Dr. Varela's research expertise is in the areas of corporate finance, investments, and international finance, both theoretically and empirically, inclusive of single-authored books in corporate finance and international finance. His research has examined agency cost theory, dividend policy theory and the duration of stocks, market efficiency and market timing, event studies including international stock listings and listings/delistings in the Dow Jones, safety first portfolio optimization to protect against uncertain events, proxy contests for control and representation, capital structure for physical and human capital, foreign exchange markets and the hedging of its risk, China's privatization of state-owned firms with respect to firm performance, black markets in currencies, and financial regulation of returns, among others.