Nikolai Roussanov

Current Courses (Fall 2024)

• BEPP2020 - Con Fin Decision Making

  Research shows that many individuals are profoundly underinformed about important financial facts and financial products, which frequently lead them to make mistakes and lose money. Moreover, consumer finance comprises an enormous sector of the economy, including products like credit cards, student loans, mortgages, retail banking, insurance, and a wide variety of retirement savings vehicles and investment alternatives. Additionally, recent breakthroughs in the FinTech arena are integrating innovative approaches to help consumers. Though virtually all people use these products, many find financial decisions to be confusing and complex, rendering them susceptible to fraud and deception. As a result, government regulation plays a major role in these markets. This course intended for Penn undergraduates considers economic models of household decisions and examines evidence on how consumers are managing (and mismanaging) their finances. Although academic research has historically placed more attention on corporate finance, household finance is receiving a brighter spotlight now-- partly due to its role in the recent financial crisis. Thus the course is geared toward those seeking to take charge of their own financial futures, anyone interested in policy debates over consumer financial decision making, and future FinTech entrepreneurs.

  BEPP2020401 ( Syllabus )

  BEPP2020402 ( Syllabus )

• FNCE2020 - Con Fin Decision Making

  Research shows that many individuals are profoundly underinformed about important financial facts and financial products, which frequently lead them to make mistakes and lose money. Moreover, consumer finance comprises an enormous sector of the economy, including products like credit cards, student loans, mortgages, retail banking, insurance, and a wide variety of retirement savings vehicles and investment alternatives. Additionally, recent breakthroughs in the FinTech arena are integrating innovative approaches to help consumers. Though virtually all people use these products, many find financial decisions to be confusing and complex, rendering them susceptible to fraud and deception. As a result, government regulation plays a major role in these markets. This course intended for Penn undergraduates considers economic models of household decisions and examines evidence on how consumers are managing (and mismanaging) their finances. Although academic research has historically placed more attention on corporate finance, household finance is receiving a brighter spotlight now-- partly due to its role in the recent financial crisis. Thus the course is geared toward those seeking to take charge of their own financial futures, anyone interested in policy debates over consumer financial decision making, and future FinTech entrepreneurs.

  FNCE2020401 ( Syllabus )

  FNCE2020402 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

• BEPP2020 - Con Fin Decision Making

  Research shows that many individuals are profoundly underinformed about important financial facts and financial products, which frequently lead them to make mistakes and lose money. Moreover, consumer finance comprises an enormous sector of the economy, including products like credit cards, student loans, mortgages, retail banking, insurance, and a wide variety of retirement savings vehicles and investment alternatives. Additionally, recent breakthroughs in the FinTech arena are integrating innovative approaches to help consumers. Though virtually all people use these products, many find financial decisions to be confusing and complex, rendering them susceptible to fraud and deception. As a result, government regulation plays a major role in these markets. This course intended for Penn undergraduates considers economic models of household decisions and examines evidence on how consumers are managing (and mismanaging) their finances. Although academic research has historically placed more attention on corporate finance, household finance is receiving a brighter spotlight now-- partly due to its role in the recent financial crisis. Thus the course is geared toward those seeking to take charge of their own financial futures, anyone interested in policy debates over consumer financial decision making, and future FinTech entrepreneurs.

• FNCE0002 - Essentials of Finance

  This course introduces students to the key financial concepts through the lens of personal financial decisions, centering on financing one's education, culminating in a capstone project evaluating student loan offers.

