Stewart Clay Myers is the Robert C. Merton Professor of

Financial Economics Financial economics, also known as finance, is the branch of economics characterized by a "concentration on monetary activities", in which "money of one type or another is likely to appear on ''both sides'' of a trade". William F. Sharpe"Financi ...

at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is notable for his work on capital structure and innovations in

capital budgeting Capital budgeting in corporate finance is the planning process used to determine whether an organization's long term capital investments such as new machinery, replacement of machinery, new plants, new products, and research development projects ...

and valuation, and has had a "remarkable influence" on both the theory and practice of corporate finance. Myers, in fact, coined the term " real option". He is the co-author with Richard A. Brealey and

Franklin Allen Franklin Allen, (born 6 March 1956) is a British economist and academic. Since 2014, he has been professor of finance and economics, and executive director of the Brevan Howard Centre at Imperial College London. He was the Nippon Life Prof ...

of ''

Principles of Corporate Finance ''Principles of Corporate Finance'' is a reference work on the corporate finance theory edited by Richard Brealey, Stewart Myers, Franklin Allen, and Alex Edmans. The book is one of the leading texts that describes the theory and practice of c ...

'', a widely used and cited

business school A business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, or ...

textbook, now in its 11th edition. He is also the author of dozens of research articles.

Career

He holds a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

and MBA from Stanford University and an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

from Williams College. He began teaching at MIT Sloan School of Management in 1966. His contributions are seen as falling into three main categories: *Work on

capital structure In corporate finance, capital structure refers to the mix of various forms of external funds, known as capital, used to finance a business. It consists of shareholders' equity, debt (borrowed funds), and preferred stock, and is detailed in the ...

, focusing on "debt overhang" and " pecking order theory". *Contributions to

that complement his research on capital structure. He is notable for the

adjusted present value Adjusted present value (APV) is a valuation method introduced in 1974 by Stewart Myers. The idea is to value the project as if it were all equity financed ("unleveraged"), and to then add the present value of the tax shield of debt – and other ...

(or APV) approach as well as for recognizing the "option-like" character of many corporate assets. *Work on estimating fair rates of return for

public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

. Recent projects include the valuation of investments in R&D, risk management, and the allocation of capital in diversified firms, and the theory of corporate governance. He is currently a principal of economic consulting firm

The Brattle Group The Brattle Group provides consulting services and expert testimony in economics, finance, and regulation to corporations, law firms, and public agencies. As of 2019, the company had offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, London, Madrid, New Y ...

. He is a past president of the

American Finance Association The American Finance Association (AFA) is an academic organization whose focus is the study and promotion of knowledge of financial economics. It was formed in 1939. Its main publication, the ''Journal of Finance'', was first published in 1946. ...

, a research associate of the

National Bureau of Economic Research The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic c ...

, and a director of the Cambridge Endowment for Research in Finance.

Works

*Stewart C. Myers (ed) ''Modern Developments in Financial Management'', Dryden Press, 1976, *Alexander A. Robichek, Stewart C. Myers, ''Optimal financing decisions'', Prentice-Hall, 1965 * *Richard A. Brealey, Stewart C. Myers, ''Capital Investment and Valuation'', McGraw Hill Professional, 2003,

References

External links

Stewart Myers - MIT Sloan Biography

Business Week Profile

Publication list

The Contributions of Stewart Myers to the Theory and Practice of Corporate Finance
'' Journal of Applied Corporate Finance'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Stewart Living people Financial economists American finance and investment writers American textbook writers American male non-fiction writers Williams College alumni Corporate finance theorists Real options MIT Sloan School of Management faculty Presidents of the American Finance Association Year of birth missing (living people)