When talking about his first contact with economics and his teacher, Miller said: "When I was in college, I found that our views on economics were very similar, which made me very happy. When I was young, the world was chaotic and depressed everywhere. For people who don't understand the economy, just like the weather, there is no way to understand the changes, but my economics teacher said,' No, it didn't happen by accident. Things always happen for a reason. So I find economics very exciting, because I find it possible to understand economic operation. "
When he was young, he was G? j？ Stigler, who has known stigler for many years, spoke highly of him: "He is great!" In an interview with reporters, he once fondly recalled stigler: "The first time I saw him was 1943. I was very young, just graduated from college, and worked in the National Bureau of Economic Research in new york. g？ j？ Stigler is also an employee there. He is writing a textbook called Relative Price Theory. I have lunch with him every day and chat with him every day. Working with him taught me a lot. As a colleague, I still respect him and thank him ... I respect him from the heart. I imitated some of his research to engage in my work. "
During the war years, Miller, as an economist, first worked in the Tax Research Office of the US Treasury Department, and then worked in the Research and Statistics Office of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve System. 1949, he chose John from Baltimore. Graduate school of Hopkins University, and was awarded 1952? Doctor's degree from Hopkins University. His first job was 1952 to 1953 as a guest assistant lecturer at the London School of Economics. Then he went to Carnegie Institute of Technology, which is now Carnegie? Mellon University. At that time, their industrial management research was the first and most influential, leading the new wave of American business schools. Here, among Miller's colleagues are Simon and Franco Modigliani, who were the winners of 1978 and 1985 respectively. 1958, he and franco modigliani published the first MM paper on corporate finance, and later co-authored several papers until the mid-1960s. 196 1 year, he came to the university of Chicago. 1965 ——1981year. He is a professor of finance at EdwardEagleBrown Bank in university of chicago booth school of business. 1966- 1967 was a visiting professor at the University of Leuven in Belgium for one year. 198 1, professor of university of chicago booth school of business meritorious service. Since the early 1980s, Miller's interest has turned to the economic and regulatory issues of financial services, especially securities and futures trading. Miller is now a director of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Previously, he served as a member of the Special Academic Committee of the Institute, and made an after-the-fact analysis of the crisis of 1987+00+ 19-20. Miller is also a member of the American Econometrics Society. 1976, president of American finance and deputy editor of business magazine.
Regarding winning the Nobel Prize, Miller said airily: "When I started that research, the Nobel Prize in Economics had not been established. One of my research work proved to have a great influence in the later development of this field, which was a long time ago. You know, I did my job, and the jury decided to award me this award, but I don't care what award. "
Miller's ex-wife Eleanor died on 1969. At that time, she was the mother of three little daughters. Her death was a heavy blow to Miller. Later, Miller married Catherine. They usually work and live in a city house in Hyde Park and live on a farm in Woodstock, Illinois on weekends, similar to other weekend resorts. His hobbies are pruning shrubs and general maintenance, plus a little gardening. Unlike some of his colleagues who are more passionate about sports, he often watches Chicago Bears games from season ticket seats in the Cold Weapons Stadium. This hobby has been maintained for more than 20 years.
Miller's corporate finance theory explains what determines the company's choice of accrued debt and asset allocation. His theory is based on the assumption that shareholders can enter the same capital market as companies, so the best way for companies to ensure the interests of shareholders is to maximize their wealth. Miller believes that the relationship between the company's capital asset structure and distribution policy established through the capital market and the relationship between the company's asset market value and capital cost are two aspects of the same thing. Therefore, under the condition of complete competition (regardless of tax impact), the capital cost and market value of the company have nothing to do with the company's asset-liability ratio and distribution ratio. In other words, a certain amount of investment, whether securities financing or borrowing, has no influence on the market value of enterprise assets; The distribution policy of an enterprise has no influence on its stock value.
Miller further pointed out that tax incentives for insolvent enterprises, although it will affect the total debt ratio of a given economic sector, have nothing to do with the debt-to-asset ratio of a single enterprise. This is undoubtedly a great progress on the basis of "double M theory". Miller has also made great achievements in applying theory to other aspects of the financial field. These compelling views later led to many opposing studies, but MM theorem proved to be more applicable than many people began to imagine for a long time. Now this theorem is still the starting point of almost all corporate financial experimental research.
His works mainly include: Selected Works of individual capital (1963), Audit, Management Strategy and Accounting Education (Hezuo, 1964), Financial Theory (Hezuo, 1972), Macroeconomics: Introduction to Neoclassicism (Hezuo,). The paper mainly includes: internal elasticity (65438+March 0948), the benefit effect of interest rate change (cooperation, spring of 195 1), the optimal planning model of railway freight (cooperation, 65438+June 0956), and. 65438+June 0958 and 65438+September 0959), dividend policy, growth and stock valuation (cooperation, 196 1 year, 1 month and 1963, 1 month. 65438+August 0966), some estimates of capital value, oil and gas pricing: some subsequent conclusions (cooperation,1May 985), financial innovation: progress in the past 20 years and prospects for future development (1February 986), Franco franco modigliani-Miller theorem, 30 years later (autumn)