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Rohit Sonika

Visiting Researcher
Hanken School of Economics

rohit (at) sonika (dot) me


About Me

I am a Data Strategist and Academic in Finance, currently working as a researcher at Hanken School of Economics. I was a visiting researcher at Aalto University and Hanken School of Economics, both in Helsinki, Finland and an Assistant Professor at University of Exeter (UK). I completed my Ph.D. in Accounting and Finance at Lancaster University, where I was advised by Mark Shackleton, Shantanu Banerjee and Nicholas Carline.

My primary research interests are in empirical corporate finance and governance, with particular focus on payout, compensation and board governance.

I am honored to have been awarded various fellowships and grants, including but not limited to Lancaster PhD Fellowship, HSE Foundation Grant, Royal Economic Society Grant, AFA Grant, Pörssisäätiö Research Grant, Suomen Arvopaperimarkkinoiden Edistämissäätiö Research Grant, etc.

Research Interests

Works in Progress

  1. Heterogeneous Effects of Mandatory Disclosure: Governance and Power in Compensation Restructuring
    Working Paper
    Abstract: We examine how governance and CEO power shape compensation restructuring surrounding FAS 123R mandatory option expensing. Decomposing responses across timing, magnitude, quality, and policy dimensions, we document systematic heterogeneity. Strong governance predicts earlier adjustment (16 percentage points higher adjustment probability by year 3), aggressive substitution (5 percentage larger), and efficient restructuring constraining excess compensation by $150,000. CEO power exhibits opposing patterns: delayed adjustment and rent extraction inflating compensation by $50,000. Quality differentials generate real effects—poor restructuring associates with reduced R&D (1.5 percentage points), depressed investment ($24 million annually), and elevated cash holdings among powerful-CEO firms. Exploiting predetermined governance structures, we provide causal evidence that governance shapes compensation dynamics following regulatory shocks, with welfare implications extending beyond direct costs to influence corporate investment policies.
    Email me
  2. Credit Market Spillovers, Corporate Payout Policy and Investment Efficiency: Evidence from Private Equity Fund Financing Constraints
    Work-in-progress
    Email me
  3. Monitoring in the Shadows: Board Independence and the Opacity of Related-Party Transactions
    Work-in-progress
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Publications

  1. The timing of stock repurchases: Do well - connected CEOs help or harm?
    with Amedeo D. Cesari, Nicoletta Marinelli
    Journal of Banking & Finance, 2024, 168:107288.
    PDF
  2. Flexibility in Share Repurchases - Evidence from UK
    with Manoj Kulchania
    European Financial Management, 2023, 29, 196–246.
    PDF
  3. Buyback behaviour and the option funding hypothesis
    with Mark B. Shackleton
    Journal of Banking & Finance, 2020, 114:105800.
    PDF
  4. The Option and Decision to Repurchase Stock
    with Mark B. Shackleton and Nicholas Carline
    Financial Management, 2014, 41(4), 833 - 855.
    PDF

Conferences and Seminars

Grants


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