Geoffrey C. Friesen

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Geoffrey C. Friesen

Professor of Business Ethics and Associate Professor Finance University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact

Address
HLH 425N
Lincoln, NE 68588-0490
Phone
402-472-0851 On-campus 2-0851
Email
gfriesen2@unl.edu
Website
Website
Social Media

My very, very earliest financial research (c. 2005-2019) was in behavioral finance and investments, studying how actual financial decisions depart from the assumptions of rational financial models. Over time, this led me to a deeper question about the models themselves: What assumptions about the human person, work, value, and the purpose of the firm are embedded in our definitions of rational financial behavior? And how do those models help to construct the firms, markets and social realities they purport to simply describe?

Much of my recent work grows out of the subjective dimension of work, described in a series of encyclical letters from Pope John Paul II. Work has an objective dimension: people produce goods and services, earn wages, and generate measurable economic output. But work also has a subjective dimension: through the creative practice of work people develop capacities, participate in relationships, experience meaning and purpose, and become particular kinds of persons. Some of my first work in this area (2020-2022) argues that modern financial models largely bracket-out this second dimension, even though modern social science suggests that meaning, purpose, trust, relationships, and engagement matter both for human flourishing and for economic value creation. 

This has led to a broader research program at the intersection of finance, human flourishing, corporate governance, and moral philosophy. At its center is my work on what I call paradox goods: economically consequential goods whose productive value depends upon their being treated as ends rather than mere instruments for financial return, and the financial models, governance structures, and ownership forms that either cultivate or undermine the conditions under which those goods can exist.

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I also study how modern finance came to bracket the subjective and relational dimensions of work; how ownership and governance structures can create a moral ecology that either sustains or erodes these goods; and what all of this means for regenerative finance and human flourishing.

The foundational bedrock of the entire project is a question I have been working on for several years: What changes in finance when we understand the human person as a subject of economic activity, rather than merely an input into production?

And lastly, I am quite interested in how artificial intelligence is changing business education, especially case-method teaching. Rather than treating AI primarily as a cheating problem, some of my recent scholarship asks how educators can use AI to raise the standard for student work by requiring forms of judgment, moral reasoning, and contextual insight that cannot be outsourced to a large language model (using AI as a cross-trainer, not a crutch.  For a taste of these ideas, click here: https://iveybusinessjournal.com/elevating-case-method-teaching-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/).

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Selected Publications and Current Work:

Teaching Innovation and Public Scholarship

“Elevating Case Method Teaching in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” 2026, with Robert Mackalski, Seth Polsley, and Marc Ducusin, Ivey Business Journal.

Education

Ph.D. University of Iowa (2003)
B.S. University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1995)

Areas of Expertise

  • Behavioral finance; investments; business ethics; Catholic Social Teaching and economic life; financial models and human flourishing; corporate governance; stakeholder engagement; AI and business education.

Research Interests

  • Financial models and human flourishing
  • Corporate governance and moral ecology
  • Stakeholder engagement and paradox goods
  • Narrative capital and the firm
  • Behavioral finance and investor decision-making
  • Artificial intelligence, judgment, and case-method teaching
  • Catholic Social Teaching, finance, and the human person

Appointments

  • Assistant Professor 2005-2011
  • Associate Professor 2011-present

Editorial and Professional Service

Co-Editor, Faith & Economics, a peer-reviewed academic journal of the Association of Christian Economists. The journal publishes academic articles, surveys, and book reviews offering perspectives from the Christian tradition on economics, and all research articles undergo double-blind peer review.

Other Past Publications

  • “The Effect of Unsuccessful Past Repurchases on Future Repurchasing Decisions”, 2021 with P. Jeutang and E. Unlu,  Management Science.
  • “Human Flourishing and the Subjective Dimension of Work”, 2020, Faith & Economics.
  • Payne, B., J. Tresl and G. Friesen, 2018, “Sentiment and Stock Returns: Anticipating Major Sports Events”, Journal of Sports Economics, 19 (6).
  • Feng, Shu, Yi Zhang (former PhD Student) and Geoffrey Friesen, 2015, “The relationship between the option-implied volatility smile, stock returns and heterogeneous beliefs”, International Review of Financial Analysis, 41, 62-73.
  • Dunham, Lee (former PhD Student) and Geoffrey Friesen, 2012, “Building a Better Mousetrap: Enhanced Dollar Cost Averaging,” The Journal of Wealth Management, 15(1), 41-50.
  • Friesen, Geoffrey, Yi Zhang (UNL PhD Student) and Tom Zorn, 2012, “Heterogeneous Beliefs and Risk-Neutral Skewness,” Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 47 (4), 851-872.
  • Friesen, Geoffrey and Chris Swift (UNL PhD Student), 2009, “Investor Behavior in the Thrift IPO Aftermarket,” Journal of Banking and Finance, 33(7), 1285-1298.
  • Friesen, Geoffrey, Paul Weller and Lee Dunham (UNL PhD Student), 2009, “Price Trends and Patterns in Technical Analysis: A Theoretical and Empirical Examination,” Journal of Banking and Finance, 33 (6), 1089-1100.
  • Farrell, Kathy, Geoffrey Friesen and Phil Hersch, 2008, “How Do Firms Adjust Director Compensation?,” The Journal of Corporate Finance, 14(2), 153-162.
  • Friesen, Geoffrey and Travis Sapp. 2007. “Mutual Fund Flows and Investor Returns: An Empirical Examination of Mutual Fund Investor Timing Ability,” The Journal of Banking and Finance, 31(9), 2796-2816.
  • Friesen, Geoffrey. 2007,  “On the Lack of Participating Policy Usage by Stock Insurers,” Journal of Risk and Insurance, 74(1), 225-246.
  • Dunham, Lee (UNL PhD Student) and Geoffrey Friesen, 2007, “An Empirical Examination of Jump Risk in U.S Equity and Bond Markets,” The North American Actuarial Journal, 76-90.
  • Friesen, Geoffrey and Paul Weller, 2006 (lead article). “Quantifying Cognitive Biases in Analyst Earnings Forecasts,” Journal of Financial Markets, 9(4), 333-365.

 

 

Teaching Awards

UNL MBA Distance Teaching Award Recipient 2015-16, 2017-18, 2025-26

Graduate Courses

Managerial Economics (GRBA 812) - Economic analysis applied to business decisions.  Key modules include history of capitalism, economic costs & benefits, marginal analysis, simple & complex pricing, international economics, financial market bubbles, price discrimination strategies, game theory & bargaining, adverse selection and moral hazard.

Advanced Financial Theory (FIN 961) - Introductory PhD seminar focused on foundations of financial theory applied to asset pricing and corporate finance.

Undergraduate Courses

Strategic Financial Management (FIN 475), Investments (FIN 363), Security Analysis (FIN 463), Options & Futures (FIN 467), Portfolio Practicum (FIN 468)  

Teaching Interests

  • Investments
  • Advanced Financial Theory
  • Managerial Economics

Other Courses

  • Great Books, Catholic Social Teaching & Economic Thought
  • Business Ethics and The Gospel