I have worked for BI since 2006. I joined BI after graduating from Indiana University Finance Department. In past, I have worked on a consulting project with SEC, as a sales manager, hotel manager, and accountant.

My research interests are in Corporate Governance, Corporate Finance, Portfolio Management. I have studied resolution of agency conflicts between owners of small companies when owners are exposed to increased dividend tax, real efects of wealth tax shocks on family businesses, relationship betweeen conflicts among family members and inheritance decisions. I am particularly interested in interactions of household finacial decisions and economic activities at family firms. I work on projects that examine issues such as the resolution of agency issues in private firms via dividend policy and if individual liquidity needs have real effect on firm development. Under portfolio management, I am interested in strategy and performance attribution and information processing in mutual fund and institutional money management complexes. I also coach students for the annual CFA Institute Research Challenge and have seen my teams in the global final three out of four years and finishing among top 10 out of 1100 teams for four years.

News:

Here is my recent participation in the wealth tax debate with an article in Dagens Næringsliv, Oct 2020.

I am developing the following working papers:

· Shareholder Illiquidity and Firm Behavior: Financial and Real Effects of the Personal Wealth Tax in Private Firms, with Øyvind Bøhren, and Bogdan Stacescu, 2019. Funded by Finansmarkedsfondet and the CCGR , ECGI working paper, on program at WFA 2020, FDU 2020. SSRN

· Conflicts in Private Family Firms, with Alminas Zaldokas, Funded by CCGR, 2020. SSRN

· The Family Firm Premium and Family Characteristics: Evidence from Population Data, with Øyvind Bøhren, and Bogdan Stacescu, funded by Finansmarkedsfondet and the CCGR, 2020.

And recently published:

· Dividends and Taxes: The Moderating Role of Agency Conflicts, with Øyvind Bøhren, and Bogdan Stacescu. Funded by the CCGR, Finansmarkedsfondet, Journal of Corporate Finance 58 C, 583-604. 2019. SSRN

· Shareholder Conflicts and Dividends, with Øyvind Bøhren and Bogdan Stacescu, Funded by Bankfondet, the CCGR, and Finansmarkedsfondet, Review of Finance 22, 1807-1840. 2018. SSRN

· The Governance and Finance of Norwegian Family Firms: Main Characteristics of the Population, with Øyvind Bøhren and Bogdan Stacescu, CCGR Research Report, developed with support from Family Business Norway association, 2018. SSRN

· The Under-Researched Family Firm: New Insights from Unique Norwegian Data, with Øyvind Bøhren and Bogdan Stacescu, in At the Forefront, Looking Ahead. Research-Based Answers to Contemporary Uncertainties of Management (Amir Sasson ed.), Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, Norway, 2018.

· Dividends and Taxes: The Moderating Role of Agency Conflicts, co-authored with Øyvind Bøhren and Bogdan Stacescu, Oxford Business Law Blog, 2017 (https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2017/12/dividends-and-taxes-moderating-role-agency-conflicts). A contribution based on our paper.

· Shareholder Conflicts and Dividends, co-authored with Øyvind Bøhren and Bogdan Stacescu, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation. 2017 (https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/contributor/oyvind-bohren/) A contribution based on our paper.

· Asset Management and Investment Banking, co-authored with Crocker Liu and Charles Trzcinka, Journal of Financial Economics, 110-1, 215-231. DePaul University Center for Financial Services award for an outstanding paper in financial institutions, awarded by Midwestern Financial Association meeting organizers, 2013. SSRN

· Norwegian family firms- prevalence, governance, and performance, co-authored with Øyvind Bøhren, Praktisk Økonomi & Finans, 29-3, 57-75, 2013.

· Private firms are important, unexplored, and special, co-authored with Øyvind Bøhren, Praktisk Økonomi & Finans, pp. 65-75, 2009.

· Corporate finance and governance in firms with limited liability: Basic characteristics, co-authored with Øyvind Bøhren and Pål Rydland, CCGR Research Report, 2008. SSRN

And taught:

Applied Valuation (graduate), CFA Research Chalenge (graduate), Financial Markets and Instruments (graduate), Financial Intermediation and Banking (graduate), Managerial Accounting (MBA), Investments (undergraduate), Market Microstructure (undergraduate), International Finance (undergraduate, graduate, MBA, executive MBA), Basic Financial Management (undergraduate), Financial Intermediation and Banking (graduate). I am interested in integrating case-based teaching in otherwise regular courses.

And received grants from:

· EEA grant of 2020 Micro-level responses to socio-economic challenges in the context of global uncertainty. Part of Baltic Research Programme funded under the EEA Grants.

· NFR grant of 2020 310146 The link between household and firm finance: family firms, family networks, and real estate investments.

· CCGR grant Nr. R63 2019, Conflicts in Private Family Firms.

· CCGR grant Nr. R61 2019, Family firms, networks, and constraints.

· NFR grant of 2009-2011 Nr. 197730/i99. Why do firms pay dividends?

· Bank fond: “Fondet til fremme av bank- og finansstudier”, 2009. To study payout policy in private firms.

· CCGR: BI Center for Corporate Governance Research, 3 grants in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014.

· Family Firm Association, Norway. 2017.

And reviewed for and acted as board memebr on:

· Referee: Management Science, Review of Finance, Journal of Empirical Finance, Contemporary Economic Policy, Baltic Journal of Management, Journal of corporate Fiance

· Editorial Board: Associate Editor, Baltic Journal of Economics

· Grant Review: Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong, Polish National Science Centre.

Janis Berzins | janis.berzins@bi.no | Mobile +47-46410592