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Philippe Masset

Dr Philippe Masset

Dr Philippe Masset

Associate Professor

Expertise

  • Alternative investments
  • Empirical finance
  • Hospitality financial management
  • Wine economics
  • Investment management
  • Risk Management and Alternative Investments

Biography

Dr Philippe Masset holds a Ph.D. from the University of Fribourg. His primary research interests are alternative investments, wine economics, and hospitality economics. He is a member of the American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE) and serves on the Board of the European Association of Wine Economists (EuAWE). He is a founding member of the Alliance for Research on Wine and Hospitality Management (ARWHM), where he currently serves as President. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Wine Economics and the Harvard Data Science Review, and has guest‑edited several special issues. His research has appeared in Economic Modelling, Emerging Markets Review, European Financial Management, and the Journal of Alternative Investments, and in the Handbook of Financial Econometrics and Statistics. He teaches finance courses (e.g., Portfolio Management, Real Estate Finance, M&A, Alternative Investments, Wine Economics). He serves on the Investment Committee of Hotela, is President of the Foundation Council of the Prévotel pension fund, and a member of PEP Économie & Management (HES‑SO).

Awards

Best conference presentation at the annual meeting of the AAWE, Princeton University (2012)
Award for the best paper at the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Wine Economics, University of Angers (2011) and University of Brno (2015)
Vigener Prize for the best Ph.D. dissertation at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Fribourg (2012)

Education

PhD in Finance, University of Fribourg

Courses Taught

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
• Investment management
• Risk Management and Alternative Investments
MASTER IN HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
• Portfolio Management

Teaching Location

EHL Campus Lausanne
Academic Publications

Academic publications from Philippe Masset

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Article

Wine funds : an alternative turning sour?

This article examines the performance, selectivity, and market-timing abilities of wine fund managers over the 2000–2013 period. The authors hypothesize that wine fund managers should be able to profit from market inefficiencies on the wine market...

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Article

Wine tasters, ratings, and en primeur prices

This paper examines the ratings of 12 influential wine critics on the Bordeaux en primeur market over the vintages 2003 – 2012. We hypothesize that wine experts differ significantly in their rating approach and in fl uence on prices. We fi nd that...

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Article

Red obsession : the ascent of fine wine in China

This article uses hammer prices from five global auction houses to analyse the price premium Bordeaux fine wine yields at Hong Kong wine auctions. We find that fine wine is on average sold at a 19% premium in Hong Kong. We further observe that the...

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Article

A study of the performance of fine wine on the Swiss market

This paper studies the price evolution and the performance of an investment in fine wine on the Swiss market over the period 2002-2012. Using a repeat-sales-regression approach we calculate different wine indices based on auction hammer prices...

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Article

Wine indices in practice : nicely labeled but slightly corked

This paper examines and compares wine price indices available on the wine market with those proposed in academia. We especially analyze the impact illiquidity has on the different indices and validate our findings using a simulation which allows us...

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Article

When rationality meets passion : on the financial performance of collectibles

This article examines prior evidence and proposes an empirical study of the performance of passion investments in comparison with financial and real assets over the past 20 years. Over this period, classic cars and fine wines (but not visual art)...

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Article

Family ownership, asset levels, and firm performance in Western European hospitality companies

This article uses a comprehensive sample of companies from 16 Western European countries over the period 2004 and 2016 to examine the relationship between blockholder ownership, asset levels, and corporate performance in the hospitality industry. We...

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Article

Attributes’ specification of wine indexes : is devil in the details?

The dispersion of prices on the fine wines market raises the issue of the wine price index construction and valuation of wine funds. In this paper, we first propose an extended hedonic function to better control good heterogeneity (which is a major...

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Article

Last frontier investments : the case of Alpine wines

We identify and examine the performance of frontier investments from 2002 to 2017. Using fine wine as a setting, we find that the trade frequency and value of frontier investments in the form of Alpine wines have increased in recent years, leading...

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Article

Did wine consumption change during the COVID-19 lockdown in France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal?

This article documents how the COVID-19 crisis has affected the drinking behavior of Latin European wine consumers. Using a large online survey conducted during the first lockdown in France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain (n = 7,324 individuals), we...

