Contact details

• Ph: 84053
  Location: 2.06, Business Studies West (BSW)
  Campus: Turitea

Research Interests

Current interests/missions include (but not limited to):

Stock price synchronicity and its implications:

"Jeff is one of the advocates of the radical view that less synchronized (low R2) stocks are actually less (not more) informative. He proved this point through the use of signalling effect. His co-authored paper that uses signalling from analyst recommendation revisions was published in Journal of Banking and Finance in 2015. He is now also campaigning this very important point through dividend signalling effect and the link to corporate bond markets."

Shareholder activism (with GMI proposal data 2003 to 2010 available for co-authoring):

"Jeff, together with co-authors, published the first paper that points to the reduction of information asymmetry between corporate outsiders as a result of shareholder activism, as evidenced in union shareholder activism. This is published in Journal of Banking and Finance 2016."

Political aspects and stock returns

"In the Financial Review 2015, Jeff's co-authored paper shows that politically-connected firms in Thailand provides return premiums. This advocates the market efficiency as 'economic rents' should be valued in Thailand and political connections (not always obvious) can be traced  based on active search by investors. This article was also featured in the short-list for FR readers' choice award during 2015. His 2015 Emerging Markets Review article also indicated that militargy regimes do not necessarily lead to inferior stock market performances in emerging markets, according to the data. Jeff also co-authored in the first paper (2005) that looked at the effect of 'labour' versus 'national' governments on New Zealand stock market. The findings in New Zealand was not as puzzling as in the US, as shown in that study." 

CSR and emerging issues in corporate finance

"Together with co-authors, Jeff publishes a forthcoming paper in International Review of Financial Analysis 2016 that CSR requires positioning. For some types of companies, being a bit worse than peers can even produce values. Relative (not absolute, as conventionally analyzed) CSR is the key. Other working manuscripts touch on 'geography of CSR', 'CSR inactivity as a possible indicator of myopic behaviors', and 'CSR aspects in Kiwi corporations."  

Gender diversity and issues in corporate finance

"In 2016, Jeff publishes a paper with his co-authors in Pacific Basin Finance Journal that supports the role of female executives among Chinese corproations in the reduction of value-destroying corporate risk-taking."

Aspects in Exchange Traded Funds

"Jeff published two articles (2011, 2014) in a practitioners based journal (Journal of Index Investing) that touch on the issues around gold and silver ETFs."

Investors' learning and stock valuation

 "Jeff has worked on an ambitious co-authored project that points to the learning curve in stock valuation around the world. The paper also shows that the enforcement of insider trading laws is critical in the process." 

Other past published articles:

Trading volume dynamics

Trading strategies and profits

Microstructure applications to IPO

Stock price informativeness

The above were published in The Financial Review, Pacific Basin Finance Journal, International Review of Financial Analysis, and others. 

Thematics

Design – for Commerce, Community and Culture

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Economics (140000):
Information And Computing Sciences (080000):
Other Economics (149900)

Keywords

Financial Eonomics

Current Doctoral Supervision

Main Supervisor of:

• Swati Puri - Doctor of Philosophy
  Corporate Finance in Indian Markets
• Hai Hong Trinh - Doctor of Philosophy
  The Financial Impacts of Climate Risk

Co-supervisor of:

• Norah Feng - Doctor of Philosophy
  Retirement planning and pension fund

Completed Doctoral Supervision

Main Supervisor of:

• 2024 - Van Phuc Nguyen - Doctor of Philosophy
  Three Essays on the Impact of Regulatory Changes on Firms’ Operation
• 2023 - Baizhou Lu - Doctor of Philosophy
  The Economic Impact of Corporate Offshore Investments: A Chinese Perspective
• 2022 - Sulueti Manu O'Uiha - Doctor of Philosophy
  Aligning interests: The Impact of CEO Compensation Schemes on Corporate Executive Behaviour and the Cost of Debt
• 2022 - Anum Malik - Doctor of Philosophy
  Three Essays on Style Drift in Mutual Funds
• 2016 - Wei Hao - Doctor of Philosophy
  R2 and Stock Price Informativeness: New Empirical Evidence

Co-supervisor of:

• 2021 - Bilal Raja - Doctor of Philosophy
  Emerging Aspects of Shareholder Activism
• 2015 - Suresh Rajput - Doctor of Philosophy
  Pattern Recognition Techniques and Financial Analysis
• 2015 - Christoffel Ferreira - Doctor of Philosophy
  Essays on Corporate Social Responsibility
• 2012 - Sireethorn Civilize - Doctor of Philosophy
  The impact of Politics on Stock Return Dynamics in Emerging Markets