Thomas J. Walker

Chair & Associate Professor, Department of Finance & Laurentian Bank Professor in Integrated Risk Management

Thomas Walker holds a BSc in Management Information Systems (US-equivalent) from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, and an MBA and PhD degree from Washington State University. Dr. Walker joined Concordia University in 2001. Prior to his academic career, he worked for several years in the German consulting and industrial sector at such firms as Mercedes Benz, Utility Consultants International, Lahmeyer International, Telenet, and KPMG Peat Marwick. He has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Mannheim, the University of Bamberg, the European Business School, and the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.

Dr. Walker has published widely in Finance, Law, and Management Science over the last 10 years. His articles have appeared in (among others) the Journal of Corporate Finance, Contemporary Accounting Research, Financial Management, the Harvard Business Review, the Risk Management & Insurance Review, the International Journal of Managerial Finance, Venture Capital, and the Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences. He has acted as a referee for over 10 journals and on the peer-review committee of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. His latest research interests are in the field of corporate governance and securities litigation.

Dr. Walker has been the recipient of various distinctions throughout his career. Among other things, he was awarded an Outstanding Teaching Award from Washington State University, and a Fellowship for Experienced Researchers from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. His research was listed among the most downloaded papers on Proquest in 2005, the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN) in 2011, and received an Outstanding Paper Award in the International Journal of Managerial Finance in 2008.

In 2010, Dr. Walker was appointed as Laurentian Bank Professor in Integrated Risk Management and since June 2011, he is serving as chair of the Finance Department. In addition, he serves on the steering committee of the Montreal chapter of the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA), on the Standing Committee for Human Resources of the Montreal Finance Cluster (Grappe Finance Montreal), and as member of Concordia’s Senate Finance Committee.

---

Selected Research

Refereed Journal Articles

Does Disclosure Regulation Work? Evidence from International IPO Markets (with Charles Shi, University of California, Irvine, and Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Forthcoming, Contemporary Accounting Research

Kurz- und langfristige Folgen einer Veränderung der Rolle des Gründers bei Unternehmen mit IPOs (with Andreas Oehler, Universität Bamberg, Dolruedee Thiengtham, Martin Martens and Jean-Philippe Arcand, Concordia University), Die Betriebswirtschaft 71:1 (January 2011), pg. 35-56.

Recent Developments in the Aviation Insurance Industry (with Paul Hayes, Airclaims Ltd., Triant Flouris, Daniel Webster College, Kuntara Pukthuanthong-Le, San Diego State University, and Dolruedee Thiengtham, University of Exeter), Risk Management & Insurance Review 12:2 (August 2009), pg. 227-249.

The International Aviation Insurance Regime in Times of Industry Uncertainty (with Paul Hayes, Airclaims Ltd., Triant Flouris, Daniel Webster College, and Kuntara Pukthuanthong-Le, San Diego State University), International Journal of Private Law 2:4 (August 2009), pg. 343-357.

Institutional Investors and Shareholder Litigation (with Harry Turtle, Washington State University, Sergey Barabanov, University of St. Thomas, and Onem Ozocak, Brock University), Financial Management 37:2 (Summer 2008), pg. 227-250.

Leverage and IPO Underpricing: High-tech versus Low-tech IPOs (with Jaemin Kim and Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Management Decision 46:1 (March 2008), pg. 106-130.

Family Control, Underwriter Prestige, and IPO Underpricing: A Cross Country Analysis (with Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Multinational Business Review 16:2 (2008 Special Issue), pg. 1-29.

Pre-IPO Insider Ownership and Underpricing: High-tech versus Low-tech IPOs (with Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Financial Decisions 46:1 (January 2008), pg. 106-130.

How Employee Stock Options and Executive Equity Ownership Affect Long-term IPO Operating Performance (with Richard Roll, University of California, Los Angeles, and Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Journal of Corporate Finance 13:5 (December 2007), pg. 695-720.

Die Rolle des Luftverkehrsrechts und der Haftung bei Flugzeugkatastrophen: Eine Finanzmarktanalyse (with Dolruedee Thiengtham, Concordia University, and Andreas Oehler, Universität Bamberg, Germany), Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft 77:12 (December 2007), pg. 1231-1262.

Dynamic Relationships and Technological Innovation in Hot and Cold Issue Markets (with Michael Yi Lin, Concordia University), International Journal of Managerial Finance 3:3 (Summer 2007), pg. 200-228.

Venture Capital in China: A Culture Shock for Western Investors (with Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Management Decision 45:4 (May 2007), pg. 708-731.

The Role of Indemnification Agreements and Legal Liability in Railroad Disasters: A Financial Market Perspective (with Dolruedee Thiengtham, Onem Ozocak, and Sergey Barabanov), International Journal of Managerial Finance 3:4 (Fall 2007), pg. 338-559.

