The AQR Insight Award recognizes and rewards exceptional academic working papers that offer original, intelligent approaches to practical issues in the investment world. Up to three papers share a $100,000 annual prize. 

AQR will consider papers on any investment-related topic as long as they deliver clear, significant insights. Winners are chosen by the AQR Insight Award Committee, a panel of senior members of the firm, many of whom are leading academic finance experts from top universities.



2021 First Prize Winner

In Search of the Origins of Financial Fluctuations: The Inelastic Markets Hypothesis

Xavier Gabaix, Harvard University; Ralph Koijen, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

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Distinguished Papers

Five Facts About Beliefs and Portfolios

Stefano Giglio, Yale School of Management; Matteo Maggiori, Stanford University Graduate School of Business; Johannes Stroebel, New York University Stern School of Business; Stephen Utkus, Vanguard

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Sustainable Investing in Equilibrium

Lubos Pastor, University of Chicago; Robert F. Stambaugh, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; Lucian Taylor, University of Pennsylvania

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Honorable Mention Papers

A Quantity-Driven Theory of Term Premia and Exchange Rates

Robin Greenwood, Harvard University; Samuel Hanson, Harvard University; Jeremy Stein, Harvard University; Aditya Sunderam, Harvard University

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Deep Learning in Asset Pricing

Luyang Chen, Stanford University; Markus Pelger, Stanford University; Jason Zhu, Stanford University

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Previous Winners

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Shared Analyst Coverage: Unifying Momentum Spillover Effects

Usman Ali, MIG Capital; David Hirshleifer, Merage School of Business, UC Irvine Abstract

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Risk Price Variation: The Missing Half of the Cross-Section of Expected Returns

Andrew Patton, Duke University; Brian Weller, Duke University

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Disaster on the Horizon: The Price Effect of Sea Level Rise

Asaf Bernstein, University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business; Matthew Gustafson, Pennsylvania State University; Ryan Lewis, University of Colorado at Boulder Leeds School of Business

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Fund Tradeoffs

Lubos Pastor, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, NBER; Robert F. Stambaugh, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, NBER; Lucian A. Taylor, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

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Can the Market Multiply and Divide? Non-Proportional Thinking in Financial Markets

Kelly Shue, Yale University and NBER; Richard R. Townsend, University of California San Diego

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Opportunism as a Firm and Managerial Trait: Predicting Insider Trading Profits and Misconduct

David Hirshleifer, University of California Merage School of Business, and Usman Ali

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International Currencies and Capital Allocation

Matteo Maggiori, Harvard University, NBER and CEPR; Brent Neiman, University of Chicago Booth School of Business and NBER; and Jesse Schreger, Columbia University Graduate School of Business and NBER

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Taming the Factor Zoo

Guanhao Feng, City University of Hong Kong, College of Business; Stefano Giglio, Yale School of Management; Dacheng Xiu, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago

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A Measure of Risk Appetite for the Macroeconomy

Carolin Pflueger, University of British Columbia; Emil Siriwardane, Harvard Business School; Adi Sunderam, Harvard Business School and NBER

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Asset Mispricing

Kurt F. Lewis, Federal Reserve Board of Governors; Francis A. Longstaff, UCLA Anderson School; Lubomir Petrasek, Federal Reserve Board of Governors

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