Patrick Bolton (born June 11, 1957,

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

) 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 one of ...

(2005–present) and a visiting professor of finance at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

(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 an area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, and the capital structure of businesses, the actions that managers take to increase the Value investing, value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analy ...

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 markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complications to the per ...

, 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 Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

, and how

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

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 (ULB) and visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He studied economics at the ULB, and obtained a PhD at Harvard ...

, ''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, political activist, and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2 ...

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

Karim El Aynaoui Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim, Kerim or Karem) () is a given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honourable". It is also one of the Names of God. Given name Karim * Karim Abdel Aziz (born 1975), Egyptian ac ...

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 is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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

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

from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

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 (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

. He earned his PhD from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

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, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

and then joined the economics department at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

(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

(1991–1994). He worked at the Institut d'Etudes Europénnes de l'

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

(1994–1998). He was the John H. Scully '66 Professor of Finance and Economics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

(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 for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies 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 sa ...

* 2009. Fellow,

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) 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 other ...

* 1993, Fellow,

Econometric Society The Econometric Society is an international society of academic economists interested in applying statistical tools in the practice of econometrics. It is an independent organization with no connections to societies of professional mathematicians o ...

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