Mai Datta
Title
Professor of Finance
Phone
313-577-9509
Office
Mike Ilitch School of Business
2771 Woodward Avenue
Room 379
Detroit, MI 48201
Academic Programs
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance
Mai Datta
Biography
Dr. Iskandar-Datta is Professor of Finance and holds the Dean's Research Chair. Her wide-ranging research interests in corporate finance include executive compensation (and clawbacks), mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, leveraged buyouts, corporate cash holding policies, corporate restructuring, capital structure, initial public offerings of debt securities, to name a few. A highly prolific researcher, she has published in top finance, accounting, and management journals including the Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Finance, Journal of Business, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, The Accounting Review, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial Intermediation, and the Harvard Business Review.
Professional experience
- Professor (tenured), Wayne State University, Fall 2004-present
- Associate Professor (tenured), Suffolk University, Fall 1997-2004
- Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Fall 1996-1997
- Associate Professor (tenured), Northern Illinois University, Fall 1994
- Assistant Professor, Northern Illinois University, Spring 1991-1994
- Assistant Professor, Bentley College, Fall 1986 - Fall 1990
Ad Hoc Reviewer
- Financial Management
- Journal of Banking and Finance
- Journal of Accounting and Public Policy
- Journal of Business
- Journal of Business Research
- Finance Research Letters
- Financial Review
- Journal of Applied Finance
- Quarterly Journal of Business and Economics
- Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance
- Journal of Economics and Business
Education
- Ph.D., University of Missouri, Columbia
- MBA, University of Missouri, Columbia
- B.S., University of Missouri, Columbia
- Bachelor of Journalism, University of Missouri, Columbia
Expertise
Corporate governance, executive compensation, mergers and acquistions, clawback provisions, leveraged buyouts, corporate cash holding policy, analysts earnings forecasts, product market power, industry competition, earnings management, internal capital markets (intra-firm), corporate financing decisions, investment banking, initial public offerings, bond covenant structure, pricing of corporate debt, corporate restructuring and bankruptcy
Research and teaching interests
Research
- Executive Compensation
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Corporate governance
- Leveraged buyouts
- Corporate cash holdings
- Analysts' earnings forecast
- Insider-trading
- Investment banking
- Initial public offerings
- Bond covenant structure
- Corporate restructuring
Teaching
- Corporate finance
- Capital budgeting
- Corporate Governance
- Venture Capital Financing
- Valuation
Publications
- CFO Credentials, Stock Market Signalling, and Firm Performance, with Sudip Datta, Trang Doan, Abhijit Guha, and Min-Jeong Kwon. International Journal of Managerial Finance (2022).
- Do Female Executives in the C-Suite Improve Analysts' Earnings Forecast Accuracy? with Sudip Datta and Trang Doan. Finance Research Letters (2022).
- CFO Insider Status and Acquisition Performance (with S. Shekhar. Journal of Business Research. September 2020.
- Are Female Top Executives More Risk-Averse or More Ethical? Evidence From Corporate Cash Holdings (with Trang Doan). Journal of Empirical Finance, January 2020: 10Ish 161-176.
- Policy Uncertainty and the Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt (co-authored with Sudip Datta and Trang Doan). Journal of Financial Stability. October 2019.
- Competition and Real Activities Manipulations (with Sudip Datta and Vivek Singh). Journal of Applied Business Research, 2019, 35(1): 1-16.
- Does Gender in the C-Suite Really Matter? (with Trang Doan). Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance. 2018.
- Gender in the C-Suite and Informational Transparency (with Trang Doan). Corporate Ownership and Control. 2019, 15(4): 149-157.
- The Impact of Idiosyncratic Risk on Accrual Management (with Sudip Datta and Vivek Singh). International Journal of Managerial Finance. 2017, 13(1): 70-90.
- On Post-IPO Stock Price Performance: A Comparative Analysis of RLBOs and IPOs (with Sudip Datta and Mark Gruskin). Journal of Banking and Finance. 2015, 55:187-203.
- Opaque Financial Reports and R2: Revisited (with Sudip Datta and Vivek Singh). The Review of Financial Economics. January 2014, 20(1): 10-17.
- Upper-echelon Executive Human Capital and Compensation: Generalist vs Specialist Skills (with Sudip Datta), Strategic Management Journal. December 2014, 35(12): 1853-1866.
