Finance is all about managing assets to create wealth for investors and companies and making strategic decisions in the face of uncertainty. Our researchers at the Finance Discipline of the UQ Business School have specific expertise in corporate finance and corporate governance, asset pricing and financial markets, sustainable finance, behavioural finance, and real estate finance. We study the decisions of firms and individuals and their interrelationships with financial institutions, especially how they allocate scarce financial resources to the best investment opportunities.

Corporate Finance and Corporate Governance

Corporate finance deals with the capital structure of firms, their sources of funding, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firms, and the tools and analysis used to allocate financial resources. Corporate governance is the system of controls, regulations, and incentives designed to minimise agency costs between managers and investors and prevent corporate fraud. Research conducted by finance academics from the UQ Business School in this area includes executive compensation, ownership structure, corporate investment, capital structure, corporate innovation, institutional ownership, insider trading, IPOs, boards of directors, and entrepreneurial finance.

Experts:

Dr Hasibul Chowdhury; Dr Nicolas Eugster; Prof Robert Faff; Prof Stephen Gray; Prof Allan Hodgson; Dr Ronghong Huang; Dr Leo (Hoang) Luong; Dr Ihtisham Malik; Dr Lin Mi; Dr Suman Neupane-Joshi; Dr Lily (Huong) Nguyen; A/Prof Barry Oliver; Dr Vanitha Ragunathan; Dr Dewan Rahman; Dr Eric (Kian) Tan; Dr Kelvin (Jui) Tan; Dr Elizabeth (Yushu) Zhu.

Recent publications:

He, Wen and Mi, Lin (2022). Institutional investors’ horizon and equity-financed payouts. Journal of Banking and Finance, 134 106324, 106324.

Adams, Renée B., Ragunathan, Vanitha and Tumarkin, Robert (2021). Death by committee? An analysis of corporate board (sub-) committees. Journal of Financial Economics, 141 (3), 1119-1146.

Bhatta, Bibek, Marshall, Andrew, Neupane, Suman and Thapa, Chandra (2021). Foreign ownership and the enforcement of corporate governance reforms. Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 58 (2), 541-580.

Cen, Ling, Chen, Jing, Dasgupta, Sudipto and Ragunathan, Vanitha (2021). Do analysts and their employers value access to management? Evidence from earnings conference call participation. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 56 (3), 745-787.

Chowdhury, Hasibul, Faff, Robert and Hoang, Khoa (2021). Using abnormal analyst coverage to unlock new evidence on stock price crash risk. Accounting and Finance, 61 (S1), 1557-1588.

Eugster, Nicolas, Ducret, Romain, Isakov, Dušan and Weisskopf, Jean‐Philippe (2021). Chasing dividends during the COVID ‐19 pandemic. International Review of Finance irfi.12360, 1-11.

He, Wen, Hu, Maggie Rong, Mi, Lin and Yu, Jin (2021). How stable are corporate capital structures? International evidence. Journal of Banking & Finance, 126 106103.

Li, Yaoqin , Xu, Xixiong , Zhu, Yushu and Haq, Mamiza (2021). CEO decision horizon and corporate R&D investments: an explanation based on managerial myopia and risk aversion. Accounting and Finance, 61 (4), 5141-5175.

Rahman, Dewan, Kabir, Muhammad and Oliver, Barry (2021). Does exposure to product market competition influence insider trading profitability?. Journal of Corporate Finance, 66 101792, 1-25.

Rahman, Dewan, Malik, Ihtisham, Ali, Searat and Iqbal, Jamshed (2021). Do co-opted boards increase insider profitability?. Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, 17 (3) 100265, 100265.

Rahman, Dewan and Oliver, Barry (2021). The readability of 10-K reports and insider trading profitability. Australian Journal of Management, 031289622110251.

Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng, Zhou, Qing, Pan, Zheyao and Faff, Robert (2021). Business shocks and corporate leverage. Journal of Banking and Finance, 131 106208, 1-21.

Zheng, Jiayi and Zhu, Yushu (2021). Chair–CEO trust and firm performance. Australian Journal of Management, 47 (1), 1-36.

