Mike Cooper
Chair, Finance Department; A. Blaine Huntsman Presidential Chair in Finance, Professor; Sam Stewart Presidential Chair; David Eccles Faculty Fellow & Faculty Scholar
Department of Finance
Faculty, Tenure Track
Dr. Michael J. Cooper’s primary research and teaching interests are in the area of investments. His current research is focused on equity returns predictability, related data-snooping issues, and the behavior of mutual fund investors.
Professor Cooper’s research has appeared in numerous academic journals including the Journal of Business, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Finance, and The Review of Financial Studies. His research has won several awards, including the 2000 Barclays Global Investors Award from the European Finance Association. His research has been frequently covered in the popular press, with citations in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Financial Times, and many others.
Ph.D. in Finance, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1996
B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1986
Dr. Cooper’s primary research and teaching interests are in the area of investments. His current research is focused on equity returns predictability, data-snooping issues in return predictability studies, the effects of firm political donations on stock returns, and the behavior of mutual fund investors.
FINAN 4050 – Intermiate Investments
FINAN 4999 – Honors Thesis/Project
FINAN 6360 – Investment & Portfolio Management
Teaching Interest
Finance 4050, 6360 and 7830
“The Critical Role of Conditioning Information in Determining if Value is Really Riskier than Growth,” with Stefano Gubellini, Journal of Empirical Finance, 18, 289–305, 2011.
“Corporate Political Contributions and Stock Returns,” with Huseyin Gulen and
Alexei Ovtchinnikov, The Journal of Finance, 65, 687-724, 2010.
“What’s the Best Way to Trade Using the January Barometer?,” with John McConnell and Alexei Ovtchinnikov, Journal of Investment Management 8, 58-72, 2010.
“The Asset Growth Effect in Stock Returns,” with Huseyin Gulen and Michael Schill, Journal of Investment Management, 1-15, 2009.
“Asset Growth and the Cross-Section of Stock Returns” with Huseyin Gulen and Michael Schill, The Journal of Finance, 63, 1609-1651, 2008. Finalist for the 2008 Smith Breeden Prize.
“The Other January Effect,” with John McConnell and Alexei Ovtchinnikov, The Journal of Financial Economics, 82, 315-341, 2006. Second place in the 2006 Fama/DFA best paper award for Capital Markets and Asset Pricing in The Journal of Financial Economics.
“Is Time-Series Based Predictability Evident in Real-time?” with Huseyin Gulen, Journal of Business, 79, 1263-1292, 2006.
“Changing names with style: Mutual fund name changes and their effects on fund flows,” with Huseyin Gulen and P. Raghavendra Rau, The Journal of Finance, 60, 2825-2858, 2005.
“Managerial actions in response to a market downturn: Corporate name changes during the dot.com decline,” with P. Raghavendra Rau, Ajay Patel, Igor Osobov, and Ajay Khorana, Journal of Corporate Finance, 11, 319-335, 2005.
“On the Predictability of Stock Returns in Real Time,” with Bill Marcum and Roberto Gutierrez Jr, The Journal of Business, 78, 469-499, 2005.
“Market States and Momentum,” with Roberto Gutierrez Jr. and Allaudeen Hameed, The Journal of Finance, 59, 1345-1365, 2004.
“Value versus Glamour,” with Jennifer Conrad and Gautam Kaul, The Journal of Finance, 58, 1969-1995, 2003.
“Evidence of Predictability in the Cross-Section of Bank Stock Returns,” with Gary Patterson and William Jackson, Journal of Banking and Finance, 27, 817-850, 2003.
“A Rose.com by Any Other Name,” coauthored with Orlin Dimitrov and P. Raghavendra Rau, The Journal of Finance, 56, 2371-2388, 2001. Winner of the best paper award at the European Finance Association Meetings, London, 2000. Reprinted in The Psychology of World Equity Markets, 2005, Werner De Bondt editor. Edward Elgar. Volume II, 500-517.
“Asymmetric Information and the Predictability of Real Estate Returns,” coauthored with David Downs and Gary Patterson, The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 20, Issue 2, 2000.
“Filter Rules Based on Price and Volume in Individual Security Overreaction,” The Review of Financial Studies, 12, 901-935, 1999.
“Real Estate Securities and a Filter-based, Short-term Trading Strategy,” coauthored with David Downs and Gary Patterson, The Journal of Real Estate Research, 18, Number 2, 1999.
Best paper award, “A Rose.com by Any Other Name,” at the Symposium, European Finance Association Meetings, London, 2000
Best paper award, second place, “The Other January Effect,” the 2006 Fama/DFA best paper award for Capital Markets and Asset Pricing in The Journal of Financial Economics.
Q-Group’s 2007 Rodger F. Murray Prize Competition, “Corporate Political Contributions and Stock Returns,” third prize.
Best paper award, “Corporate Political Contributions and Stock Returns,” in Corporate Finance at the 2009 Midwest Finance Conference.
Best paper award, “Return Differences between Trading and Non-trading Hours: Like Night and Day,” at the 2008 UC-Davis/Financial Management Conference on Financial Markets Research.
University of Utah Sam Stewart Presidential Chair, 2013
University of Utah David Eccles Professorship, 2009
University of Utah David Eccles Faculty Fellow, 2006
University of Utah Best Masters Teacher Award, 2013
Purdue University Faculty Scholar, 2005
Krannert Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher of the Year, 2004
Runner-up for Krannert Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher of the Year, 1999
Faculty advisor to the Krannert Student Managed Investment Fund, winners of the CNBC/NYSE Investment Strategy Cup at the University of Dayton RISE competition, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005
Financial Services Exchange Research Award, 2002-2003
CIBER International Research Award, 2002
John and Mary Willis Young Faculty Scholar Award, 2002
Krannert Faculty Fellow Research Award, 2000
Ford Motor Company Faculty Fellow, 1999-2002
J. Ross Best Young Scholar Award at Purdue, 1997
Purdue Research Foundation Research Grant, 1999, 2002
Qualified for and competed in the 1984 and 1988 Cycling Olympic Trials
