Efraim Benmelech is Henry Bullock Professor of Finance & Real Estate, the Director of both the Guthrie Center for Real Estate Research and the Crown Family Israel Center for Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Benmelech’s research interests are in the field of credit markets where he studies financial contracting, financial crises, securitization, bankruptcy and financial distress. He also writes extensively on the economics of terrorism and economic history. Professor Benmelech’s research on financial distress, the financial crisis and on terrorism have received wide media coverage in outlets such as Bloomberg, the Boston Globe,  The Economist, the Financial Times, Fortune, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY. Benmelech received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2005.

Applied Corporate Finance, Bankruptcy, Credit Markets, Economic History, Financial Contracting.

• Ph.D., 2005, Finance, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago
• M.B.A., 2001, School of Business Administration, School of Business Administration, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• B.A., 1999, Economics and Business Administration, Department of Economics and the School of Business Administration, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

• Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research
• Harold L. Stuart Professor of Finance, Finance, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
• Director, Real Estate, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

• Member, Board of Directors, Israel National Coal Supplies Company (State-owned company for coal supplies), 2000-2001
• Assistant Director, Israel Ministry of Finance, 1998-2001
• Major, Commander of Company and Chief Operating Officer, Israeli Defense Forces, 1990-1996

• The Journal of Human Resources Highly Cited Paper Award 2023.
• Charles River Associates Award for Best Paper on Corporate Finance, Western Finance Association
• CRA Award for Best Paper on Corporate Finance at the WFA 2020 Meetings, Westerna Finance Association, 2020
• The Review of Corporate Finance Studies best paper award, Financial Studies Society
• The Review of Corporate Finance Studies Best Paper Award, 2012
• The Journal of Finance Brattle Group Award, First Prize, 2011
• Excellence in Refereeing Award, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2011
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award: Empirical Analysis of the Causes and Consequences of Financial Distress, 2009-2014
• Excellence in Refereeing Award, American Economic Review, 2009
• Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance, 2009
• GARP Risk Management Research Program Grant, 2007
• Andrew E. Furer Fellow, Department of Economics, Harvard University, 2006-2009
• Warburg Fund, Harvard, 2006, 2007, 2008
• Clark Fund, Harvard, 2006, 2008, 2009
• John Leusner Family Fellowship, University of Chicago, GSB, 2005
• The Lehman Brothers Fellowship for Research Excellence in Finance (1st Prize), 2004-2005
• The FDIC Center for Financial Research Fellowship, 2004
• The AFA Student Travel Grant, 2004
• The Harry Simons Fellowship, 2003-2004
• The CRSP Summer Paper Grant, 2002
• The Solomon Fund Fellowship, 2002
• The University of Chicago, GSB Fellowship, 2001-2005
• The Maurice Falk Award for Outstanding Students Papers, 1999
• The Israeli Defense Forces, Chief of General Staff Award for Outstanding Officers, (Award for Excellence and Leadership by Mr. Ehud Barak, Israel Former Prime Minister), 1994

• Associate Editor, Journal of Finance, 2013-2018
• Editor, Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 2011-2018

Corporate Finance

Corporate Finance III (FINC-586-3)
This course provides a theoretical and empirical treatment of major topics in empirical corporate finance, including financial contracting; banking, securitization, and financial regulation: household finance and macroeconomics; entrepreneurship and venture capital.

Corporate Finance II (FINC-586-2)
This course provides a theoretical and empirical treatment of major topics in empirical corporate finance, including: investment decisions, capital structure, corporate governance, and law and finance.

Corporate Finance I (FINC-586-1)
This course introduces students to theories of corporate financing and investment decisions; optimal financial contracting and security design; financial intermediation; and financial crises. Throughout we study the effects of incentive problems and asymmetric information.

International Real Estate (REALX-455-5)


Strategic Financial Management (FINCX-442-0)
Strategic Financial Management examines financial management theory and cases. Students use valuation skills to determine the cost of capital, financing and operating issues faced by the firm.

International Real Estate (REAL-455-5)
This course was formerly known as REAL 922-B
This half-credit course will expose students to the importance of both strategy and execution in the world of cross-border real estate investments. Topics will include the rationale for international investing (opportunities and risks); top-down macro factors influencing real estate markets; micro-market factors influencing real estate investment performance; and the role of transparency, taxes and legal rights in different countries. Students will analyze international private equity funds and internationally listed real estate companies and they will examine case studies of cross-border investment decisions.

Financial Decisions (FINC-442-0)
This course uses case studies to enhance the student's understanding of managerial financial decision making, specifically investment and financing decisions. Topics include short- and long-term financing, capital structure and dividend decisions, cost of capital, capital budgeting, firm valuation, financial and operational restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions. The course emphasizes the basic principles of corporate finance and is sufficiently general so as to be of interest to all students. The course provides students with the opportunity to apply the concepts and theories developed in other finance courses. At its most fundamental level, the course attempts to improve problem-solving skills: problem definition, gathering and organizing the relevant information, developing feasible alternative courses of action, evaluating alternative choices, and recommending and defending the best course of action.