Asset Pricing and Financial Markets

Asset pricing studies how financial assets (e.g., shares, bonds, derivatives, etc.) are priced and encompasses the body of knowledge used to support the decision-making process of choosing investments. Research conducted by finance academics from the UQ Business School in this area includes firm valuation, cost of capital, financial modelling, financial risk management, market anomalies, and funds and assets management.

Experts:

Prof Emanuele Bajo; Prof Shaun Bond; Prof Robert Faff; Prof Stephen Gray; Dr Khoa Hoang; Dr Ronghong Huang; A/Prof Jacquelyn Humphrey; Dr Ihtisham Malik; Dr Suman Neupane-Joshi; Dr Vanitha Ragunathan; Dr Dewan Rahman; Dr Jennifer (Zhen) Sun; Dr Eric (Kian) Tan; Dr Min Zhu.

Recent publications:

Cannavan, Damien, Gray, Stephen and Hall, Jason (2022). Sampling error and the joint estimation of imputation credit value and cash dividend value. Accounting and Finance.

Liu, Lewis, Neupane, Suman and Zhang, Lei (2022). Firm location effect on underwriting, subscription, and underpricing: evidence from IPOs in China. Economic Modelling, 108 105778, 1-17.

Malik, Ihtisham A. and Faff, Robert (2022). Industry market reaction to natural disasters: do firm characteristics and disaster magnitude matter?. Natural Hazards.

Pastor, Lubos, Stambaugh,  Robert F.,  Taylor,  Luke,  and Zhu, M. (2022). Diseconomies of Scale in Active Management: Robust Evidence.  Critical Finance Review (Forthcoming).     

Wang, Qingxia, Faff, Robert and Zhu, Min (2022). Realized moments and the cross-sectional stock returns around earnings announcements. International Review of Economics and Finance.  Forthcoming. 

Gray, Stephen, Hall, Jason, Pollard, Grant and Cannavan, Damien (2021). The public-private partnership valuation paradox. Accounting Research Journal, 34 (6), 546-579.

Jayetileke, Harshanie L., Wang, You-Gan and Zhu, Min (2021). Predictive regression with p-lags and order-q autoregressive predictors. Journal of Empirical Finance, 62, 282-293.

Kharma, Céline and Eugster, Nicolas (2021). Is competition beneficial? The case of exchange traded funds. International Review of Financial Analysis, 76 101789, 101789.

Quinn, Mitchell D., Zhang, Lei and Mi, Lin (2021). Yield curve inversions: A study of country-level and firm-level stock reactions. International Review of Finance.

Rao, Sandeep, Koirala, Santosh, Thapa, Chandra and Neupane, Suman (2021). When rain matters! Investments and value relevance. Journal of Corporate Finance, 101827.

Wang, Qingxia, Faff, Robert and Zhu, Min (2021). Informational content of options around analyst recommendations. International Journal of Managerial Finance, ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print).

Yang, Liu, Zhou, Qing and Zhu, Min (2021). De‐risking through equity holdings: bank and insurer behavior under capital requirements. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 48 (9-10), 1889-1917.

Yao, Haixiang, Huang, Jinbo, Li, Yong and Humphrey, Jacquelyn E. (2021). A general approach to smooth and convex portfolio optimization using lower partial moments. Journal of Banking and Finance, 129 106167, 1-16.

Sustainable Finance

Sustainable finance or green finance is the set of financial regulations, standards, norms, and investment decisions that pursue environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives. Research conducted by finance academics from the UQ Business School in this area includes corporate social responsibility and ESG, responsible finance, impact investing, and climate finance.

Experts:

Dr Hasibul Chowdhury; A/Prof Jacquelyn Humphrey; Dr Leo (Hoang) Luong; Dr Ihtisham Malik; Dr Suman Neupane-Joshi; Dr Lily (Huong) Nguyen; Dr Dewan Rahman; Dr Saphira Rekker; Dr Kelvin (Jui) Tan.

Recent publications:

Chowdhury, Hasibul, Hodgson, Allan and Hasan, Mostafa Monzur (2022). Does a competitive external labour market affect corporate social responsibility? Evidence from industry tournament incentives. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 33 100617, 1-21.

Phelan, Anna (Anya), Meissner, Katie, Humphrey, Jacquelyn and Ross, Helen (2022). Plastic pollution and packaging: corporate commitments and actions from the food and beverage sector. Journal of Cleaner Production, 331 129827, 1-19.

