financial Economics, 12, pp. 237-276.
Karin Thorburn, B. Espen Eckbo, Tanakorn Makaew (2018), Are stock-financed takeovers opportunistic?, Journal of Financial Economics, 128 (3), pp. 443-465.
Karin Thorburn, Tore Leite, Einar Bakke (2016), Partial Adjustment to Public Information in the Pricing of IPOs, Journal of Financial Intermediation, forthcoming.
Karin Thorburn, Wei Wang, B. Espen Eckbo (2016), How costly is corporate bankruptcy for the CEO?, Journal of Financial Economics, 121 (1), pp. 210-229.
Karin Thorburn, B. Espen Eckbo, Rex Thompson, Sandra Betton (2014), Merger negotiations with stock market Feedback, Journal of Finance, 69 (4), pp. 1704-1745.
Karin Thorburn and B. Espen Eckbo (2013), Corporate Restructuring, Foundations and Trends in Finance, 7 (3), pp. 159-288.
Karin Thorburn, B. Espen Eckbo, Xunhua Su (Draft), Penalty-free prepayments, credit rationing and the use of upfront fees in bank loans.
Karin Thorburn and Karen Fisher-Vanden (2011), Voluntary corporate environmental initiatives and shareholder wealth, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 62 (3), pp. 430-455.
Karin Thorburn, Sandra Betton, B. Espen Eckbo (2009), Merger negotiations and the Toehold Puzzle, Journal of Financial Economics, 91, pp. 158-178.
Teaching
Current Courses (Fall 2023)
FNCE7510 - Fnce Of Buyouts & Acqs
The course focuses on financial tools, techniques, and best practices used in buyouts (financial buyers) and acquisitions (strategic buyers). While it will touch upon various strategic, organizational, and general management issues, the main lens for studying these transactions will be a financial one. It will explore how different buyers approach the process of finding, evaluating, and analyzing opportunities in the corporate-control market; how they structure deals and how deal structure affects both value creation and value division; how they add value after transaction completion; and how they realize their ultimate objectives (such as enhanced market position or a profitable exit). The course is divided into two broad modules. The first module covers mergers and acquisitions, and the second one studies buyouts by private equity partnerships. FNCE 7030 or FNCE 7070 are recommended.
FNCE7510001 ( Syllabus )
FNCE7510002 ( Syllabus )
FNCE7510003 ( Syllabus )
All Courses
FNCE2510 - Fnce of Buyouts & Acqs
The course focuses on financial tools, techniques, and best practices used in buyouts (financial buyers) and acquisitions (strategic buyers). While it will touch upon various strategic, organizational, and general management issues, the main lens for studying these transactions will be a financial one. It will explore how different buyers approach the process of finding, evaluating, and analyzing opportunities in the corporate-control market; how they structure deals and how deal structure affects both value creation and value division; how they add value after transaction completion; and how they realize their ultimate objectives (such as enhanced market position or a profitable exit). The course is divided into two broad modules. The first module covers mergers and acquisitions, and the second one studies buyouts by private equity partnerships. FNCE 2030 or FNCE 2070 are recommended.
FNCE7510 - Fnce of Buyouts & Acqs
The course focuses on financial tools, techniques, and best practices used in buyouts (financial buyers) and acquisitions (strategic buyers). While it will touch upon various strategic, organizational, and general management issues, the main lens for studying these transactions will be a financial one. It will explore how different buyers approach the process of finding, evaluating, and analyzing opportunities in the corporate-control market; how they structure deals and how deal structure affects both value creation and value division; how they add value after transaction completion; and how they realize their ultimate objectives (such as enhanced market position or a profitable exit). The course is divided into two broad modules. The first module covers mergers and acquisitions, and the second one studies buyouts by private equity partnerships. FNCE 7030 or FNCE 7070 are recommended.