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Article

Mitigating downside risk of portfolio diversification : wine versus other tangible assets

Investors increasingly use tangible assets and especially wine to reduce the volatility of their portfolios through improved diversification. However, these assets are long-horizon investments, and therefore, short-term fluctuations (volatility) are...

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Article

New York restaurants : a wine odyssey between 1865 and 1920

We examine the existence of wine in New York City restaurant menus over the period 1865 to 1920 for a sample of 850,000 restaurant menu items and 51,000 wines. Wine was already commonly present on menus in 1865, and its offering increased up until...

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Article

Analyzing the risks of an illiquid and global asset : the case of fine wine

We use a unique and very deep database to examine the performance of wine investments over the period 2003–2014. Our results reveal that the returns stemming from those investments are important but can largely be explained by their exposure to...

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Article

At what price should Bordeaux wines be released?

This paper models optimal release prices of an experience good recurrently issued on markets. Using a sample of Bordeaux wines, we find that using a minimal number of intrinsic and extrinsic attributes is sufficient to explain a large proportion of...

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Article

Cross-dimensional measures of asset lightness and fee orientation in lodging groups

This study proposes cross-dimensional measures of the degree of implementation of the lodging industry’s asset- light & fee-oriented (ALFO) strategy. We apply a common factor analysis to measure the degree of implemented ALFO strategy on a sample of...

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Article

The impact of wine tasters’ expectations on wine quality ratings and willingness-to-pay

Is it possible to exploit cognitive biases so that a non-professional taster prefers one wine to several other absolutely identical wines? To address this question, three complementary experiments were carried out. Each time, five wines were tasted...

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Article

Fine wine pricing in a small and highly competitive market

Purpose – This study aims to identify the price determinants of fine wines in a small and competitive market. These characteristics are found in many lesser-known wine-producing countries and are often difficult to analyse because of lack of data....

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Article

Efficient pricing of Bordeaux en primeur wines

This paper proposes an approach to determine efficient release prices on the Bordeaux en primeur (primary) market. The model exploits information from the secondary market to estimate efficient release prices. We apply the model to a representative...

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Article

To share or not to share: An analysis of wine list disclosure by Swiss restaurant owners

This paper uses data from the 2021 Swiss edition of the Gault&Millau food guide to analyze the probability with which restaurant owners decide to share their wine list with the public. This is an important question relating to the amount of...

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Article

In family we trust—In good and bad times

This short report investigates the stock market behavior of Swiss companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results suggest that family firms performed better during the outbreak and post-lockdown periods than widely-held firms. Family firms also...

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Article

Can a wine be feminine? Gendered wine descriptors and quality, price, and aging potential

By analyzing more than 1,400 expert tasting notes, we assess the so-called gender profile of Bordeaux wines. We identify 329 gender-related wine descriptors, with a good balance between masculine and feminine descriptors. Some wines and vintages are...

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Journal publications

Li, S., Masset, P., & Weisskopf, J.-P. (2026). Baijiu as an Alternative Investment: The Financial Performance of the World’s Most Consumed Spirit. Finance Research Letters, 90, 109405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2025.109405

Masset, P., & Weisskopf, J.-P. (2025). Simulation games in hospitality finance: Enhancing engagement and learning during emergency remote teaching. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 37, 100575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2025.100575

Masset, P. (2024). Market segments and pricing of fine wines over their lifecycle. Economic Modelling, 141, 106915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2024.106915

Masset, P. and Weisskopf, J.-P. (2024). From risk to reward: the strategic advantages of diversifying grape varietals. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(8), 2555-2581. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2023-0801

Masset, P., Poretti, C., & Weisskopf, J.-P. (2024). In family we trust—In good and bad times. International Review of Finance, 24(1), 128-138. https://doi.org/10.1111/irfi.12429

Gergaud, O., Masset, P., Pedrinelli, A., & Weisskopf, J. (2024). To share or not to share: An analysis of wine list disclosure by Swiss restaurant owners. Journal of Wine Economics, 19(1), 4-18. https://doi.org/10.1017/jwe.2023.13