- Investor Protection and Corporate Cash Holdings From Around The World: New Evidence (with Yonghong Jia), Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting. August 2014, 43(2): 245-273.
- Product Market Power, Industry Structure and Corporate Earnings Management (with Sudip Datta and Vivek Singh), Journal of Banking and Finance (2013).
- Compensation: "Ending the Wage Gap", with Sudip Datta and Abhijit Guha, at Harvard Business Review, May 2013.
- "Lifting the Veil on Reverse Leveraged Buyouts: What Happens During the Private Period?" (with Sudip Datta and Mark Gruskin), Financial Management, 2013.
- Valuation Consequences of Clawback Provisions (with Yonghong Jia). The Accounting Review, January 2013.
- What Happens During the Private Period?: Evidence from Public-to-Private Reverse LBOs (with Sudip Datta and Mark Gruskin). Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Fall 2012, 24: 90-101.
- Cross-Country Analysis of Secular Cash Trends (with Yonghong Jia). Journal of Banking and Finance, 2012, 36L 898-912.
- Product Market Pricing Power, Industry Concentration, and Analysts' Earnings Forecasts (with Sudip Datta and Vivek Sharma). Journal of Banking and Finance, June 2011, 35: 1352-1366.
- Does Executive Compensation Determine Firm Performance?: An Analysis of Newly Appointed CEOs (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Corporate Ownership and Control.
- Executive compensation and Internal Capital Market Efficiency (with Sudip Datta and Ranjan D'Mello). Journal of Financial Intermediatio. 2009,18: 242-258.
- Is there Information Content in Corporate Asset Writedowns?, with Sudip Datta, at International Journal of Managerial Finance. 2008, 4: 200.
- Global Diversification: Evidence from Corporate Operating Performance, with Robyn McLaughlin, at Corporate Ownership and Control, Summer 2007, 4: 228-242.
- Executive Compensation Structure and Corporate Equity Financing Decisions (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman).Journal of Business, September 2005, 78: 1860-1889.
- Managerial Stock Ownership and the Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman). Journal of Finance, 2005, 60: 2333-2350.
- In Defense of Incentive Compensation: Evidence on Corporate Acquisition Policy (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman). Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Fall 2004, 16: 82-88.
- Convertible Bond Calls: Resolution of the Information Content Puzzle (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman) Journal of Financial Intermediation, 2003, 12: 255-276.
- Value Creation in Corporate Asset Sales: The Role of Managerial Performance and Lender Monitoring (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman). Journal of Banking and Finance, 2003, 27: 351-375.
- Value Creation in Corporate Divestitures (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman). Corporate Finance Review, Jan/Feb 2003, 7: 25-36.
- Executive Compensation and Corporate Acquisition Decisions (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman). Journal of Finance, December 2001, 56: 2299-2336.
- Debt Structure Adjustments and Long-Run Stock Price Performance (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman). Journal of Financial Intermediation, 2000, 9: 427-453.
- Do Bank Relationships Matter in Public Debt Offerings? (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel). Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Winter 2000, 12: 120-127.
- Some Evidence on the Uniqueness of Initial Public Debt Offers, with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel, at Journal of Finance (April 2000), vol. 55, 715-743.
- Market Pricing of Debt IPOs (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel) Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Spring 1999, 12: 86-91.
- Bank Monitoring and the Pricing of Corporate Public Debt (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel). Journal of Financial Economics, March 1999, 51: 435-449.
- The Pricing of Initial Public Offers of Corporate Straight Debt (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel). Journal of Finance, March 1997, 52:379-396.
- New Evidence on the Valuation Effects of Convertible Bond Calls (with Sudip Datta), Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, June 1996, 31: 295-307.
- Does Insider Trading Have Information Content in the Bond Market? (with Sudip Datta), Journal of Banking and Finance, April 1996, 20: 555-575.
- Who Gains From Corporate Asset Sales? (with Sudip Datta). Journal of Financial Research, Spring 1996, 19: 41-58.
- Managerial Self-Interest, Financial Slack and Corporate Pension Funding (with Sudip Datta and Edward J. Zychowicz). Financial Review, November 1996, 31: 695-720.
- Takeover Defenses and Wealth Effects on Securityholders: The Case of Poison Pill Adoptions (with Sudip Datta). Journal of Banking and Finance, August 1996, 20: 1231-1250.
