Patrick Bolton (born June 11, 1957,

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

) is the Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business at

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

(2005-present) and a Visiting Professor of Finance at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

(2018-present). 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. ...

(2015). Bolton specializes in

contract theory From a legal point of view, a contract is an institutional arrangement for the way in which resources flow, which defines the various relationships between the parties to a transaction or limits the rights and obligations of the parties. From an ...

and its relationship to

corporate finance Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the Value investing, value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and anal ...

and

industrial organization In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and market (economics), markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complic ...

, in particular the allocation of control and decision rights to contracting parties. He is studying the ways in which institutional investors and financial markets assess and respond to risks from

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, and how

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

influences corporate behaviour and the actions of institutions. Bolton has published a number of books, including ''Contract Theory'' (2004) with

Mathias Dewatripont Mathias François Dewatripont (born 27 December 1959) is a Belgian economist and professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He studied economics at the ULB, ...

, ''Credit Markets for the Poor'' (2005) with Howard Rosenthal, ''The Economics of Contracts'' (2008), ''Sovereign Wealth Funds and Long-term Investing'' (2012) with Frederic Samama and

Joseph E. Stiglitz Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (; born February 9, 1943) is an American New Keynesian economist, a public policy analyst, and a full professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and the Joh ...

and ''Coping with the Climate Crisis: Mitigation Policies and Global Coordination'' (2018), with Rabah Arezki, Karim El Aynaoui and

Maurice Obstfeld Maurice Moses "Maury" Obstfeld (born March 19, 1952) is a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley and previously Chief Economist at the International Monetary Fund. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson ...

Early life and education

Bolton was born on June 11, 1957 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and holds dual French and American nationality. Bolton has a BA in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and a BA in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , accreditation ...

. He earned his PhD from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

in 1986.

Career

Bolton was an assistant professor at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

and then joined the economics department at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(1987-1989). He worked at the C.N.R.S. Laboratoire d' Econométrie de L' Ecole Polytechnique (1989-1991), and was the Cassel Professor of Money and Banking at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

(1991-1994). He worked at the Institut d'Etudes Europénnes de l' Université libre de Bruxelles (1994-1998). He was the John H. Scully '66 Professor of Finance and Economics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

(1998-2005). Bolton joined the Columbia Business School as the Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business in July 2005. In 2018, he became a Visiting Professor of Finance at

Awards

* 2021, EAERE Award for ERC Grants Laureates in the field of environmental and resource economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) * 2018, Louis Bachelier Fellow * 2016, Fellow,

* 2013, Corresponding Fellow,

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

* 2009. Fellow,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

* 1993, Fellow,

Econometric Society The Econometric Society is an international society of academic economists interested in applying statistical tools to their field. It is an independent organization with no connections to societies of professional mathematicians or statisticians. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, Patrick 1957 births Living people 21st-century American economists Columbia Business School faculty Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the London School of Economics Sciences Po alumni Fellows of the Econometric Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 20th-century American economists