About me 

I am an assistant professor at Peking University HSBC Business School since Fall 2023. I completed my Ph.D. degree in Finance at J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. My research broadly focuses on corporate governance, M&As, labor and finance, firm innovation, AI, and FinTech.

Education

• Ph.D., Finance, Georgia State University, 2017 - 2023

• M.S., Finance, Northeastern University, 2015 - 2016

• B.A., Finance, Kent State University, 2010 - 2013

Research interests

• Corporate Finance: Corporate Governance, Corporate Disclosure, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As), Corporate Innovations

• FinTech and Artificial Intelligence: Firm innovation, Blockchain, Machine Learning, Textual Analysis, LLMs, AI-agent

• Labor and Finance

Publication

• Can Technology Help Overcome Contractual Incompleteness? Evidence from Blockchain Laws

* Management Science

(with Mark Chen, Sophia Hu, and Qinxi Wu)

• • We empirically examine the effects of technological disruption on suppliers and customers in vertical production relationships.

  • Presentation: Lone Star Conference (2021), Financial Management Association Meetings (2021), Shanghai-Edinburgh-London Fintech Conference (2021), Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (2021), Baylor University (2021), Georgia State University (2021), European Finance Association (2022), China International Conference in Finance (2023), 9th HK Joint Finance Research Workshop (2023)

Working papers

• How Technological Innovation Shapes Financial Innovation: Substitution Effects Versus Knowledge Diffusion

(with Mark Chen, Sophia Hu, and Qinxi Wu)

  *  Research Policy, Forthcoming

• • We argue that, although new technologies can spur financial innovation via knowledge spillovers, they can also lead to the "crowding out" of financial innovation by increasing the relative profitability of competing investment opportunities.  

• More Than Human: The Informational Effects of AI-Powered Corporate Disclosure

(with Mark Chen)

• • We examine firms’ use of AI to help generate the language in their corporate disclosures. 

  • Presentation: PKU Guanghua School of Management (2025), PKU PHBS Business School (2025), Shanghai University of Financial and Economics (2025), Chinese University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen (2026), Georgia State University

• Displacement or Augmentation? The Effects of AI on Workforce Dynamics and Firm Value

(with Mark Chen)

• • We examine the effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation on firm-level employment dynamics and corporate valuation. 

  • Presentation: Georgia State University (2022), Columbia & RFS AI in Finance Conference (2024); DEFT Academy/Xueshuo Summer Institute in Digital Finance (2024), Peking University (2025), ASSA/AFE Annual Meeting (2025), SFS Asia Pacific Calvacade (2025).

• Information Acquisition in Mergers and Acquisitions - Evidence from EDGAR Web Traffic

  • I use EDGAR web traffic to study the effects of investors’ information learning activities in mergers and acquisitions.

  • Presentations: Midwest Finance Association Meetings (2022), American Finance Association Meetings Poster Session (2022), Atlanta Rising Scholar Symposium in Finance (2022), Global Finance Conference (2021), Dayton Summer Finance Workshop (2021), Financial Management Association Meetings (2021)

• The Hidden Cost of Pay Transparency

(with Po Li)

• • We study how U.S. pay transparency laws affect firms' employment policies and long-term growth.

• Common Analysts as Facilitators and Screeners in M&A Deals

(with Omesh Kini)

• • We examine the influence of common analysts on the likelihood and subsequent outcomes of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). 

• Board Connections and CEO Successions

  • I study the effects of the connections between CEO candidates and board members on CEO appointment decisions and post-succession firm efficiencies.

  • Presentation: Northern Finance Association (2020), Global Finance Conference (2021), Georgia State University (2020); Peking University (2023)

• Riding on the FinTech Wave: Disruption and Value Creation in Corporate Takeovers

(With Alan L. Zhang)

• • We explore the motives and consequences of FinTech mergers. FinTech firms have a greater likelihood of becoming targets in mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

  • Presentation: China Fintech Research Conference (2022), Eastern Finance Association (2022), Asian Finance Association (2022), 36th Australasian Finance and Banking Conference (2023)

  • Media Coverage: Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog

• Board Interlocks, Knowledge Spillovers, and Corporate Innovation

(with Mark Chen, Sophia Hu, and Qinxi Wu)

• • This paper examines whether board interlocks—direct links created when an individual serves concurrently on two or more corporate boards—foster spillovers of knowledge and innovation between firms.

  • Presentation: Baylor University (2021), UMass Dartmouth (2022); Financial Management Association Meeting (2022), The 8th Annual International Corporate Governance Society Conference (2022), SFS Cavalcade North America (2023), Midwest Finance Association Conference (2024)

  • Media Coverage: Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog

Personal interests

Wine tasting, hiking, basketball, oil painting, and Chinese calligraphy