Mauricio Medeiros Junior

Mauricio Medeiros Junior

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    2432 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall, 3620 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: Empirical Corporate Finance, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Labor and Finance, and Corporate Governance

Links: CV

Overview

I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Finance at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. I have a B.Sc. in Economics from the Universidade de Brasília (UnB) and a M.Sc. in Economics from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (EPGE-FGV/RJ). My research interests include empirical corporate finance, entrepreneurship, innovation, labor and finance, and corporate governance.

My research focuses on the importance of human capital for startup financing and growth. In particular, my job market paper analyzes the relevance of founders for startup financing obtained through bank credit. The paper establishes empirically how much human capital brought by founders matters for the capacity of their firms to be financed and how founders contribute critical resources to their firms.

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Research

  • Job Market Paper 

Human Capital and Startup Financing with Bernardus Van Doornik

We establish the relevance of human capital to startup financing. Using administrative databases from the Central Bank of Brazil, we obtain information on private firms, their founders and their access to bank credit. Our empirical strategy is based on the premature death of founders, which allows us to identify how losing founders’ human capital affects startup financing. The results show that once a founder dies unexpectedly, there is a decrease in the amount of credit and an increase in interest rates and default rates. These findings are mainly driven by the death of founders who are also managers in the firm, which is consistent with the theory of founders contributing critical resources to their firms.

  • Work in Progress

Startup Compensation and Team Stability with Tong Liu

It is of uttermost importance for startups to have a stable team, in particular during downturns. This paper studies compensation structure within startups and how it affects the stability of their teams. Using a Brazilian database on private firms and exogenous changes of exchange rate between Brazil and its main exporting destinations as a quasi natural experiment, we observe that during downturns founders reduce their own wages while compensation of employees does not change. This pattern is associated with a lower probability of worker leaving or being fired. Our evidence uncovers a new channel through which startups adjust labor compensation structure to provide insurance to their workers guaranteeing team stability.

Teaching

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

  • FNCE750, Venture Capital and the Finance of Innovation, Professor Vinay Nair (EMBA and West EMBA) – Spring 2019
  • FNCE750, Venture Capital and the Finance of Innovation, Professor Luke Taylor (MBA) – Spring 2018 and Fall 2018
  • FNCE250, Venture Capital and the Finance of Innovation, Professor Sylvain Catherine – Spring 2019

Universidade de Brasília (UnB)

  • Quantitative Economics (undergraduate) – Spring 2010
  • Introduction to Econometrics (undergraduate) – Fall 2011
  • Macroeconomics I (undergraduate) – Spring 2011 and Spring 2012

Awards and Honors

  • Mack Institute Research Grant, University of Pennsylvania – 2019
  • The Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Grant, University of Pennsylvania – 2019
  • The Doctoral Program Fellowship, The Wharton School – 2016 – 2021
  • CNPq Fellowship – 2014 – 2015

 

    Knowledge@Wharton

    What Rising Inflation Means for Stock Investors

    Familiar hedging options like commodities are no longer safe havens against core inflation, according to new research co-authored by Wharton's Nikolai Roussanov.

    Knowledge @ Wharton - 7/20/2021
    How Contractors Can Successfully Manage from the Outside

    Contractors are outsiders who don’t have the social capital needed to be effective managers, but new research from Wharton’s Peter Cappelli shows how they are leveraging their outsider status for the win.

    Knowledge @ Wharton - 7/20/2021
    Learning to Be a Better Leader

    In his latest book, 'The Edge,' Wharton management professor Michael Useem profiles 10 chief executives and shares their strategies for sustained success.

    Knowledge @ Wharton - 7/20/2021