David C. Smith

Associate Dean for Center Development & Research; Virginia Bankers Association Professor
Finance

David Smith
dcs8f@virginia.edu
+1 434-243-2272
Office: 
364
Personal Website
PDF icon Curriculum vitae (25.66 KB)
Education: 
Ph.D., Finance, Indiana University
B.S., Economics, University of Delaware
Areas of Expertise: 
Finance
Bankruptcy
Distressed debt
Corporate restructuring and reorganization
Banking lending relationships
Private equity
Corporate governance
Professional Activities: 
Professor Smith specializes in corporate finance and restructuring. His current research can be broken down into four areas: (1) analyzing the economic importance of corporate credit agreements, (2) investigating the restructuring of highly leveraged firms, (3) documenting the impact of distressed debt trading on bankruptcy outcomes, and (4) studying the influence of corporate contracts and law on the quality of corporate governance.
 
Before joining the McIntire faculty, Professor Smith worked as an economist in the International Finance Division at the Federal Reserve Board. While at the board, he covered the Japanese and Chinese banking sectors and worked on issues related to international financial architecture. He has presented his research at universities and conferences around the world and published in leading academic journals, including The Journal of Finance;Journal of Financial Economics; Journal of Financial Intermediation; and Journal of Econometrics. Before joining the Federal Reserve, Professor Smith spent five years teaching at the Norwegian School of Management in Oslo, Norway. He has also held visiting scholar positions at the universities of Minnesota and Florida and at the Stockholm School of Economics. 

Selected Publications:

“The Ownership and Trading of Debt Claims in Chapter 11 Restructurings,” Journal of Financial Economics, forthcoming (with V. Ivashina and B. Iverson).

“What Happens in Nevada? Self-Selecting into Lax Law,” Review of Financial Studies, 2014 (with M. Barzuza).

“Creditor Control Rights, Corporate Governance, and Firm Value,” Review of Financial Studies, 2012 (with G. Nini and A. Sufi).

“Creditor Control Rights and Firm Investment Policy,” Journal of Financial Economics, 2009 (with G. Nini and A. Sufi).

“Maximizing the Value of Distressed Assets: Bankruptcy Law and the Efficient Reorganization of Firms,”Systemic Financial Distress: Containment and Resolution, P. Holohan and L. Laeven (eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2005 (with Per Strömberg).

“The Impact of Bank Consolidation on Commercial Borrower Welfare,” Journal of Finance, 2005 (with J. Karceski and S. Ongena).

“Firms and Their Distressed Banks: Lessons from the Norwegian Banking Crisis (1988-1991),” Journal of Financial Economics, 2003 (with S. Ongena and D. Michalsen).

Recent news about David C. Smith:
McIntire Professor David C. Smith Wins UVA Provost’s Collaborative Excellence in Public Service Award
For his contributions made with the “Financial Crisis Team,” McIntire School of Commerce Professor David C. Smith has received a 2019 Collaborative Excellence in Public Service Award from UVA’s Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. Read more
McIntire’s 2018 Fall Forum to Focus on Private Firms
What facilitates economic growth? What forces are responsible for spurring innovation across industries? What organizations will solve society’s greatest grand challenges? The answers often point back to private firms. The McIntire School’s Fall Forum, “Private Firms—Engines of Growth,” which takes... Read more
Bloomberg Quotes McIntire Finance Professor David C. Smith on Covenant-Lite Debt
With more than 75 percent of new loans in the leveraged loan market this year offering weak protections (according to a Moody’s Investors Service report this month), McIntire Finance Professor David C. Smith advises in a Sept. 27 Bloomberg article... Read more
McIntire Professor David C. Smith Offers Commentary in Vegas Inc. Article on Nevada’s Registration of Panama Papers-Related Entities
According to a May 10, 2016, Vegas Inc. story titled "New Database Highlights Nevada’s Connection to Panama Papers," one Nevada company was mentioned in a federal indictment of FIFA officials. At least 10 Nevada-registered firms were owned by one of... Read more
Wall Street Journal Op-Ed by Finance Professor David C. Smith Questions Need for Chapter 11 Overhaul
In a Jan. 8, 2015, op-ed in The Wall Street Journal , McIntire Finance Professor David C. Smith questions recommendations by the American Bankruptcy Institute Bankruptcy Reform Commission to overhaul corporate bankruptcy code. In the piece, titled “An Unnecessary Chapter... Read more