Meet Sara Jonsson: “The Goal Has Always Been to Work on Interesting Projects”

mar. 13, 2026

SHoF Researcher Sara Jonsson has been appointed Professor of Finance at Stockholm Business School. Her recent research focuses on biodiversity and finance, examining how firms respond to environmental risks and how financial markets price these initiatives. She also studies entrepreneurship and behavioral finance, with a particular interest in how regulation, human capital, and information shape economic decision-making.

For Jonsson, becoming a professor was never an end goal.

“I would say it’s maybe not the end game or the end point,” she reflects. “It’s more like a milestone.”

She emphasizes that academic recognition is never an individual achievement alone. 

“This promotion reflects the collaborations I have with co-authors and PhD students. It’s joint work.The people you are surrounded with are very important,”she says and continues:

“The guiding principle has been to be involved in interesting projects and to do these projects with smart, generous colleagues. That is more rewarding than getting a new title.”

At a time of rapid technological change and AI, she stresses the importance of scholarly work. 

“Universities play a key role in critical thinking and asking critical questions. In that sense, the professorship represents both recognition and responsibility.”

From Engineering to Financial Economics

Jonsson’s path into finance grew naturally out of her educational background.

“I studied industrial engineering and management, which was a combination of programming, computer science, business administration, and economics,” she explains. “With that foundation, the finance track didn’t seem too far off. One thing led to another.”

Biodiversity and Finance

One of Jonsson’s current research areas focuses on biodiversity and finance, an area she describes as emerging.

“Much attention has been given to climate change,” she explains. “But more recently, there’s been increased recognition that biodiversity loss poses financial risks, both physical risks and transition risks.”

Physical risks relate to access to ecosystem services, while transition risks stem from regulation and investor awareness. A central challenge is measurement. “Compared to carbon emissions, biodiversity is more complex. For example, a huge part of the impact is related to land use.”

Using text analysis of corporate sustainability reports, her research examines biodiversity-related initiatives linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

“We look at what companies actually do to achieve biodiversity-related targets.”

The findings suggest that most biodiversity initiatives relate to community engagement, such as donations and voluntary efforts. 

“These are more like signaling activities,” she says. In contrast, climate initiatives are more often tied to internal operational changes.

What motivates firms to act? 

“The strongest driver is environmental controversy,” Jonsson says. “If a firm has been involved in controversies, that seems consistent with reputational pressure to take actions.”  

Financial markets do not automatically reward biodiversity initiatives. “If we just look at the simple impact on stock returns, we don’t see any effect.”

The reaction changes when regulation becomes concrete. “When there are specific taxes or regulations, the stock market pays attention,” she explains. “These regulations change the information environment for investors.”

Entrepreneurship and Human Capital

Beyond environmental finance, Jonsson continues her research on entrepreneurship.

“We are looking at how access to resources, especially human capital, affects entrepreneurial success,” she says.

Using registry data from Statistics Sweden, her team studies how entrepreneurial firms attract skilled employees and how access to talent shapes outcomes.

“Productivity growth has slowed down in developed countries, and the transition between jobs is not frictionless,” she notes. “It’s interesting to see how entrepreneurial firms attract good people.”

Behavioral Finance and Market Structure

Jonsson is also working on projects in behavioral finance, examining herding behavior around earnings announcements.

“We use a structural model of sequential trading to study situations where investors disregard their own private information and instead follow the behavior of others. This framework has mainly been theoretical, and there are limited empirical applications in this setting. Our results show that this type of herding decreases around earnings announcements, hence there is an interaction between public and private information.”   

Responsibility and the Road Ahead

Will her new role change her day-to-day work?

“I wouldn’t say dramatically,” she says. “The core business is still research, teaching, and supervision.”

“The role comes with more responsibility, such as engaging in new networks. The job is the same, but the responsibilities change.”

Looking back, Jonsson sees her career as shaped less by ambition for titles and more by curiosity and collaboration.

“It’s more rewarding to work on something you find interesting,” she says. “That has always been the main driver.”

Research Engagement Beyond Academia 

Jonsson sees engagement beyond academia as essential to ensuring that research both informs and is informed by developments in policy and professional practice. Her work contributes to public debate through media engagement, and she engages with industry stakeholders, including banks and other financial institutions, to discuss research findings and their broader implications.

She describes these interactions as mutually beneficial. While academic insights can contribute to policy discussions and professional practice, dialogue with regulators and industry professionals also provides valuable perspectives that sharpen research questions and deepen understanding of challenges faced by the financial sector.  

“I see engagement beyond academia as an important part of ensuring that research contributes to both policy discussions and professional practice,” she says. “At the same time, these conversations help refine and strengthen the research itself.”