Zhenkai Ran

I am a PhD candidate in Finance at Cambridge Judge Business School and was a visiting research scholar at Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. I am supervised by Prof. Andrei Kirilenko and Prof. Raghavendra Rau. I hold an MPhil in economic research at the Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge. My research examines frictions in corporate finance, with interests spanning corporate finance, FinTech, behavioural finance, market microstructure, and climate finance.

I am on the 2025/2026 Job Market.

Contact Email: zr245@jbs.cam.ac.uk

ORCiD: 0000-0001-7479-6169

Working Papers

[JMP] Ran, Zhenkai, (2025) Managerial (In)Attention to Financial Markets

Presentations: University of Cambridge, University of Guelph, Wilfrid Laurier University, Monash Business School, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, CEAM Cavalcade, 2025 Durham Finance Job Market Paper Conference, Swiss Finance Institute "Rising Scholar Conference in Finance 2025" at UZH, CEPR Paris Symposium 2025 (Regular Session) (Scheduled), AFA 2026 (Poster Session) (Scheduled), Junior Academics Research Seminars (JARS) in Finance, 21st Annual Olin Finance Conference at WashU (PhD Session), 2nd Boca Finance and Real Estate Conference (Accepted but not presented (schedule conflict)), Applied Young Economist Webinars (AYEW) Season 11 - Big Data / Machine Learning Workshop, HKU AI in Business Workshop

2. Ran, Zhenkai and Mao Ye (2025): Value versus Values: Does Stock Liquidity Affect Corporate Environmental Policies?

Presentations: Cornell University, China International Conference in Finance (CICF), Adam Smith Sustainability Conference, 8th SAFE Market Microstructure Conference, University of Cambridge, International Corporate Governance Conference, 5th Annual Boca-ECGI Corporate Finance and Governance Conference, AFA 2025 (Poster Session), the Microstructure Exchange seminar, 6th Annual Conference of the Canadian Sustainable Finance Network (CSFN), Edinburgh Corporate Finance Conference

3. Ran, Zhenkai, P. Raghavendra Rau, and Joshua Rauh (2024): To Match or Not to Match: Financial Constraints and Corporate Pension Matching Policies [Preliminary Draft Upon Request]

4. Ran, Zhenkai, (2025) Peaks and Pitfalls: Stock Price Highs and Corporate Investment [Preliminary Draft Upon Request]

Presentations: 7th QMUL Economics and Finance Workshop for PhD & Post-doctoral Students

Publications

Ran, Zhenkai, P. Raghavendra Rau, and Tania Ziegler (2025): Sometimes, Always, Never: Regulatory Clarity and the Development of Digital Financing. Management Science, 71(9):8027-8071. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.01538

Pre-PhD Projects

Chi, Yeguang, Wenyan Hao, Jiangdong Hu, and Zhenkai Ran. "An empirical investigation on risk factors in cryptocurrency futures." Journal of Futures Markets 43, no. 8 (2023): 1161-1180.

Abstract: We investigate the cross‐section asset‐pricing patterns of major cryptocurrencies from 2017 to 2021. We show that the basis, momentum, and basis–momentum factors earn statistically significant excess returns, a result consistent with the findings reported in the commodity futures literature. The basis is the strongest signal predicting cross‐sectional differences in cryptocurrency futures returns; the momentum‐induced risk premium is not statistically powerful, whereas the basis momentum‐induced risk premium disappears when accounting for the basis‐induced risk premium. Daily factor returns are statistically much stronger than weekly factor returns. Monthly factor returns are nonsignificant.

Atta-Darkua, Vaska, David Chambers, Elroy Dimson, Zhenkai Ran, and Ting Yu. "Strategies for responsible investing: Emerging academic evidence." The Journal of Portfolio Management (2020).

Abstract: We contrast and evaluate two of the most popular responsible investing strategies employed at present: negative screening and engagement. As a backdrop, we consider the challenges faced by the University of Cambridge, which mirror those experienced by institutional investors worldwide. Specifically, we make use of issues raised at the recent “Divest or Engage?” conference at the University. We discuss emerging academic evidence from recent, and hitherto unpublished, papers in order to provide an up-to-date perspective. We describe the challenges in excluding undesirable assets from investment portfolios and present evidence on the effectiveness of engaging with investee companies. The strategies of divestment and engagement are often employed as complements to each other and this can be advantageous. We caution that investors need to be aware of the disquieting evidence that ESG metrics differ considerably across rating services, and the choice of data provider can have a fundamental impact on the ESG credentials of institutional portfolios.

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