1. Political Connection, Corruption, and Demand-Driven Stock Returns (Job Market Paper)

Presentations: 2025 FIRN Annual Meeting^, 2025 AFA PhD Poster Session, 2024 Australasian Finance and Banking Conference, 2024 AFAANZ Doctoral Symposium, 2023 Sydney Banking and Financial Stability Conference, 2023 37th PhD Conference in Economics and Business (Australia), University of Melbourne, Wenzhou-Kean University, University of Canterbury

Abstract: I examine how firm-level political connections affect stock returns through institutional demand. Using the 2012 Chinese anti-corruption campaign as an exogenous shock, I show that shifts in mutual fund demand significantly depress concurrent returns; following the announcement, funds reduce holdings of more politically connected firms, especially those headquartered in provinces with higher corruption indices, highlighting the importance of the fund demand channel.

2. Environmental Regulatory Risk and Investor Demand (with Linxiang Ma and Yuyang Zhang)

Presentations: 2025 New Zealand Finance Meeting^, Asia-Pacific Corporate Finance Online Workshop (ACFOW)†, University of Melbourne

Abstract: This paper documents substantial heterogeneity across investor types in their responses to changes in firm-level environmental regulatory risk. Long-horizon investors, such as banks, insurance companies, and pension funds, tend to tilt their portfolios toward stocks with higher environmental regulatory risk. In contrast, short-horizon investors, including investment advisors and mutual funds, reduce their holdings of these firms. 

†Presented by co-author; ^Scheduled

1. Geopolitical Risk, Institutions, and Asset Prices (with Shuang Chen and Qi Zeng)

2. New Exchanges and Market Quality (with Carole Comerton-Forde and Patrick Kelly)

3. Year-End Cash Collection: Global Evidence (with Jason Tian and Angel Zhong)