Joshua D. Rauh

The Ormond Family Professor of Finance
Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
Senior Fellow, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
Academic Area:

Bio

Joshua Rauh is a professor of finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). He formerly taught at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business (2004–09) and the Kellogg School of Management (2009–12).

Professor Rauh studies corporate investment and financial structure, private equity and venture capital, and the financial structure of pension funds and their sponsors. He has published numerous journal articles and was awarded the 2006 Brattle Prize for the outstanding research paper on corporate finance published in the Journal of Finance for his paper “Investment and Financing Constraints: Evidence from the Funding of Corporate Pension Plans.”

In 2011 he won the Smith Breeden Prize for the outstanding research paper on capital markets published in the Journal of Finance, for his paper “Public Pension Promises: How Big Are They and What Are they Worth?” coauthored with Robert Novy-Marx. His other writings include “Earnings Manipulation, Pension Assumptions and Managerial Investment Decisions,” coauthored with Daniel Bergstresser and Mihir Desai, which won the Barclays Global Investor Best Symposium Paper from the European Finance Association and appeared in the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Other work has appeared in the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Review of Finance.

Professor Rauh’s research on state and local pension systems in the United States has received national media coverage in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, and The Economist. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Finance and an editor of the Journal of Pension Economics and Finance and the Review of Corporate Finance Studies. He holds a BA degree in economics, magna cum laude with distinction, from Yale University and a PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Awards and Honors

  • Charles and Melissa Froland Faculty Fellow for 2021–22
  • Call For Research Award, International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM), 2017
  • Dhirubhai Ambani Faculty Fellow in Entrepreneurship, Stanford GSB, 2013–14

Research Statement

Joshua Rauh specializes in empirical studies of corporate investment and financial structure, including applications to private equity and venture capital. He has also conducted extensive research on the financial structure of pension funds and their sponsors, and the measurement of public sector pension liabilities.

Journal Articles

Joshua D. Rauh, Ryan Shyu February 2024 Vol. 16 Issue 1 Pages 34–86
Oliver Giesecke, Joshua D. Rauh
Annual Review of Financial Economics
November 2023 Vol. 15 Pages 221–238
Aleksandar Andonov, Joshua D. Rauh
The Review of Financial Studies
July 2022 Vol. 35 Issue 8 Pages 3777–3822
Aleksandar Andonov, Roman Kräussl, Joshua D. Rauh
The Review of Financial Studies
August 2021 Vol. 34 Issue 8 Pages 3880–3934
Joshua D. Rauh, Irina Stefanescu, Stephen P. Zeldes
Journal of Public Economics
August 2020 Vol. 188
Joshua D. Rauh, Irina Stefanescu, Stephen P. Zeldes
Journal of Public Economics (forthcoming)
2020
Xavier Giroud, Joshua D. Rauh
Journal of Political Economy
June 2019 Vol. 127 Issue 3 Pages 1262-1316
Aleksandar Andonov, Yael Hochberg, Joshua D. Rauh
Journal of Finance
March 27, 2016
Robert Novy-Marx, Joshua D. Rauh
Journal of Public Economics
August 2014 Vol. 116 Pages 47-61
Robert Novy-Marx, Joshua D. Rauh
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
February 2014 Vol. 6 Issue 1 Pages 193-229
Steven N. Kaplan, Joshua D. Rauh
American Economic Review
May 2013 Vol. 103 Issue 3 Pages 158-162
Steven Kaplan, Joshua D. Rauh
American Economic Association
2013 Vol. 27 Issue 3 Pages 35-56
Yael V. Hochberg, Joshua D. Rauh
The Review of Financial Studies
2013 Vol. 26 Issue 2 Pages 403-451
Robert Novy-Marx, Joshua D. Rauh
American Economic Association
May 2012 Vol. 4 Issue 2 Pages 182-213
Joshua D. Rauh, Amir Sufi
Review of Finance
June 2011 Vol. 26 Issue 2 Pages 403-451
Robert Novy-Marx, Joshua D. Rauh
Journal of Pension Economics & Finance
April 2011 Vol. 10 Issue 2 Pages 173-194
Joshua D. Rauh, Amir Sufi
The Review of Financial Studies
December 1, 2010 Vol. 23 Issue 12 Pages 4242-4280
Robert Novy-Marx, Joshua D. Rauh
Journal of Finance
October 13, 2010 Vol. 66 Issue 4 Pages 1207-1245
Steven N. Kaplan, Joshua D. Rauh
Review of Financial Studies
2010 Vol. 23 Issue 3 Pages 1004-1050
Joshua D. Rauh
The Review of Financial Studies
July 1, 2009 Vol. 22 Issue 7 Pages 2687-2733
Robert Novy-Marx, Joshua D. Rauh
Journal of Economics Perspectives
2009 Vol. 23 Issue 4 Pages 191-210
James Poterba, Joshua D. Rauh, Steven Venti, David Wise
Journal of Public Economics
August 24, 2007 Vol. 91 Issue 10 Pages 2062–2086
Daniel Bergstresser, Mihir Desai, Joshua D. Rauh
The Quarterly Journal of Economics
February 1, 2006 Vol. 121 Issue 1 Pages 157-195
Joshua D. Rauh
The Journal of Finance
February 2006 Vol. 61 Issue 1 Pages 33-71
Joshua D. Rauh
Journal of Financial Economics
July 7, 2005 Vol. 81 Issue 2 Pages 379-410

Working Papers

Aleksandar Andonov, Roman Kräussl, Joshua D. Rauh September 6, 2018
Aleksandar Andonov, Joshua D. Rauh February 2018

Other Publications

Peter M. DeMarzo, Arvind Krishnamurthy, Joshua D. Rauh
Stanford GSB
March 2020
Joshua D. Rauh
A Hoover Institution Essay
April 11, 2016

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Cases

Joshua D. Rauh, Jessica Morgan
2015
Joshua D. Rauh, Jessica Morgan
2015
Jonathan Levav, Joshua Rauh, Jason Luther
2014

In the Media

Insights by Stanford Business

April 15, 2024
Sorry, our professors can’t help you do your taxes. But they can help you understand taxation better.
February 01, 2024
An analysis of U.S. pension plans questions their managers’ financial optimism.
April 14, 2023
Why did bankers and regulators ignore a lesson that MBA students learn in the first weeks of our managerial finance class?
October 01, 2021
A new study finds that investing in public works fails to deliver on its promise of steady returns.
May 07, 2020
In this panel, professors agreed that something needed to be done, fast, to help the economic fallout, but disagreed on federal government’s strategy.
October 31, 2019
A study finds that almost half of the state’s 2012 income tax increase was eroded by people who moved away or lowered their taxable income.
July 22, 2019
With states competing fiercely for business, even small increases in corporate rates will spur some firms to pull up stakes.
January 15, 2019
A Stanford study indicates they make poor investment decisions because they’re overly influenced by campaign contributions and political considerations.
January 01, 2014
The symposium was the culmination of the massive open online course about retirement and pensions.
July 09, 2013
Institutional investors often favor deals close to home — even though it can cost them dearly.
April 22, 2013
Research shows that some popular conceptions about the sources of U.S. wealth may be incorrect.

School News

December 06, 2022
Articles, videos, and podcasts that capture great teaching and memorable lessons.
August 05, 2022
Students in the Stanford GSB public policy lab present recommendations to legislators.
March 31, 2021
A pair of Stanford GSB professors use movies, skits, and Saturday Night Live-style cold opens to teach the “broad and deep applicability of finance.”
October 13, 2014
Self-paced course taught by Stanford GSB finance expert Josh Rauh focuses on how to make smart decisions as an investor.