Masset, P., Terrier, L., & Livat, F. (2023). Can a wine be feminine? Gendered wine descriptors and quality, price, and aging potential. Journal of Wine Economics, 18(4), 273-285. https://doi.org/10.1017/jwe.2023.30

Masset, P., Weiskopf, J. P., & Cardebat, J. M. (2023). Efficient pricing of Bordeaux en primeur wines. Journal of Wine Economics, 18(1), 39-65. https://doi.org/10.1017/jwe.2023.5

Masset, P., & Raub, S. (2023). The impact of wine tasters’ expectations on wine quality ratings and willingness-to-pay. Journal of Wine Economics, 18(2), 156-172. https://doi.org/10.1017/jwe.2023.15

Lussi, S., Masset, P., Weisskopf, J.-P., & Blal, I. (2023). Cross-dimensional measures of asset lightness and fee orientation in lodging groups. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 109, 103391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103391

Masset, P., Mondoux, A., & Weisskopf, J. P. (2023). Fine wine pricing in a small and highly competitive market. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 35(1), 164-186. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWBR-10-2021-0054

Masset, P., & Weisskopf, J.-P. (2022). At what price should Bordeaux wines be released? Economic Inquiry, 60(1), 392-412. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12997

Masset, P., Weisskopf, J. P., Cardebat, J. M., Faye, B., & Le Fur, E. (2021). Analyzing the risks of an illiquid and global asset: The case of fine wine. The quarterly review of economics and finance, 82, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qref.2021.06.023

Masset, P., & Weisskopf, J. P. (2021). New York restaurants: a wine odyssey between 1865 and 1920. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 62(3), 297-312. https://doi.org/10.1177/19389655211009852

Masset, P., & Maurer, F. (2021). Mitigating downside risk of portfolio diversification: wine versus other tangible assets. Economic modelling, 102, 105579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2021.105579

Dubois, M., Agnoli, L., Cardebat, J.-M., Compés, R., Faye, B., Frick, B., Gaeta, D., Giraud-Héraud, E., Le Fur, E., Livat, F., Malorgio, G., Masset, P., Meloni, G., Pinilla, V., Rebelo, J., Rossetto, L., Schamel, G., & Simon-Elorz, K. (2021). Did wine consumption change during the COVID-19 lockdown in France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal?. Journal of wine economics, 16(2), 131-168. https://doi.org/10.1017/jwe.2021.19

Masset, P., Weisskopf, J.-P., & Fauchery, C. (2020). Last Frontier Investments: The Case of Alpine Wines. Journal of Wine Economics, 15(2), 181-206. https://doi.org/10.1017/jwe.2019.30

Masset, P., Uzelac, I., & Weisskopf, J.-P. (2019). Family Ownership, Asset Levels and Firm Performance in Western European Hospitality Companies. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 46(3), 867-889. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348019849665

Masset, P., & Weisskopf, J.-P. (2018). Wine indices in practice: Nicely labeled but slightly corked. Economic Modelling, 68, 555-569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2017.03.025

Masset, P., Weisskopf, J.-P., Faye, B., & Le Fur, E. (2016). Red obsession: the ascent of red wine in China. Emerging Markets Review, 29, 200-225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ememar.2016.08.014

Masset, P., & Weisskopf, J.-P. (2016). A study of the performance of fine wine on the Swiss market. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 26(4), 566-582. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJESB.2016.079966

Masset, P., Weisskopf, J.-P., & Cossutta, M. (2015). Wine tasters, ratings and en primeur prices. Journal of Wine Economics, 10(1), 75-107. https://doi.org/10.1017/jwe.2015.1

Masset, P., & Weisskopf, J.-P. (2015). Wine funds - an alternative turning sour? Journal of Alternative Investments, 17(4), 6-20. https://doi.org/10.3905/jai.2015.17.4.006

Masset, P., & Weisskopf, J.-P. (2014). Le placement dans le vin: à consommer avec modération. L'Expert-comptable suisse, 9, 24-28.

Masset, P., & Henderson, C. (2010). Wine as an alternative asset class. Journal of Wine Economics, 5(1), 87-118. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1931436100001395