Conferences

PSU/Pitt/CMU Conference

The Department’s ninth annual conference with the Finance Faculty and PhD students from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh was held on March 20-21. Carnegie Mellon University was the host. Thomas Geelen and Zhe Wang presented in the faculty session. Fourth year PhD student Devin Zhang presented in the PhD student session. Tony Cookson, David Haushalter, Mihail Velikov, and Alexey Zhdanov presented in the new ideas session. Penn State will host the conference in spring 2027.

Happy Valley Finance Conference

The Department of Finance will host the first Happy Valley Finance Conference on August 12–14 in State College. The conference will bring together a select group of leading scholars for two days of research presentations and in-depth discussion. The program includes seven papers spanning a broad range of finance topics, with each paper assigned a discussant. The conference will open with a welcome reception at the Nittany Lion Inn, followed by sessions at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center on Thursday and the Business Building on Friday. Participants will also attend a conference dinner and have the opportunity to take part in activities showcasing the Happy Valley area.

Labor & Finance Group Fall 2026 Conference

Penn State Smeal will host the Labor & Finance Group Fall 2026 Conference on November 5–6, 2026, in State College. The Labor and Finance Group brings together researchers from business schools and economics departments around the world to present new work at the intersection of finance and labor economics, with the group's meetings rotating among host institutions in the U.S. and abroad. This year's program features research on topics including human capital, compensation, and incentives; labor market power and wage setting; unions, collective bargaining, and worker representation; organizational design and internal labor markets; labor mobility and non-compete agreements; labor-related disclosure and regulation; labor and asset pricing; and entrepreneurship and innovation. For more information, see the call for papers.