Assistant Professor of Finance Andres Donangelo worked in banking and consulting in his native Brazil before being drawn to academia. Donangelo now conducts innovative research on the concept of human capital in relation to finance.

After getting both his bachelor’s (production engineering) and master’s (finance) degrees in Rio de Janeiro, Donangelo began his doctoral research in finance at Berkeley. When his friend and colleague Miguel Palacios Lleras wrote a book on human capital, it drew Donangelo’s attention, and he focused his Ph.D. research on the subject.

Human capital is the collection of all skills, acquired knowledge, and personal traits that allow people to create value for themselves and the economy, Donangelo explains.

"I would like to develop this field as an intersection between finance and labor," he says, noting that most current financial research ignores human capital because it's not an easily measurable element like stock prices. "Human capital affects the value of virtually any asset, such as investment projects and financial instruments."

Donangelo's research analyzes how employees' observable characteristics affect the risk and return of stock, and leads to differences in how firms are financed and managed.

"Unlike buildings and machines, human capital is not owned by the owners of firms that employ it," Donangelo says. "Employees can literally walk away from a firm, and thus affect firm and stock value in predictable ways."

Donangelo has presented his research at 14 universities and the Federal Reserve Board and is a recipient of the 2011 WFA/USC Marshall School of Business Trefftzs Award for Best Student Paper.