Research

Christoph's research interests are in the area of Behavioral Finance, broadly defined. For example, he analyzes how individual investors convert beliefs and preferences into actions. He studies phenomena such as overconfidence and loss aversion. He analyzes how financial professionals process information and form expectations. In newer work, he explores societal challenges such as digitalization and demographic change. He examines how financial technology companies interact with their customers.

Profile

Christoph Merkle is an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, and a research fellow at the Danish Finance Institute (DFI). He holds a PhD in Finance from University of Mannheim (2011). He held prior academic positions at Kühne Logistics University, Hamburg and University of Mannheim.

Teaching

Christoph is teaching a master's course in Corporate Valuation in the M.Sc. FIB program, but open to other students. The course (10 ECTS) takes place in the spring term and deals with applied company valuation. Biannually, he also teaches a bachelor's course Behavioural Finance in the HA program. The course (5 ECTS) is an elective and takes place in the fall term. Christoph undertakes supervision of bachelor theses, master theses, and teaches an extra-mural Ph.D. course in Behavioral Finance.

Job responsibilities

Christoph is the organizer of the research seminar series in Finance and a member of the section council. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance.