Wayne State University School of Business Administration

Mai Iskandar Datta

Professor of Finance

mdatta@wayne.edu
(313) 577-9509

Academic Degrees

  • Ph.D., University of Missouri, Columbia, 1986
  • MBA, University of Missouri, Columbia, 1982
  • B.S., University of Missouri, Columbia, 1980
  • Bachelor of Journalism University of Missouri, Columbia, 1980

Teaching Interests

  • Corporate finance
  • Capital budgeting
  • Corporate financial management
  • Multinational financial management

Research Interests

  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Executive compensation
  • Corporate governance
  • Insider-trading
  • Investment banking
  • Initial public offerings
  • Bond covenant structure
  • Corporate restructuring
  • Bankruptcy
  • Market efficiency issues

Professional Experience & Certification

  • Professor (tenured)                           
    Wayne State University, Fall 2004-present.          
  • Associate Professor (tenured)        
    Suffolk University, Fall 1997-2004
  • Associate Professor                          
    University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Fall  1996-1997
  • Associate Professor (tenured)         
    Northern Illinois University, Fall 1994
  • Assistant Professor                            
    Northern Illinois University, Spring 1991-1994
  • Assistant Professor                            
    Bentley College, Fall 1986 - Fall 1990

Publications & Presentations

  • Does Executive Compensation Determine Firm Performance?: An Analysis of Newly Appointed CEOs (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Corporate Ownership and Control (forthcoming).
  • Executive compensation and Internal Capital Market Efficiency with Sudip Datta and Ranjan D’Mello, Journal of Financial Intermediation (2009), vol.18, p. 242-258.
  • Is there Information Content in Corporate Asset Writedowns?, (with Sudip Datta), International Journal of Managerial Finance  (2008), vol. 4, p 200.
  • Global Diversification: Evidence from Corporate Operating Performance (with Robyn McLaughlin), Corporate Ownership and Control,(Summer 2007), vol. 4, 228-242.
  • Executive Compensation Structure and Corporate Equity Financing Decisions (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Journal of Business,(September 2005), vol. 78, pp. 1860-1889.
  • Managerial Stock Ownership and the Maturity Structure of Corporate Debt (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Journal of Finance (2005), vol. 60,.pp. 2333-2350.
  • In Defense of Incentive Compensation: Evidence on Corporate Acquisition Policy (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Journal of Applied Corporate Finance (Fall 2004), vol. 16, pp. 82-88.
  • Convertible Bond Calls: Resolution of the Information Content Puzzle (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Journal of Financial Intermediation (2003), vol. 12, pp. 155-276.
  • Value Creation in Corporate Asset Sales: The Role of Managerial Performance and Lender Monitoring (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Journal of Banking and Finance (2003), vol. 27, pp. 351-375.
  • Value Creation in Corporate Divestitures (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Corporate Finance Review (Jan/Feb 2003) vol. 7, pp. 25-36.
  • Executive Compensation and Corporate Acquisition Decisions (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Journal of Finance (December 2001) vol. 56, no. 6, pp. 2299-2336.
  • Debt Structure Adjustments and Long-Run Stock Price Performance (with Sudip Datta and Kartik Raman), Journal of Financial Intermediation (2000), vol. 9, pp. 427-453.
  • Do Bank Relationships Matter in Public Debt Offerings? (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel), Journal of Applied Corporate Finance (Winter 2000), vol. 12, no. 4, pp.120-127.
  • Some Evidence on the Uniqueness of Initial Public Debt Offers (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel), Journal of Finance (April 2000), vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 715-743.
  • Market Pricing of Debt IPOs (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel), Journal of Applied Corporate Finance (Spring 1999), vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 86-91.
  • Bank Monitoring and the Pricing of Corporate Public Debt (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel), Journal of Financial Economics (March 1999) vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 435-449.
  • The Pricing of Initial Public Offers of Corporate Straight Debt (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel), Journal of Finance (March 1997) vol 52, no. 1, pp. 379-396.
  • New Evidence on the Valuation Effects of Convertible Bond Calls (with Sudip Datta), Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis (June 1996) vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 295-307.
  • Does Insider Trading Have Information Content in the Bond Market? (with Sudip Datta), Journal of Banking and Finance (April 1996) vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 555-575.
  • Who Gains From Corporate Asset Sales? (with Sudip Datta), Journal of Financial Research (Spring 1996) vol.19, no. 1, pp. 41-58.
  • Managerial Self-Interest, Financial Slack and Corporate Pension Funding (with Sudip Datta and Edward J. Zychowicz), Financial Review (November 1996) vol 31, no. 4, pp. 695-720.
  • Takeover Defenses and Wealth Effects on Securityholders: The Case of Poison Pill Adoptions (with Sudip Datta), Journal of Banking and Finance (August 1996) vol. 20, no. 7, pp. 1231-1250.
  • An Historical Perspective on Fraudulent Financial Reporting in the United States (with M.J. Abdolmohammadi and Paul McMann), Monograph: Disorder and Harmony:Contributions of the 20th Century, A.J. Richardson (Ed.), (Vancouver, Certified General Accountants Canada Research Foundation, 1996).
  • Reorganization and Financial Distress: An Empirical Investigation (with Sudip Datta), Journal of Financial Research (Spring 1995) vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 15-32.
  • Corporate Partial Acquisitions, Total Firm Valuation and the Effect of Financing Method (with Sudip Datta), Journal of Banking and Finance (April 1995) vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 97-115.
  • Pension Plan Terminations, Excess Asset Reversions and Securityholder Wealth (with Sudip Datta and Edward J. Zychowicz), Journal of Banking and Finance (May 1995) vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 245-259.
  • The Value of Analyst Recommendations: A Test of "The Announcement Effect" and "The Valuable Information Effect" (with W. Scott Bauman and Sudip Datta)," Journal of Business Finance and Accounting (July 1995) vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 659-670. 
  • The Information Content of Bankruptcy Filing on Securityholders of the Bankrupt Firm: An Empirical Investigation (with Sudip Datta), Journal of Banking and Finance (August 1995) vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 903-920.
  • An Empirical Investigation of The Role of Indenture Provisions in Determining Bond Ratings, (with Douglas R. Emery), Journal of Banking and Finance (1994) vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 93-111.
  • Capital Structure Management as a Contributing Motivation for Calling Convertible Debt, (with Douglas R. Emery and Jong-Chul Rhim), Journal of Financial Research (1994) vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 91-104.
  • Involuntary Sell-Offs and Stockholder Wealth: Evidence From Divestment of South African Assets (with A. Gupta and K. Gupta), Journal of International Finance (1994) vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 30-38.
  • Evidence of Nonstationarity in the Bond Rating Process for Newly Issued Bonds: A Note,  Journal of Applied Business Research (1992) vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 124-128. 
  • Expert Systems in Auditing: Advantages and Applications (with Paul McMann), The EDP Auditor Journal (1989) vol. iv, pp. 41-51.

