Smith Breeden Prize


The Smith Breeden Prize is an annual prize given to authors with the best finance research papers published in the Journal of Finance in any area other than corporate finance.

The Award

Each year the associate editors of the Journal of Finance award five papers for excellence. The two best finance papers in the subfield of corporate finance and the three best other papers from among all those papers that appeared in the first five issues of that year and in the December issue from the previous year are awarded prizes at the annual American Finance Association in January of the following year. Currently the Smith Breeden prizes are $10,000 for first place and $5,000 for second, but these amounts may change from time to time. Although the prize is funded by Smith Breeden Associates Inc., the administration of the Smith Breeden Prize is the responsibility of the Editor of The Journal of Finance and is carried out in conjunction with the selection of the Brattle Prizes. Associate Editors vote for the best two corporate finance papers and the best three other papers. The papers receiving the most votes in their categories receive the prizes; however, a paper may not win in both categories.
The Journal of Finance is one of the most prestigious and highly cited journals in finance and economics. Each year hundreds of papers are submitted for publication. In 2006, there were 1239 submissions, 86 articles published, and 8 Smith Breeden Prize nominees from which 1 first place winning paper and two second place distinguished papers were chosen.

Winners