Alan Douglas

Associate Professor; Approved Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor; Finance

Office: Hagey Hall 3168

Phone: 519-888-4567 x45945

Email: adouglas@uwaterloo.ca

Education and certifications

  • BA Economics (Carleton University)
  • MA Economics (Queen's University)
  • PhD Finance and Economics (Queen's University)

Brief biography

My research focuses on issues relating to corporate finance, economics, and accounting, with a focus on corporate incentives. I am particularly interested in the information problems and agency conflicts that determine optimal performance measures, compensation schemes and financial structure.

Selected publications

  • Douglas, Alan, Ken Vetzal and Alan Huang, Cash Flow Volatility and Bond Yield Spreads, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting 46(2), 2016, 417-458.
  • Brisley, Neil, and Alan Douglas, 'Optimal Information Asymmetry, the Control Environment, and Investment in Firm-Specific Human Capital', The Accounting Review 90(3), 2015, 917-938.
  • Douglas, Alan, Interactions Between Manager, Shareholder and Bondholder Incentive Conflicts, The Financial Review 44, 2009, 151-178.
  • Douglas, Alan, Managerial Opportunism and Proportional Corporate Payout Policies, Managerial Finance 33, 2007, 26-42.
  • Douglas, Alan, Capital Structure, Compensation and Incentives, Review of Financial Studies 19 , 2006, 605-632.
  • Douglas, Alan, Dan Bernhardt, and Fiona Robertson, Testing Dividend Signalling Theory, Journal of Empirical Finance , volume 12, 2005, pg. 77-98. 
  • Douglas, Alan, Corporate Investment Incentives and Accounting-based Debt Covenants, Contemporary Accounting Research, volume 20(645-583), 2003. 
  • Douglas, Alan, Howard Armitage, and Ellen Wong., The Pursuit of Value: EVA in Canada -- An Uncertain Legacy, CMA Management, November, 2003.
  • Douglas, Alan, Debt Versus Dividend Payments to Mitigate Simultaneous Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard, Finance Letters, volume 1, 2003, pg. 46-52. Link  
  • Douglas, Alan, A Discussion of Competition and Cost Accounting: Adapting to Changing Markets, Contemporary Accounting Research, volume 19, Summer, 2002. Link
  • Douglas, Alan, Endogenous Managerial Incentive Contracts and the Optimal Combination of Debt and Dividend Commitments, Review of Finance , volume 6, 2002, pg. 63-99. Link
  • Douglas, Alan, Capital Structure and the Control of Managerial Incentives, Journal of Corporate Finance, volume 8(2), 2002, pg. 287-311. Link
  • Douglas, Alan, Managerial Replacement and Corporate Financial Policy with Endogenous Manager-Specific Value, Journal of Corporate Finance, March, 2001, pg. 25-52. Link

Working papers

  • "Payout policy and financial flexibility"
  • "CEO pay sensitivity and dividend policy", with Ranjini Jha.
  • "Investment, Perks and Sticky Dividends", with Neil Brisley
  • "Information asymmetry and manager specific human capital", with Neil Brisley
  • "Cash flow volatility and bond returns", with Alan Huang and Ken Vetzal

Awards

  • Robert Harding Research Leadership Fellowship, 2009-2013  
  • #1 requested paper, Journal of Corporate Finance (on line), 2002, 2003

Funding

  • University of Waterloo Internal Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Research Grant, "Optimal Information Asymmetry, the Control Environment, and Investment in Firm-Specific Human Capital”, with Neil Brisley, 2012 - 2014, $16,000
  • University of Waterloo Internal Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Research Grant, "Credit default swap spreads and the credit crisis", with James Thompson and Ranjini Jha, 2009 - 2010, $5,000
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), "Cash flow volatility and expected returns", with A. Huang and K. Vetzal, 2006 - 2009, $76,000
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), "Compensation contracts, capital structure and debt covenants", with P. O'Brien and P. Zhang, 2004 - 2007, $60,725
  • University of Waterloo Internal SSHRC Research Grant, "Earnings volatility and expected returns", with Alan Huand and Ken Vetzal, 2006 - 2007, $5,000
  • University of Waterloo Internal SSHRC Research Grant, "Performance score matching", with Ranjini Sivakumar, Duane Kennedy, Ken Vetzal and Tony Wirjanto, 2005 - 2006, $5,000
  • University of Waterloo Internal SSHRC Research Grant, "Accounting-based debt covenants", 2002 - 2003, $2,530

Courses taught

Links
Contact information: Alan Douglas