I am a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California Berkeley -
School of Law for the 2008-09 academic year. I received a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in the
Jurisprudence and Social Policy department, and a J.D. from the University of Michigan. 

My research interests include corporate law, law and economics, venture capital
contracting, and other areas related to business regulation. My dissertation examines the
role of independent directors and the risk of opportunistic conduct in firms financed by
venture capital. 

Articles

PDF

Charity, Publicity, and the Donation Registry (with Robert Cooter), The Economists' Voice (2006)
Many Americans donate little or nothing to charity, but according to Robert Cooter and Brian...
 

Working Papers

PDF

Charity and Information: Correcting the Failure of a Disjunctive Social Norm (with Robert Cooter) (2009)
Charitable donations fund social goods that the state and markets undersupply. Despite widespread belief in...
 

PDF

The Role of Independent Directors in VC-Backed Firms (2008)
This paper seeks to explain the widespread use of independent directors in the governance of...
 

PDF

Independent Directors and Board Control in Venture Finance (2008)
The financial contracting literature treats control as an indivisible right held either by a firm’s...
 

PDF

Renegotiation of Cash Flow Rights in the Sale of VC-Backed Firms (with Jesse Fried), Journal of Financial Economics (forthcoming) (2008)
Incomplete contracting theory suggests that VC cash flow rights – including liquidation preferences – may...