- An Historical Perspective on Fraudulent Financial Reporting in the United States (with M.J. Abdolmohammadi and Paul McMann), Monograph: Disorder and Harmony: Contributions of the 20th Century, A.J. Richardson (Ed.), (Vancouver, Certified General Accountants Canada Research Foundation, 1996).
- Reorganization and Financial Distress: An Empirical Investigation (with Sudip Datta). Journal of Financial Research, Spring 1995, 18: 15-32.
- Corporate Partial Acquisitions, Total Firm Valuation and the Effect of Financing Method (with Sudip Datta). Journal of Banking and Finance, April 1995, 19: 97-115.
- Pension Plan Terminations, Excess Asset Reversions and Securityholder Wealth (with Sudip Datta and Edward Zychowicz). Journal of Banking and Finance, May 1995, 19: 245-259.
- The Value of Analyst Recommendations: A Test of "The Announcement Effect" and "The Valuable Information Effect" (with W. Scott Bauman and Sudip Datta). Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, July 1995, 22: 659-670.
- The Information Content of Bankruptcy Filing on Securityholders of the Bankrupt Firm: An Empirical Investigation (with Sudip Datta). Journal of Banking and Finance, August 1995, 19: 903-920.
- An Empirical Investigation of The Role of Indenture Provisions in Determining Bond Ratings (with Douglas R. Emery). Journal of Banking and Finance, 1994, 18: 93-111.
- Capital Structure Management as a Contributing Motivation for Calling Convertible Debt (with Douglas R. Emery and Jong-Chul Rhim). Journal of Financial Research, 1994, 17: 91-104.
- Involuntary Sell-Offs and Stockholder Wealth: Evidence From Divestment of South African Assets (with A. Gupta and K. Gupta). Journal of International Finance, 1994, 6: 30-38.
- Evidence of Nonstationarity in the Bond Rating Process for Newly Issued Bonds: A Note. Journal of Applied Business Research, 1992, 8: 124-128.
- Expert Systems in Auditing: Advantages and Applications (with Paul McMann). The EDP Auditor Journal, 1989, 4: 41-51.
Awards
- Received the School of Business Administration's Excellence in Research Award at Wayne State University in 2013.
- Recipient of the Dean's Research Chair, School of Business Administration, Wayne State University in 2012.
- Won the Best Paper in Corporate Finance at the Southwestern Finance Association, 2011, for paper entitled "Piercing the Corporate Veil: The Case for Clawback Provisions," with Yonghong Jia and Xinghua Gao.
- Received the Board of Visitors Award for lifetime research accomplishments from Wayne State University (2008-2011).
- Ranked in the top 2% of all finance researchers according to a study in the Financial Management (Winter 2002).
- My record over 20 years, ranks me #76 among the most prolific finance researchers with a record over the last half a century by a study in Advances in Financial Education.
- Won the Dean's Service Award at Suffolk University in 2003 for significant contribution to the creation of the Global MBA program.
- Won the school-wide Research Award in September 2002 from the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University for outstanding achievements in scholarly research.
- Won the Outstanding Paper in Corporate Finance Award at the Financial Management Association's Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada in October 2001.
- Won the Finance Department Publication Award for 1999 at Sawyer School of Management.
- "New Evidence on the Valuation Effects of Convertible Bond Calls." (with Sudip Datta) was recognized for excellence in research with the highest quality by ANBAR in 1998.
- "Who Gains From Corporate Asset Sales?" (with Sudip Datta) competitively won the Outstanding Paper Award from the Journal of Financial Research among all the articles published in that journal during 1996.
- "Valuation Effects and Signaling Implications of Initial Public Straight Debt Offers," (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel) won Outstanding Paper Award in Corporate Finance at the 1995 Southern Finance Association Meetings.
- The article "Insider-Trading Reports Are Linked to Price of Bonds" by Warren Getler, in The Wall Street Journal, February 8, 1995 (page C1), draws attention to my study "Does Insider Trading Have Information Content in the Bond Market? (with Sudip Datta) which has significant policy implications regarding a loophole in insider trading laws.
- "An Investigation of the Returns on Initial Public Offerings of Bonds" (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel) nominated for the Best Paper Award for the Southern Finance Association meetings held in Nov 1994.
Courses taught by Mai Datta
Winter Term 2024 (current)
Fall Term 2023
Winter Term 2023
- FIN7280 - Entrepreneurial Finance and Venture Capital
- BA8777 - Professional Development Seminar for Business Doctoral Students