Humphrey, Jacquelyn E. and Li, Yong (2021). Who goes green: reducing mutual fund emissions and its consequences. Journal of Banking and Finance, 126 106098, 1-17.

Behavioural Finance

Behavioural finance is the study of the influence of psychology on the behaviour of financial players (e.g., investors, analysts, etc.) and its subsequent effects on the markets. Research conducted by finance academics from the UQ Business School in this area includes investor behaviour, market sentiment, and managerial overconfidence.

Experts:

Dr Ronghong Huang; Dr Suman Neupane-Joshi; Dr Min Zhu.

Recent publications:

Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar, Chowdhury, Hasibul and Han, Hien Duc (2021). CEO centrality and stock price crash risk. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 31 100551.

Zhu, Min, Wu, Jinran and Wang, You-Gan (2020). Multi-horizon accommodation demand forecasting: a New Zealand case study. International Journal of Tourism Research, 23 (3), 442-453.

Real Estate Finance

Real estate finance is the academic study of the financing and investment decisions made by corporations and individuals with regard to commercial and residential properties. It is an interdisciplinary field of study with close connections to finance theory, economics, law, and urban studies. Research conducted by finance academics from the UQ Business School in this area includes the risk and return characteristics of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and private and commercial real estate markets, along with the performance of fund managers, and the development of quantitative models of real estate volatility.

Experts:

Prof Shaun Bond; Mr Alex Cameron; Dr Lin Mi

Recent publications:

Bond, Shaun, Guo, Hui and Yang, Changyu (2022). Systematic Mispricing: Evidence from Real Estate Markets. The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics.

Bond, Shaun A. and Eriksen, Michael D. (2020). The role of parents on the home ownership experience of their children: evidence from the health and retirement study. Real Estate Economics, 49 (2) 1540-6229.12332, 433-458.

Academic Researchers 

Prof Shaun Bond - Real estate finance and financial economics

Mr Alex Cameron – Real estate finance

Dr Hasibul Chowdhury - Corporate finance, executive compensation, corporate social responsibility

Dr Nicolas Eugster - Corporate finance, ownership structure, family firms, dividends

Prof Joseph Fan - Corporate governance, family firm governance, corporate finance

Prof Stephen Gray - Valuation, cost of capital, corporate financial strategy, financial modelling, financial risk management, creation of shareholder value

Dr Khoa Hoang - Earnings and returns predictability, market anomalies, cost of capital estimation and corporate valuation, real effects of stock markets on corporate decisions

Dr Ronghong Huang - Behavioural corporate finance, corporate investment, capital structure, cost of capital

A/Prof Jacquelyn Humphrey - Sustainable/responsible finance, ESG, funds management

Dr Leo (Hoang) Luong - Empirical corporate finance, financial markets, innovation, institutional investors, sustainable finance

Dr Ihtisham Malik - Climate finance, asset pricing, insider trading, financial markets

Dr Lin Mi - Corporate finance, real estate finance

Dr Suman Neupane-Joshi - Investor behaviour, climate finance, IPOs, emerging markets

Dr Lily (Huong) Nguyen - Corporate finance, corporate governance, institutional investors, corporate innovation, climate finance

Dr Vanitha Ragunathan - Corporate governance, empirical asset pricing, financial markets

Dr Dewan Rahman - Corporate finance, insider trading, boards

Dr Saphira Rekker - Science-based climate change, climate finance

Dr Eric (Kian) Tan - Funds management, investments, empirical corporate finance

Dr Kelvin (Jui) Tan - Corporate finance, capital structure, debt financing, climate finance, labour economics

Mr Mark Tanner

Dr Elizabeth (Yushu) Zhu - Corporate finance, corporate governance, entrepreneurial finance

Dr Min Zhu - Asset management, empirical methods, fintech, retail investor behaviour, asset bubbles and market sentiment

 

Other Academics

Prof Emanuele Bajo (Honorary Prof)

Emeritus Prof Robert Faff (Emeritus Prof)

Emeritus Prof Allan Hodgson (Emeritus Prof)

Ms Pei-Jia Lum (Tutorial Fellow)

