RESEARCH

WORKING PAPERS

1. Seeing is Believing: Annual Report Visuals and Stock Returns, (with Gao, Lei, Hu, Bo, & Zhou, Guofu). [SSRN]

• Reject and Resubmit at Management Science (rejected at Special Issue on AI, invited resubmission to the regular issue after major revision) 

• Firms adding visuals, particularly R&D-focused visuals into annual reports experience 3-5% positive abnormal returns, accompanied by increased institutional attention and holdings.

• (Anecdotal Regulatory Impact: "The SEC passed a final rule that requires filers, beginning Jan. 11, 2023, to electronically submit their “glossy” annual reports to shareholders via EDGAR.")

• On AI in Finance 2025, EFA 2024 (European), AFBC 2024, SFS Cavalcade Asia-Pacific, CICF 2022

2. Safe Havens for Talent: Adverse Shocks and Inventor Migration, (Solo-authored). [New Paper]

• Adverse country shocks, particularly economic and political/institutional shocks, push inventors (including star inventors) to flee the country, and departing inventors subsequently join the firms or other organizations in a country that is deemed safer and more stable. These inventors contribute directly to the production of the receiving firms' and organizations' frontier innovation.

3. Gender, Firm Leadership, and Innovation, (with Gao, Lei, & Han, Jianlei). [New Version Coming soon]

• Companies headed by women produce approximately 50% more patents and citations, relative to those led by men.

• On FMA Asia-Pacific 2022, AFBC 2022

4. When "Milliseconds" Matter: The Real Effects of High-frequency Trading, (with Hu, Bo; Kwan, Amy; Li, Yangen). [New Version Coming soon]

• High-frequency trading does affect real corporate decision making, by influencing firms' ability to finance projects. 

• On Monash Winter Finance 2026, FMA 2025 New Idea Sessions

5. Firm Inflexibility and Corporate Tax avoidance, (with Huseynov, Fariz, Sardarli, Sabuhi, and Zhou, Chao). [SSRN]

• Inflexible firms are more likely to enengagegage in tax avoidance, primarily through tax-saving avoidance.

• On FMA 2023, FIRN 2023, New Zealand Finance Meeting 2022 

6. Volatility Spillovers in Supply Chain Networks: (Machine) Learning Systemic Risk, (with Volkov, Vladimir, & Habib, Adnan). [SSRN]

• There are large volatility spillovers within supply chain networks: customers are net transmitters of volatility shocks, whereas suppliers are net receivers, and spillovers are strongest toward competitors rather than partners .

7. Beyond Glass-ceiling: Does Bamboo-ceiling Exist? (with Kwan, Amy, Gupta, Vishal, & Mortal, Sandra).

• There is the representation gap in directorship positions for individuals of Asian descent.

• On Boca Finance Conference 2025, FIRN 2024

8. Geopolitical Tensions and Technological Innovation, (with Astvansh, Vivek, & Habib, Adnan). [SSRN] 

• Firms' innovation output is worsened amid rising geopolitical risk, likely through losing critical talents and lowering R&D investment.

• On AFBC 2022, FIRN PhD Symposium