Bookbuilding versus Auction Selling Methods: A Study of US IPOs (with Nikhil Varaiya and Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Venture Capital 9:4 (October 2007), pg. 1-36.

Causes and Consequences of Venture Capitalist Litigation (with Xuan Liu and Imants Paeglis, Concordia University), Journal of Private Equity 9:4 (Fall 2006), pg. 59-75.

The Financial Performance of Low-Cost and Full-Service Airlines in Times of Crisis (with Triant Flouris, Concordia University), Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences 22:1 (March 2005), pg. 3-20.

On the Performance of Airlines and Airplane Manufacturers Following Aviation Disasters (with Dolruedee Thiengtham and Michael Yi Lin, Concordia University), Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences 22:1 (March 2005), pg. 21-34.

A Review of IPO Selling Methods: Is There a Clear Winner? (with Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Journal of Corporate Ownership and Control 3:2 (Winter 2005-2006), pg. 68-74.

On the Pros and Cons of Employee Stock Options: What Are the Alternatives? (with Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Journal of Corporate Ownership and Control 4:1 (Fall 2006), pg. 266-277.

Hang On to Those Founders (with Martin Martens and Jean-Philippe Arcand, Concordia University), Harvard Business Review 83:10 (October 2005).

Gründer an die Macht! (with Martin Martens and Jean-Philippe Arcand, Concordia University), Harvard Business Manager, 1/2006 (January 2006).

Financial Comparisons across Different Business Models in the Canadian Airline Industry (with Triant Flouris, San Jose State University), Journal of Air Transportation 12:1 (January 2007), pg. 25-52.

On the Stock Market’s Reaction to Major Railroad Accidents (with Sergey Barabanov, University of St. Thomas, and Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University), Journal of the Transportation Research Forum 45:1 (Spring 2006) pg. 23-39.

Confidence in Airline Performance in Difficult Market Conditions: An Analysis of JetBlue’s Financial Market Results (with Triant Flouris, Concordia University), Journal of Air Transportation 10:1 (January 2005), pg. 38-57.

Book Chapters

Are Investors Home Biased? Evidence from Germany (with Andreas Oehler and Stefan Wendt, Universität Bamberg, and Marco Rummer, University of Oxford), in: Diversification and Portfolio Management of Mutual Funds, Greg N. Gregoriou (ed.), Palgrave MacMillan, New York, NY (October 2006), pg. 57-77.

Venture Capital in Europe: Closing the Gap to the U.S. (with Andreas Oehler, Universität Bamberg, Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University, and Marco Rummer, University of Oxford), in: Venture Capital in Europe, Greg N. Gregoriou, Maher Kooli and Roman Kräussl (eds.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (lead chapter, November 2006), pg. 3-17.

Why Venture Capital Markets Are Well Developed in Some Countries But Comparatively Small in Others: Evidence from Europe (with Kuntara Pukthuanthong, San Diego State University, and Dolruedee Thiengtham, Concordia University), in: Venture Capital in Europe, Greg N. Gregoriou, Maher Kooli and Roman Kräussl (eds.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (November 2006), pg. 33-50.

Keeping an Eye on Founders and a Thumb on Mercenaries: A Study of Corporate Governance in IPO Firms (with Martin Martens, Jean McGuire, and Jason Moschella, Concordia University), in: Corporate Governance: Issues and Challenges, Frank Columbus (ed.), Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York (December 2007).

Refereed Conference Presentations

The International Aviation Insurance Regime in Times of Industry Uncertainty (with Paul Hayes, Airclaims Ltd., Triant Flouris, Daniel Webster College, and Dolruedee Thiengtham, University of Exeter), Published in the 2008 Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Legal, Security and Privacy Issues in Information Technology Law (LSPI 2008) and the 2nd International Law and Trade Conference (ILTC), Prague, Czech Republic, September 2008.

Dynamic Relationships and Technological Innovation in Hot and Cold Issue Markets (with Michael Yi Lin, Concordia University), Published in the 2005 Proceedings of the Southwestern Finance Association, Dallas, Texas, March 2005.

Financial Comparisons across Different Business Models in the Canadian Airline Industry (with Triant Flouris, Concordia University), Published in the 2005 Proceedings of the Transportation Research Forum, Washington, D.C., March 2005.

The Financial Performance of Low-Cost and Full-Service Airlines in Times of Crisis (with Triant Flouris, Concordia University), Published in the 2004 Proceedings of the Air Transport Research Society Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, July 2004.

Confidence in Airline Performance in Difficult Market Conditions: An Analysis of JetBlue’s Financial Market Results (with Triant Flouris, Concordia University), Published in the 2003 Proceedings of the Aviation Management and Education Research Conference, Montreal, Quebec, July 2003.