Oliver Hart

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Vitae

Journal of Finance bio

Sir Oliver Hart is currently the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1993. He is the 2016 co-recipient of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Hart’s research centers on the roles that ownership structure and contractual arrangements play in the governance and boundaries of corporations. His recent work focuses on how parties can write better contracts, and on the social responsibility of business. He has published a book (Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure, Oxford University Press, 1995) and numerous journal articles. He has used his theoretical work on firms and contracts in several legal cases. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the American Finance Association, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association, and has several honorary degrees. He has been president of the American Law and Economics Association and a vice president of the American Economic Association. He was made a Knight Bachelor in the King’s Birthday Honours List, 2023.

 

Recent Publications

2026

Hart, Oliver, Helene Landemore, and Luigi Zingales. 2026. How To Implement Shareholder Democracy. Forthcoming Harvard Business Law Review.
Hart, Oliver, Helene Landemore, and Luigi Zingales. 2026. How To Implement Shareholder Democracy. Forthcoming Harvard Business Law Review.

2024

Hart, Oliver, David Thesmar, and Luigi Zingales. 2024. “Private Sanctions”. Economic Policy January 2024, 203-68.
Hart, Oliver, David Thesmar, and Luigi Zingales. 2024. “Private Sanctions”. Economic Policy January 2024, 203-68.
Frydlinger, David, and Oliver Hart. 2024. “Overcoming Contractual Incompleteness: The Role of Guiding Principles”. The Journal of Law, Economics and Organization. 40, (3): 625-647.
Frydlinger, David, and Oliver Hart. 2024. “Overcoming Contractual Incompleteness: The Role of Guiding Principles”. The Journal of Law, Economics and Organization. 40, (3): 625-647.
Hart, Oliver, and Maija Halonen-Akatwijuka. 2024. “More Is Less: Why Parties May Deliberately Write Incomplete Contracts”. Cambridge Elements in Law, Economics, and Politics 2024.
Hart, Oliver, and Maija Halonen-Akatwijuka. 2024. “More Is Less: Why Parties May Deliberately Write Incomplete Contracts”. Cambridge Elements in Law, Economics, and Politics 2024.

2022

Broccardo, Eleonora, Oliver Hart, and Luigi Zingales. 2022. “Exit Vs. Voice”. Published in Journal of Political Economy, December 2022.
Broccardo, Eleonora, Oliver Hart, and Luigi Zingales. 2022. “Exit Vs. Voice”. Published in Journal of Political Economy, December 2022.
Hart, Oliver, and Luigi Zingales. 2022. “The New Corporate Governance” 1 (1): 195-216.
Hart, Oliver, and Luigi Zingales. 2022. “The New Corporate Governance” 1 (1): 195-216.

2020

Frydlinger, David, Oliver Hart, and Kate Vitasek. 2020. “An Innovative Way to Prevent Adversarial Supplier Relationships”. Harvard Business Review .
Frydlinger, David, Oliver Hart, and Kate Vitasek. 2020. “An Innovative Way to Prevent Adversarial Supplier Relationships”. Harvard Business Review .
Halonen-Akatwijuka, Maija, and Oliver Hart. 2020. “Continuing Contracts”. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 36 (2): 284-313.
Halonen-Akatwijuka, Maija, and Oliver Hart. 2020. “Continuing Contracts”. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization 36 (2): 284-313.