RESEARCH INTERESTS
Corporate finance and corporate governance
Social media and investor behaviours
Artificial intelligence and decision making
SELECTED RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
Xu. Y., Xuan Y., Zheng G. (2021), “Internet searching and stock price crash risk: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment”, Journal of Financial Economics, 141(1), 255-275
Xu. Y., Xuan Y., Zheng G. (2026), "Culture promotion, information disclosure and firm value: Evidence from Confucius Institutes", Financial Management, 00:1-40
Li L., Liu C., Xu Y., Zhang X., Zheng G. (2024), “Crisis rescue via direct purchase: Evidence from China”, Journal of Banking and Finance, 165, 107223.
Wang X., Xu. Y., Zhang, L., Zheng G. (2022), “Subsidiary governance and corporate tax planning: The effect of parent-subsidiary common directors and officers”, Journal of Management Accounting Research, 34(3),179-197
Zheng G., Wang S., Xu Y. (2018), “Monetary stimulation, bank relationship and innovation: Evidence from China”, Journal of Banking and Finance, 89, 237-248
SELECTED WORKING PAPERS
“How social media mania affects retail trading: evidence from Reddit outages”, with Yongxin Xu (Monash University), Yuhao Xuan (Sun Yat-Sen University), Xinran Zhang (Central University of Finance and Economics), Under Revision at Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis
“Good news, better credit? The role of internet media tone in trade credit financing” with Thao Tran (RMIT), Dinh Phan (La Trobe University), Lu Li (Shaanxi Normal University), Under Revision at Journal of Corporate Finance
“Artificial Intelligence and the law of one price: evidence from the Chinese AH premium”, with Xinyi Peng (SWUFE), Yongxin Xu (Monash University), Zhi Da (University of Notre Dame), accepted at CICF2026, and 2025 GSU-MS AI and Fintech Conference
“When government go social: firm valuation in the digital era”, with Jing Zhao (La Trobe University), Yuhao Xuan (Sun Yat-Sen University)
“How AI agents mislead investors: Early evidence from automated stock recommendations”, with Yongxin Xu (Monash University), Yuhao Xuan (Sun Yat-Sen University)
"Social prisms: evidence from IPO allotments" with Yongxin Xu (Monash University), Yuhao Xuan (Sun Yat-Sen University), Dongyan Ye (Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business)
SELECTED RESEARCH GRANTS
Chief Investigator: 2013-2016 Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China, “Study on the mechanism and performance of non-administration reform of the management in the State-Owned Enterprises” (80,000 RMB)
Chief Investigator: 2015-2017 National Natural Science Foundation of China, “The impacts of the marketization of top manager recruiting in Chinese SOEs on firm performance: Evidence from management and firm behaviors” (230,000 RMB)
Co-principal Investigator: 2016-2020 Hong Kong General Research Fund (GRF), “CEO’s subsidiary position and firm’s tax avoidance” (285,000 HKD)
Chief Investigator: 2021-2022 AFAANZ Research Grants, “Online communication and stock market liquidity: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment” (6,031 AUD)
Supervisor of HDR student: 2023, Australian Postgraduate Research Internship program, “Fair Work Commission smart court assistant project” (15,000 AUD)
Co-principal Investigator: 2025-2026, Australian Securities & Investments Commission, Research Grants for National Financial Capability Roadmap (129,628 AUD)
SELECTED INDUSTRY ENGAGEMENT
Dr Gaoping Zheng has been invited by the Director of Investment Strategy at Frontier Advisors, a leading Australian investment consulting firm to visit Frontier and provided related academic consultation service in 2026.
Working with Frontier’s investment team, she produced two white papers together with Frontier Advisors analysing the international-equity portfolios of 40 major Australian superannuation funds, mapping holdings to firm-level LSEG ESG scores and carbon-emissions data via Frontier’s Portfolio Holdings Disclosure database:
Technical report (March 2026): ”Australian Superannuation Funds — Carbon Emissions, ESG Ratings and Fund Performance” — a full RMIT–Frontier collaborative report benchmarking 40 funds across four carbon measures and five ESG pillars, and their association with three- and five-year returns.
Market Insights briefing (June 2026): ”ESG, Carbon Emissions, and Fund Performance” — a concise, client-facing synthesis of the key findings for a practitioner and policy audience.
These outputs were presented to industry collaborators and position RMIT for a planned joint RMIT–Frontier funding application.
In addition to the analysis of Australian superannuation funds undertaken with Frontier, she delivered a “AI in Finance” workshop to Frontier Advisors staff across the firm’s Melbourne and Sydney offices, helping to build the industry partner’s understanding of advanced AI research and its applications in both academic and practitioner settings.