Professional Memberships

Awards & Recognition

  • Rank #76 among the most prolific finance researcher with a record over the last half a century by a study forthcoming in Advances in Financial Education.
  • Ranked 107th out of top 1,000 finance researchers in the world based on my research productivity in a study conducted by K. C. Chan, C. R. Chen and T. L. Steiner (see http://faculty.sba.dayton.edu/chan/1000.htm).
  • Ranked in the top 1% of finance researchers according to a study in the Financial Management (Winter 2002).
  • Won the school-wide Research Award in September 2002 from the Sawyer School of Management at Suffolk University for outstanding achievements in scholarly research.
  • Won the Dean's Service Award at Suffolk University in 2003 for significant contribution to the creation of the Global MBA program.
  • Won the Outstanding Paper Award in Corporate Finance at the Financial Management Association's Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada in October 2001.
  • My JFE paper was on recommended reading list by the Center for Financial Studies Symposium organized by Salomon Center at NYU, Stern School of Business, December, 1999.
  • Won the Finance Department Publication Award for 1999 at Sawyer School of Management.
  • “New Evidence on the Valuation Effects of Convertible Bond Calls.” (with Sudip Datta) was recognized for excellence in research with the highest quality by ANBAR in 1998.
  • “Who Gains From Corporate Asset Sales?” (with Sudip Datta) competitively won the outstanding paper award from the Journal of Financial Research among all the articles published in that journal during 1996.
  • “Valuation Effects and Signalling Implications of Initial Public Straight Debt Offers,” (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel) won outstanding paper award in corporate finance at the 1995 Southern Finance Association Meetings.
  • The article "Insider-Trading Reports Are Linked to Price of Bonds" by Warren Getler, in The Wall Street Journal, February 8, 1995 (page C1), draws attention to my study "Does Insider Trading Have Information Content in the Bond Market? (with Sudip Datta) which has significant policy implications regarding a loophole in insider trading laws.
  • My paper on insider trading is referenced in the Encyclopedia of Law and Economics and in a book entitled “Insider Trading” by William K.S. Wang (Professor of Law, University of California, Hastings College of the Law) and Marc I. Steinberg (Radford Professor of Law, Southern Methodist University School of Law).
  • "An Investigation of the Returns on Initial Public Offerings of Bonds" (with Sudip Datta and Ajay Patel) was nominated for the best paper award for the Southern Finance Association meetings held in November 1994.