Benjamin E. Hermalin

Benjamin E. Hermalin is the Thomas & Alison Schneider Distinguished Professor of Finance and Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is affiliated with the Economics Department and teaches in the field of Economic Theory. His research focuses on the economics of organization, corporate governance, and contract theory. Hermalin holds professorships in both the Economics Department and the Haas School of Business. He has published extensively in top journals such as the American Economic Review and Econometrica. He has served as the Economics Department Chair and as Vice Provost for the Faculty. His academic career began at UC Berkeley in 1988, where he joined as an assistant professor.

Benjamin Hermalin is a microeconomics scholar whose research focuses on corporate governance, board structures, and their impact on firm performance. His work explores how boards of directors are endogenously determined and their role in monitoring executives, as well as the effects of board composition and direct incentives on corporate outcomes. Hermalin also investigates legal and economic aspects of contracts, including renegotiation, incomplete contracts, and judicial modifications. His research spans corporate governance, transparency, and the economics of network neutrality, with a particular emphasis on how institutional and legal frameworks influence efficiency and performance. His publications often integrate economic theory with empirical analysis to understand the interplay between governance structures and organizational behavior.