Amanda P. Cowen 

Assistant Professor of Commerce

Office phone: 434-243-8753
e-mail: acowen@virginia.edu

Education:

D.B.A., Business Policy, Harvard Business School
M.B.A., Harvard Business School
A.B., Economics, Dartmouth College

Areas of Expertise:

Professor Cowen’s interests are in organizational theory and the social construction of markets. Her recent research examines the dynamics of organizational status and how this competitive asset is affected by merger transactions and integration processes. Professor Cowen has a particular interest in professional service firms and has conducted much of her research in the investment banking industry.

Professional Activities:

In addition to her research activities, Professor Cowen has taught courses on leadership, organizational behavior, and strategy at the Harvard Business School, the Kennedy School of Government, and the McIntire School of Commerce. She has worked with undergraduate and graduate students as well as executives from a variety of industries, including defense, pharmaceuticals, software, and professional services. Before pursuing an academic career, Professor Cowen worked as a marketing manager at Time Inc. in New York City.

Professor Cowen’s research focuses on merger integration and its consequences for professional service firms and their human capital strategies. In earlier work, she investigated the factors that produce conflicts of interest at securities firms. This work, recently published in Journal of Accounting and Economics, was awarded the 2006 Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence.
 

Selected Publications:

“The Liability of Status: Mergers & Status Outcomes in the Investment Banking Industry,” working paper, University of Virginia, 2008.

“Damaged Goods? Firm-Level Contingencies and the Settling Up of Compromised Corporate Directors” (with J. Marcel), working paper, University of Virginia, 2008.

“Which Types of Analyst Firms Make More Optimistic Forecasts?” Journal of Accounting and Economics, 2006 (with B. Groysberg and P. Healy). Winner of 2006 Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence; one of the top 50 management publications for 2006.

“For Better or Worse? Mergers and Status Outcomes in the Investment Banking Industry (abbreviated version),” In K. Mark Weaver (ed.) Proceedings of the Sixty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (CD), 2006.

“When Homophily Is a Liability: Merger Integration at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter,” working paper, Harvard Business School, 2006.
 

Vita