Dr. Yrjo Koskinen

Yrjö Koskinen the BMO Professor of Sustainable and Transition Finance at the Haskayne School of Business. He served as the Associate Dean of Research and Business Impact from 2017 to 2022. He has previously been a faculty member at Stockholm School of Economics, Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds an MSc degree in Economics from the University of Helsinki, and a PhD in Management (Finance) from INSEAD. Prior to his academic career, Yrjö worked as a financial journalist, asset manager and as an economist at the Bank of Finland.

Yrjö currently serves on the advisory board of the Institute of Sustainable Finance at Queen’s University and on the steering committee for the Canadian Sustainable Finance Network. He is also a fellow at the Nordic Initiative in Corporate Economics and a research member at the European Corporate Governance Institute. He is the past co-president of the Northern Finance Association.

Yrjö’s main research areas are corporate finance and governance, and sustainable finance. His current research focuses on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and how they affect trading and prices in financial markets. His research has been published in the leading finance and management journals, such as the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Management Science, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Review of Finance. He is the recipient of the Standard Life Investments Finance Prize for his research on corporate social responsibility and firm risk.

Research

Areas of Research

Sustainable Finance, Corporate Governance, ESG

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Energy Innovations for Today and Tomorrow (2013-2021)

Courses

Course number	Course title	Semester
MGST 668	Seminar in Management Studies: Climate Finance	Winter 2025
FNCE 646	Sustainable Finance	Spring 2025

Projects

Mutual Fund Trading, Fund Flows, and ESG Portfolios

Accepted for Publication at Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (JFQA)

This paper studies how ESG and conventional mutual funds trade stocks during the COVID- 19 crash. Both fund types trade individual stocks similarly: net purchases of ESG stocks are less sensitive than other stocks to fund flows pre crash, but sensitivities increase for all stocks during the crash. In contrast, ESG funds’ aggregate net purchases are less sensitive than those of conventional funds during the crash. This difference is due to ESG funds’ portfolio tilt toward the less flow-sensitive ESG stocks. There is no evidence of an ESG clientele effect in trading decisions, as both fund types trade individual stocks similarly.

Bank of Italy working paper

Does Limited Liability Matter? Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment

We use the enactment of limited liability legislation across Canadian provinces to examine the effect of the change in liability status on firm outcomes for a group of public firms known as income trusts. We show that the switch from unlimited to limited liability increases trusts’ institutional ownership, net external financing, investments, profitability, payouts, and riskiness. Our results are stronger for energy trusts, which are more capital-intensive and face potentially greater liability risks.

ECGI Working Paper with Nga Nguyen and Ari Pandes

Awards

Best Paper Award, Portuguese Finance Network Conference. 2023
Finnish Securities Markets Foundation research award, Finnish Securities Markets Foundation. 2020
Dean's Research Scholar, Haskayne School of Business. 2019
The Standard Life Investments Finance Prize, European Corporate Governance Institute. 2014
Best paper award, Geneva Summit on Sustainable Finance, University of Geneva. 2013
Professor of the Year, Questrom School of Business, Boston University. 2011
Broderick Award for Excellence in Research, Questrom School of Business, Boston University. 2007
Best paper award, Financial Management Association. 2001

Publications

Stakeholder Orientation, Environmental Performance and Financial Benefits. Yrjo Koskinen with Hao Lu and Nga Nguyen. Review of Corporate Finance, 4:1-2. 89-125. (2024)
Resiliency of Environmental and Social Stocks: An Analysis of the Exogenous COVID-19 Market Crash. Y Koskinen with Rui Albuquerque, Shuai Yang, and Chendi Zhang. Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 9:3. 593-621. (2020)
Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Risk: Theory and Empirical Evidence. Y Koskinen with Rui Albuquerque and Chendi Zhang. Management Science, 65:10. 4451-4469. (2019)
Information, Innovation, and Investment Timing. Y Koskinen with Joril Maeland. Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 5:2. 166-199. (2016)
The Euro and Corporate Financing before the Crisis. Y Koskinen with Arturo Bris and Mattias Nilsson. Journal of Financial Economics, 114. 554-575. (2014)
Private Information and Bargaining Power in Venture Capital Financing. Y Koskinen with Michael Rebello and Yun Wang. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 23:4. 743-775. (2014)
Investor Protection, Equity Returns, and Financial Globalization. Y Koskinen with Mariassunta Giannetti. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 45:1. 135-168. (2010)
The Euro and Corporate Valuations. Y Koskinen with Arturo Bris and Mattias Nilsson. Review of Financial Studies, 22:8. 3171-3209. (2009)
Phoenix Rising: Legal Reforms and Changes in Valuations in Finland during the Economic Crisis. Y Koskinen with Timo Korkeamäki and Tuomas Takalo. Journal of Financial Stability, 3:1. 33-58. (2007)
The Real Effects of the Euro: Evidence from Corporate Investments. Y Koskinen with Arturo Bris and Mattias Nilsson. Review of Finance, 10:1. 1-37. (2006)
Corporate Financial Policies and Performance Around Currency Crises. Y Koskinen with Arturo Bris and Vicente Pons. Journal of Business, 77:4. 749-795. (2004)
Corporate Leverage and Currency Crises. Y Koskinen with Arturo Bris. Journal of Financial Economics, 63:2. 275-310. (2002)