HKU Jockey Club Enterprise Sustainability Global Research Institute

Can shared directors make competing firms too similar?

Find out more in our new blog 👉 https://hkujcesgri.hku.hk/leaky-director-networks-and-innovation-herding/

In their 2026 Review of Financial Studies paper, Felipe Cabezon and Gerard Hoberg ask whether overlapping directors among direct competitors facilitate information leakage and weaken firms’ ability to differentiate their products and technologies.

𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲: 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗞𝗨 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁-𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 📑

Beyond the student presentations, the faculty keynotes at the 2nd HKU Next-Gen Finance PhD Workshop offered significant insights into the current state of financial research.

💡 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳. 𝗥𝗼𝗻𝗶 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹𝘆 — "𝗩𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀"
Examining whether institutional voting disclosures lead to tangible board changes.
💡 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳. 𝗧.𝗖. 𝗟𝗶𝗻 — "𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗹𝗽𝗵𝗮: 𝗡𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴"
Using EEG technology to map the link between brain activity and trading performance.
💡 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳. 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗘𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘀 — "𝗠𝗶𝗙𝗜𝗗 𝗜𝗜 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗨𝗻𝗯𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀"
Analysing the cross-border consequences of research-unbundling on asset managers.
💡 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳. 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮 — "𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗻’𝘀 𝗤"
𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗻’𝘀 𝗤."

The mentorship sessions were a highlight of the event, we tackled the essential questions: How is AI transforming research methodologies? How do you build the resilience required to publish?

We are grateful to our faculty mentors for their time and for helping our participants bridge the gap from student to independent scholar.

𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱! 🏆

At the 4𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐊𝐔 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, we are pleased to announce the winners of our 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, selected by our committee—Zach Sautner, Nadya Malenko, Yang You, and Roni Michaely. These papers are redefining the intersection of 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲, and 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲:

🏆 "𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀: 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻" 𝗯𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝘂, 𝗙𝗲𝗶 𝗫𝗶𝗲, 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗭𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗲𝗻𝗿𝘂𝗶 𝗭𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴.
https://lnkd.in/gYFQ_s7d
This paper studies whether patent examiners’ political ideology affects how they evaluate green patent applications, using the quasi-random assignment of USPTO applications to examiners.

🏆 "𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗺𝘀’ 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀" 𝗯𝘆 𝗫𝗶𝗮 𝗟𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿.
https://lnkd.in/g4ix-mid
This paper studies how firms respond to physical and transition climate risks across mitigation, adaptation, and political strategies.

Summaries of these papers and the full conference agenda are available on our website:

📖 Best Working Paper Award: https://lnkd.in/gqwdnkr3
📖 4th HKU Summer Finance Conference: https://lnkd.in/gzn6eQTU

The 4𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐊𝐔 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 concluded at University of Hong Kong, bringing together a distinguished group of scholars to examine the frontiers of financial economics, corporate governance, and sustainability. The program was a masterclass in modern market dynamics, with key discussions on:

🔵 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐧 & 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞: Shaojun Zhang (Oil shocks & carbon premium) and Hannes Wagner (Controlled firms & emissions).
🔵𝐀𝐈 & 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡:Maxime Couvert (The AI Proxy Advisor).
🔵𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬: Yang Song (The price-moving impact of investor flows).

A massive thank you to our presenters and session chairs for driving such high-caliber exchanges. We are already looking forward to building on the momentum of these conversations.

📖 Explore the full program and research highlights: https://lnkd.in/gzn6eQTU

Do state anti-ESG laws ripple across the country?

Find out more in our new blog 👉 https://hkujcesgri.hku.hk/anti-esg-policy-spillovers-evidence-from-u-s-public-pension-funds/

In their 2026 working paper, Hanwen Sun, Bohui Zhang, and Yue Zhang ask whether state-level laws that restrict public pension funds from investing based on ESG considerations can cause companies across the U.S. to reduce their ESG efforts, even outside the states that passed the laws.

📑 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗞𝗨 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁-𝗚𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 was a privilege to host. We were honored to welcome 𝟳𝟬+ 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀 to Hong Kong for a day of rigorous research and meaningful academic exchange. It wasn’t just a day of research presentations; it was a glimpse into the next generation of academic leadership. The level of rigor, curiosity, and ambition in the room was truly inspiring.

We extend our sincere gratitude to our faculty mentors— Michaely, .C. Lin, Harford, Ma, Evans, and Song—for their invaluable guidance and time.

Thank you as well to our session chairs— Li, Tai, and Fu—and the entire organizing team for their dedication to making this event a success.

Congratulations to our Best Presentation Award winners:
🔵 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤: Zhang (The University of Hong Kong)
🔵 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤: Chen (Yale University)

We are honored to support this community as they begin their journey to reshape the finance landscape.

Our Institute was delighted to co-host a high-level, closed-door roundtable discussion yesterday with the Vocational Training Council.

It was our privilege to welcome key government delegates from various strategic districts in Shenzhen—𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕, 𝑸𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒊 𝑨𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒂𝒐'𝒂𝒏 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒛𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑴𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒍 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. Ms. Bernice Yu, Ms. Sophie HU and Ms. Qidan Wang, as well as Mr. Calvin Chenggang from HKUBS Knowledge Exchange Department shared vital insights on regional development and sustainability.

The session sparked meaningful knowledge exchange, uncovering immense potential for cross-border synergy. As the Greater Bay Area continues to evolve into a global hub for green growth, we look forward to fostering deeper institutional collaborations and driving impactful sustainability initiatives together in the near future.

Do climate risks push firms to cut emissions?

Find out more in our new blog 👉https://hkujcesgri.hku.hk/climate-risk-exposure-and-firms-climate-strategies/

In their 2025 working paper, Xia Li and Caroline Flammer ask how firms respond to rising climate risks and whether these risks lead companies to reduce emissions or shift toward other strategies.

Do politics shape which green technologies get approved?

Find out more in our new blog 👉 https://hkujcesgri.hku.hk/when-science-and-technology-collide-with-politics-patent-examiner-ideology-and-green-innovation/

In their 2025 working paper, Tao Shu, Fei Xie, Song Zhang, and Wenrui Zhang ask whether the political views of patent examiners influence the approval of green innovations and firms’ incentives to invest in climate-related technologies.

Are the U.S. and China really decoupling in technology?

Find out more in our new blog 👉 https://hkujcesgri.hku.hk/mapping-u-s-china-technology-decoupling-policies-innovation-and-firm-performance/

In their 2024 Management Science paper, Pengfei Han, Wei Jiang, and Danqing Mei develop a new way to measure technological ties between the two countries and examine how policies such as sanctions and industrial policy reshape innovation and firm performance on both sides.