Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Digital Communications Between Firms And Investors: Impact Of Explanatory Responses On Investor Engagement In Online Financial Q&A, Runyu Wang, Zili Zhang, Keng Siau, Ziqiong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The emerging trend of digital communications between firms and investors through online question-and-answer (Q&A) platforms is recognized as a vital strategy for managing investor relations, contributing to enhanced market efficiency and information transparency through increased information exchange. Potential investors can seek responses from firm managers to address their information needs, thereby mitigating market uncertainties. To provide foundational insights, we conduct a survey of investors to assess their awareness, usage, and perceptions of firm-investor Q&A platforms. In the subsequent empirical study, we specifically focus on the substance of managers’ responses, which are primarily aimed at clarifying firm events or information. In …

Can Limited Partners Mitigate Negative Externalities In Private Equity?, Teodor Duevski, Chhavi Rastogi, Tianhao Yao

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

We show how Limited Partners' (LPs) environmental and social (E&S) concerns transmit to private equity (PE) rms through capital supply. E&S incidents in portfolio companies reduce PE fundraising, as E&S-concerned relationship LPs refrain from recommitting and are not easily substituted. Using a legal reform that expands E&S-concerned public pension capital to PE, we causally show that PE rms internalise LPs' E&S concerns, reducing dirty sector portfolio allocation and increasing ESG hiring. Additionally, PE rms with E&S- concerned relationship LPs engage with portfolio companies to manage E&S risks. Limited capital substitutability enables LPs to delegate E&S preferences, shaping PE allocation and …

The Resource Characteristics Of Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises (Smes) And The Impact Of Platform Participation On Business Performance, Xue Tan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Against the backdrop of deeply integrated digital and platform economies, the resource characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and platform participation’s impact on business performance have emerged as key interdisciplinary research focuses between strategic management and digital economy studies. Building upon the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities theory (DCT), the study establishes a theoretical framework of “resource characteristics-platform participation-business performance.” It systematically examines the relationships and moderating mechanisms among SMEs’ resource endowment, platform embedding strategies, and performance outcomes.

The study adopts a mixed-method design, combining quantitative analysis with qualitative case studies. Using valid samples of 333 Chinese SMEs, …

Responsible Investing For A Sustainable Future, Eric Pedersen

Asian Management Insights

Investors should bear in mind that climate risks eventually translate into financial risks. An interview with Eric Pedersen, Head of Responsible Investments at Nordea Asset Management. Investors should bear in mind that climate risks eventually translate into financial risks.

Unlocking Private Equity Investing, Yin Wang, Steve Balaban

Asian Management Insights

Myths and market shifts to take note of.

Hard Lessons, Stronger Banks, Gloria Yang Yu

Asian Management Insights

The enduring wisdom of the Savings and Loan crisis veterans.

Local-Thinking Bias, Ed Dehaan, Charles M. C. Lee, Wei Ting Loh

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Local-thinking bias, wherein agents overweight information that comes readily to mind, is a prominent finding in cognitive psychology. In this study, we investigate local-thinking bias in the context of sell-side analysts and measure each analyst’s “local” information as news stemming from their individual coverage portfolio. Tests examining multiple analysts forecasting on the same focal firm at the same time find that individual analysts overweight idiosyncratic local news and underweight news from economically linked firms that are not in their coverage portfolios. Market prices track the analyst bias from local news, leading to predictable and economically significant return reversal patterns in …

Global Standards And Local Ambitions Across Green Taxonomies: Climate Change Mitigation From The European Union To South Africa, Theodor Florian Cojoianu, Andreas G. F. Hoepner, Ifigeneia Paliampelou, Anh Vu, Dariusz Wojcik

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Country-level green finance taxonomy standards have emerged to provide clarity on environmentally-sustainable economic activities to attract investment, protect financial services consumers, and counteract greenwashing. This paper adopts the Global Production and Financial Network (GPFN) approach and analyses factors affecting the climate change mitigation ambition level of the South African Green Finance Taxonomy (RSA GFT) in comparison with the EU taxonomy, which served as a model for South Africa's (RSA) regulators. It accounts for (i) the interplay between EU’s and RSA’s production and financial networks, and (ii) RSA’s willingness to attract European funding for sustainable development. We find that EU private …

Risk Premia-Return Spillovers Among Commodity-Us Equity Markets, Marinela Adriana Finta

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

This study examines the risk premia-return spillovers of eight commodities (corn, soybean, wheat, copper, silver, gold, oil, and natural gas) and the U.S. equity market from 2008 to 2016. We define volatility, skewness, and kurtosis risk premia as the difference between implied and realized moments. Our results reveal an increasing trend in cross-market and cross-moment spillovers until mid-2012, with various announcements explaining these effects. Moreover, we document substantial cross-energy and cross-metal spillovers to the equity market and cross-return spillovers to risk premia. Higher-order risk premia also exhibit the highest effects on returns. In addition, we underline the prominent influence of …

