In the halls and offices of the Lillis Business Complex this summer, you were likely to find a multitude of finance professors and researchers engaged in learned conversations about mutual funds, institutional trading, and other finance issues. These enlightening conversations sparked new insights and were a side benefit of the first Department of Finance Summer Scholars Research Program at University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business.

The program brought three respected researchers to the college. Paula Tkac, a Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta economist, worked with Associate Professor Diane Del Guercio and Assistant Professor Jon Reuter to study a trend whereby an investor purchasing a mutual fund from one company might actually be investing in a fund operated by another fund family. Eric Kelley from the University of Arizona collaborated with Assistant Professor Roberto Gutierrez to analyze the effects of institutional investors on stock prices as pension funds, mutual funds, and banks become increasingly larger players in the stock market. And Jarrad Harford of the University of Washington partnered with John B. Rogers Professor of Banking and Finance Megan Partch and Engemann Professor of Finance Wayne Mikkelson to investigate whether companies that hold substantial cash reserves performed better than competitors during recent recessions.

"The summer scholars program made it possible for us to work intensively on our projects and make significant progress toward a finished draft," said Del Guercio, extolling the benefits of the program. "We found that we could get so much more done working face-to-face and talking through research design issues."

In addition to accelerating specific research, the program provided networking opportunities for all department faculty members. In fact, as a result of department-wide gatherings with the visiting scholars, several additional finance professors discovered scholarship interests and synergies with the invited researchers. That prompted planned collaborations for future projects--an unforeseen benefit.

"By all accounts, the program was a success, and we are grateful to the Finance Partners (donors supporting excellence in finance research and education) for sponsoring these scholars," summed up Mikkelson, the department head.