• FNCE2020 - Con Fin Decision Making

  Research shows that many individuals are profoundly underinformed about important financial facts and financial products, which frequently lead them to make mistakes and lose money. Moreover, consumer finance comprises an enormous sector of the economy, including products like credit cards, student loans, mortgages, retail banking, insurance, and a wide variety of retirement savings vehicles and investment alternatives. Additionally, recent breakthroughs in the FinTech arena are integrating innovative approaches to help consumers. Though virtually all people use these products, many find financial decisions to be confusing and complex, rendering them susceptible to fraud and deception. As a result, government regulation plays a major role in these markets. This course intended for Penn undergraduates considers economic models of household decisions and examines evidence on how consumers are managing (and mismanaging) their finances. Although academic research has historically placed more attention on corporate finance, household finance is receiving a brighter spotlight now-- partly due to its role in the recent financial crisis. Thus the course is geared toward those seeking to take charge of their own financial futures, anyone interested in policy debates over consumer financial decision making, and future FinTech entrepreneurs.

• FNCE7390 - Behavioral Finance

  There is an abundance of evidence suggesting that the standard economic paradigm - rational agents in an efficient market - does not adequately describe behavior in financial markets. In this course, we will survey the evidence and use psychology to guide alternative theories of financial markets. Along the way, we will address the standard argument that smart, profit-seeing agents can correct any distortions caused by irrational investors. Further, we will examine more closely the preferences and trading decisions of individual investors. We will argue that their systematic biases can aggregate into observed market inefficiencies, thus giving rise to apparently profitable trading strategies. The latter part of the course extends the analysis to corporate decision making. We then explore the evidence for both views in the context of capital structure, investment, dividend, and merger decisions. In addition to prerequisites, FNCE 7050 is highly recommended but not required.

• FNCE8990 - Independent Study

  Independent Study Projects require extensive independent work and a considerable amount of writing. ISP in Finance are intended to give students the opportunity to study a particular topic in Finance in greater depth than is covered in the curriculum. The application for ISP's should outline a plan of study that requires at least as much work as a typical course in the Finance Department that meets twice a week. Applications for FNCE 8990 ISP's will not be accepted after the THIRD WEEK OF THE SEMESTER. ISP's must be supervised by a Standing Faculty member of the Finance Department.

• FNCE9210 - Intro Empir Methods Fin

  This course is an introduction to empirical methods commonly employed in finance. It provides the background for FNCE 934, Empirical Research in Finance. The course is organized around empirical papers with an emphasis on econometric methods. A heavy reliance will be placed on analysis of financial data.

• FNCE9330 - International Finance

  To provide an understanding of selected topics of current academic research in the areas of international finance and its intersection with international macroeconomics; to teach interested students the tools for conducting research in this field. Each topic will be developed beginning with early classic papers and then updated through the current status of the profession. The typical target audience comprises students in their second year or later. Prerequisite: Completion of first year course requirements

• AQR Insight Award, 2017
• Jacobs-Levy Equity Management Award, 2017
• Terker Family Prize in Investment Reseach, 2010

• Do You, CEO, Promise to Take Less Risk as Long as You’re the Boss?, Wall Street Journal - 04/27/2014
• Companies headed by unmarried CEOs grow faster, Quartz - 04/27/2014
• Success and the Single Chief Executive, Bloomberg View - 08/17/2011

Knowledge at Wharton

• How Hidden Risk Factors in Corporate Securities Can Reveal Potential Upsides, Knowledge at Wharton - 10/15/2024
• Was Last Week’s Market Chaos an Overreaction? Wharton Finance Professor Explains the “Perfect Storm”, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/15/2024
• How Behavioral Factors Shape Retirement Wealth, Knowledge at Wharton - 7/15/2024
• How Consumers Will Keep Powering GDP Growth, Knowledge at Wharton - 11/6/2023
• What Are the Signs of a Recession? | Nikolai Roussanov, Knowledge at Wharton - 10/17/2023
• Win the Race for Higher Risk-adjusted Stock Returns, Knowledge at Wharton - 3/28/2023
• Inflation and Interest Rates: What’s Ahead?, Knowledge at Wharton - 7/19/2022
• Can the U.S. Avoid a Recession?, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/26/2022
• How Economic Sanctions Are Affecting Russia, Knowledge at Wharton - 3/15/2022
• What Investors Can Expect from High Inflation and Rate Hikes, Knowledge at Wharton - 2/1/2022