I am an Assistant Professor of Finance in the Brandeis International Business School.
My research studies how people allocate savings across various investment products. Focusing on mutual funds, I analyze the impact of financial advice and innovations on consumer choices. My research shows that retail investors rely on accessible information, and the quality of financial advice they receive shapes their decisions, influencing capital flows and stock market dynamics. My work also explores conflict of interest and governance of mutual funds and corporations.
I received the 2024 TIAA Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security for my study, "Retail Financial Innovation and Stock Market Dynamics: The Case of Target Date Funds," joint with Jonathan Parker and Antoinette Schoar.
I received my Ph. D. in Financial Economics from MIT Sloan School of Management and B.S. in Finance, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Please feel free to contact me at:
yangs at brandeis dot edu
781-736-4708
Sachar International Center, 210
Index Fund Entry and Financial Product Market Competition <link>. Management Science (2021)
Models or Stars: The Role of Asset Pricing Models and Heuristics in Investor Risk Adjustment <link> with Richard Evans. the Review of Financial Studies (2021)
Retail Financial Innovation and Stock Market Dynamics: The Case of Target Date Funds <link> with Jonathan Parker and Antoinette Schoar. the Journal of Finance (2023)
Target Date Funds as Asset Market Stabilizers: Evidence from the Pandemic <link> with Jonathan Parker. Journal of Pension Economics and Finance (2023)
Self-Declared Benchmarks and Fund Manager Intent: "Cheating" or Competing? <link> with Huaizhi Chen and Richard Evans. Forthcoming, the Journal of Financial Economics.
Employee Representation and the Manager-to-Worker Pay Ratio <link> with Chen Lin and Thomas Schmid. Forthcoming, the Review of Corporate Finance Studies.
Financial Advice and Investor Beliefs: Experimental Evidence on Active vs. Passive Strategies <link> with Antoinette Schoar.
Introduction to Finance
Corporate Finance