Michael C. Jensen

This article is about American economist. For Danish speedway rider, see Michael Jepsen Jensen. For the author and priest, see Michael Jensen (theologian).

Michael C. Jensen
Born(1939-11-30)November 30, 1939
Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedApril 2, 2024(2024-04-02) (aged 84)
Sarasota, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Known forCo-founding and editing the Journal of Financial Economics
Financial economics
Corporate finance
SSRN co-founder
Academic background
Alma materMacalester College University of Chicago
Doctoral advisorMerton Miller
Academic work
InstitutionsMonitor Group (2000–2009)
Harvard University (1985–2000)
University of Rochester (1967–1988)

Michael Cole Jensen (November 30, 1939 – April 2, 2024) was an American economist who worked in the field of financial economics. From 1967-1988, he was on the University of Rochester's faculty.[1] Between 2000 and 2009 he worked for the Monitor Company Group,[2] a strategy-consulting firm which became "Monitor Deloitte" in 2013. Until 2000, he held the position of Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University.

Jensen died in Sarasota, Florida on April 2, 2024, at the age of 84.[3][4] He was one of the most influential financial economists of all time. Jensen made three major contributions, each of which have had large impacts. First, he is one of the most-cited economists of all time, with over 340,000 citations on Google Scholar as of April 2024, according to the Promarket tribute. Much of his work focused on agency problems within organizations, especially publicly traded corporations. Second, Jensen was also the co-founder and editor for many years of the Journal of Financial Economics. The journal became the top academic finance journal almost immediately after its founding.[5] Among its policies was compensating peer reviewers (referees) for doing a speedy job of evaluating manuscripts. Third, he co-founded the Social Science Research Network in 1994.[6] SSRN quickly became the leading distributor of academic working papers in many disciplines.

  1. ^ Knispel, Sandra (April 16, 2024). "Michael Jensen 'transformed the way we perceive and practice economics'". University of Rochester. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "Michael C. Jensen". Harvard Business School. Retrieved June 12, 2015. He joined the Monitor Company in 2000 as Managing Director of the Organizational Strategy Practice, became Senior Advisor in 2007 and as of 2009 is no longer associated with Monitor.
  3. ^ Rosenwald, Michael S. (April 26, 2024). "Michael C. Jensen, 84, Who Helped Reshape Modern Capitalism, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  4. ^ Fama, Eugene F. (April 5, 2024). "Michael C. Jensen Tribute". Promarket. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Borokhovich, Kenneth A.; Bricker, Robert J.; Simkins, Betty J. (2000). "An Analysis of Finance Journal Impact Factors". The Journal of Finance. 55 (3): 1457–1469. doi:10.1111/0022-1082.00254. ISSN 0022-1082. JSTOR 222459.
  6. ^ Feltner, Kerry (June 3, 2016). "Dutch company acquires firm in Brighton". Rochester Business Journal. Retrieved March 21, 2020.