Katherine Guthrie

Biography

Katherine Guthrie, Associate Professor of Business at William & Mary, earned her B.A. in economics and international relations as a dual degree from the University of California, Davis, and later went on to receive her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan. She brings a wealth of research and teaching experience to the Raymond A. Mason School of Business.  

Dr. Guthrie is an expert on current issues in corporate governance and household finance.  She has published her research in peer-reviewed finance and accounting journals, including Accounting Horizons, Critical Finance Review, Journal of Finance, Journal of Corporate Finance, and Journal of Business Ethics. She has studied the effectiveness of board independence, CEO incentive pay, ownership by sophisticated institutional investors and blockholders, as well as regulatory reforms in corporate governance. Currently, she is exploring biological influences on financial decisions.

At William & Mary, Dr. Guthrie has taught in both the Undergraduate and Graduate Business Program. She is one of the pillars of the undergraduate finance program and has made many noteworthy contributions in and out of the classroom to promote undergraduate learning and career development.  She was the faculty advisor to two student organizations: Women in Business and Smart Woman Securities, and host of the Women’s Leadership Summit with attendees from education institutions all over the country, including Harvard, Chicago, University of Virginia and Yale. She has also spearheaded efforts to design and implement a Distinguish Finance track for undergraduate finance majors as well as a course on Diversity in the Workplace for freshmen and sophomores. 

Dr. Guthrie is the recipient of several prestigious honors and awards, among them the McGlothlin Teaching Award, the Faculty Excellence Award, the Alfred N. Page Undergraduate Teaching Award, and the Geary Faculty Fellowship.

Katherine enjoys spending time gardening, teaching yoga, and competing in triathlons and marathons.

Areas of Interest/Expertise

• Corporate governance: executive compensation; boards of directors; ownership by institutional investors and large shareholders;  financial misreporting; shareholder activism; corporate social responsibility
• Household finance: financial decision-making (rational and behavioral); role of demographics in financial markets; portfolio choice
• Economics of happiness

Selected Publications

 

• "What Does CEOs’ Pay-for-Performance Reveal About Shareholders’ Attitude Toward Earnings Overstatements?" (Journal of Business Ethics,  forthcoming)
• "Obesity and Household Financial Distress" (Critical Finance Review, forthcoming)
• “CEO Compensation and Board Structure Revisited” (Journal of Finance, 2012)
• “SFAS 159: The Fair Value Option” (Accounting Horizons, 2011)
• “Large Shareholders and the Pressure to Manage Earnings” (Journal of Corporate Finance, 2010)

Current Research Projects

• “Shareholder Value of Proxy Access”
• "Behavioral Consistency in Individuals’ Financial Choices"

• "Diurnal Rhythms in Time- and Risk-Preferences"

• “Obesity and Credit Risk”
• “Characterizing the Choice Environment: Feeling Constrained as an Impediment to Happiness”
• “What Does CEOs’ Pay-for-Performance Reveal About Shareholders’ Attitude Toward Earnings Management?”