A/Prof Barry Oliver (Honorary A/Prof)

Mr Ling Xiong (Casual Academic)

 

Finance Discipline academics

Board chair's early-life experience and corporate policies (PA: Dr Elizabeth Zhu)

Boards, corporate governance, and innovation: A global perspective (PA: Dr Lily Nguyen; AA: Dr Hoang Luong)

CEO characteristics and their firms: Overconfidence, narcissism, and corporate psychopath (AA: Dr Dewan Rahman)

CEO Power, CEO Overconfidence, and Covenant Restrictions (PA: A/Prof Kelvin Tan; AA: Dr Hasibul Chowdhury)

CEOs' early-life disaster experiences and management styles (PA: Dr Suman Neupane-Joshi; AA: A/Prof Kelvin Tan)

Climate Change Risk and Labor Investment Efficiency (PA: Dr Hasibul Chowdhury; AA: A/Prof Kelvin Tan)

Exploitative or Exploratory Innovation? Incentive Pay Duration and Innovation Strategy: Evidence from an Exogenous Regulatory Change (FAS 123-R) (PA: A/Prof Kelvin Tan; AA: Dr Ronghong Huang)

Financial Market Sentiment and Asset Pricing (PA: Prof Shaun Bond; AA: Dr Min Zhu)

Firm-level political risks, CEO turnover, and CEO compensation (PA: Dr Ronghong Huang; AA: Dr Khoa Hoang, A/Prof Kelvin Tan)

Integration of financial and language analysis to predict future security price behaviour (PA: Dr Ken Tann; AA: Prof Stephen Gray, Prof Peter Clarkson)

Natural Disaster Risks and Firm Takeover Activities (PA: Dr Lily Nguyen; AA: Dr Hasibul Chowdhury)

Playing to Win or Playing to Pay? Optimal Ownership and Governance Structures for Financial and Sporting Success in Professional Sports Clubs (PA: Prof Shaun Bond)

Proxy contest, board interlocks, and insider trading (PA: Dr Dewan Rahman)

Sustainable investment decisions and the value of the firm: the roles of managers and corporate financial policies (PA: A/Prof Jacquelyn Humphrey; AA: A/Prof Kelvin Tan)

The Impact of Investment Sentiment and Macroeconomic Shocks on Stock Prices (PA: Dr Khoa Hoang; AA: Dr Hasibul Chowdhury)

The Real Effect of Time-Varying Equity Term Structure (PA: Dr Khoa Hoang; AA: Dr Ronghong Huang)

Three Essays in Real Estate Asset Pricing (PA: Prof Shaun Bond; AA: Prof. Stephen Gray)

Three essays on the impact of exchanged-traded funds (PA: A/Prof Kelvin Tan)

Turning the tables of influence: Businesses climate change initiatives and government policy (PA: Dr Belinda Wade; AA: Dr Saphira Rekker)

What Trading Frictions Drive the Persistence of Anomaly Profitability Outside of the US? (PA: Dr Khoa Hoang; AA: Dr Ronghong Huang)

Note: PA and AA stand for Principal Advisor and Associate Advisor, respectively.

Macoun Research Scholar Program

Grant type: Macoun Charitable Foundation

Founded by: Macoun Charitable Foundation

Researcher(s): Prof Shaun Bond, Prof Stephen Gray, Dr Nicolas Eugster

 

QIC Investment Management Research Proposal

Grant type: QIC Limited

Funded by: QIC Limited

Researcher(s): Prof Shaun Bond, Prof Stephen Gray, Dr Min Zhu

 

Resilient Regions: Commercial Real Estate Markets and Natural Disasters

Grant type: Real Estate Research Institute

Funded by: Real Estate Research Institute

Researcher(s): Prof Shaun Bond

 

Do employee-friendly workplaces reduce rent-seeking activities?

Grant type: AFAANZ Research Grants

Funded by: Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand

Researcher(s): Dr Dewan Rahman

 

The role of leading indicators in the transition to net-zero emissions in climate sensitive sectors

Grant type: Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand

Funded by: Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand

Researcher(s): A/Prof Kathleen Herbohn, Dr Saphira Rekker, Dr Russell Richards

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Finance Discipline academics