Merton Miller (Economist)

Merton Miller was an influential American economist best known for his work on corporate finance and the theory of capital structure. He contributed significantly to the understanding of how firms can optimize their financing through debt and equity. Miller, along with Franco Modigliani, formulated the Modigliani-Miller theorem, which suggests that under certain conditions, a company's value is unaffected by how it is financed. This groundbreaking idea shaped modern finance, influencing how businesses view funding and investment strategies. Miller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1990 for his contributions to economic theory.