Regulatory Impacts On Us Hazardous Waste Exports, Xiaofan Ji, Mengyu Wang, Tianyi Zhang

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

This paper examines the impact of key domestic and international regulations on US hazardous waste exports, focusing on shifts in export destinations and waste types from 2002 to 2023. Since 2005, OECD countries and US Trade Agreement Partners have become primary destinations for US hazardous waste, with significant surges after 2018 and a notable decline in 2022. An analysis of the regulatory landscape reveals that, while international frameworks such as the Basel Convention of 2021 have had a relatively limited impact on reducing US hazardous waste exports, domestic policies—particularly those in California—have more directly influenced export behaviors. Additionally, the US …

Managing Rumors On Electronic Interaction Platforms: How Management Responses Affect Investor Reaction, Runyu Wang, Zili Zhang, Keng Siau, Ziqiong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study investigates how listed firms respond to investors’ rumor-related inquiries and examines the impact of these responses on investor reactions, as indicated by subsequent daily abnormal stock returns (ARs). Using a unique dataset of question-and-answer (Q&A) interactions from China’s major e-interaction platforms, established by the stock exchanges, our study provides insights into regulated firm-investor communications in a structured Q&A setting. Unlike informal social media channels, these platforms enable official responses from firm representatives, typically board secretaries, under direct regulatory oversight. By analyzing rumor-related Q&A pairs with regression models and several robustness checks, we find that firms can benefit from …

Impact Of Aigc Application On E-Commerce: A Study In The Scenario Of Product Display And Recommendation, Ya Shen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Artificial Intelligence Generated Content is widely expected to enhance efficiency and lower operation cost for e-commerce. This study aims to investigate on how AIGC technology would impact on the online shopping behavior and conversion rate, specifically in the scenario of product display and recommendations.

Experiment 1 is to evaluate which scenario would have better efficiency on e-commerce platforms when using AIGC. Using an A/B testing methodology, the effects of AIGC application were measured among key factors of six product display and recommendation scenario on Vipshop.com. Results show that AIGC application on model image has the greatest impact, increasing CTR by …

Esg News, Future Cash Flows, And Firm Value, Francois Derrien, Philipp Krüger, Augustin Landier, Tianhao Yao

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We investigate the expected consequences of negative environmental, social, and governance (ESG) news on firms' future profits. After learning about negative ESG news, analysts significantly downgrade their forecasts at short and longer horizons. Negative ESG news affects forecasts more strongly at longer horizons than other types of negative corporate news. The negative revisions of earnings forecasts following negative ESG news largely reflect expectations of lower future sales, rather than higher future costs. Quantitatively, forecast revisions can explain most of the negative impacts of ESG news on firm value. Analysts are correct to revise forecasts downward following negative ESG news.

In Crypto We Trust: A Cross-National Comparison Of Factors Affecting Trust In Cryptocurrencies, Arif Perdana, W. Eric Lee, Chu Yeong Lim, Gary Pan, Poh Sun Seow

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Background: Trust in cryptocurrencies is a complex and evolving construct influenced by technological, economic, and social factors. Unlike traditional information systems that rely on institutional trust, cryptocurrency users often depend on underlying technology and community insights. Despite growing interest, existing research has primarily focused on narrow aspects of trust, with limited cross-national perspectives and comprehensive models.

Method: This study investigates how geographic differences impact user trust in cryptocurrencies by surveying 644 respondents from China, Germany, and the USA. Drawing on established trust formation theories, it utilizes a comprehensive model encompassing technological, economic, and social factors.

Results: Our analysis reveals multiple …

Banking On Incumbents: How Do Fintech Start-Ups Benefit From Collaborations, Theodor Florian Cojoianu, Pia Helbing, Vladimir Pazitka, Dariusz Wojcik, Beiyun Xiao

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

We investigate whether collaborations with established incumbents bolster innovation and access to capital for FinTech start-ups. Collaborations increase patent applications and raise both short-and long-term citations. Collaborations with finance incumbents stimulate finance and technology citations and boost both short-and long-horizon venture capital fundraising. These effects persist after addressing endogeneity and conducting additional robustness tests. Theoretically, our findings test the resource based theory in the FinTech ecosystem and enrich the open innovation literature by showing that, despite power asymmetries, FinTech start-ups can sustain innovative momentum and capture innovation gains via collaborations with incumbents. Collaborations function as credible signals that confer capital …

Would Order-By-Order Auctions Be Competitive?, Thomas Ernst, Chester Spatt, Jian Sun

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We model two methods of executing segregated retail orders: brokers’ routing,whereby brokers allocate orders using the market maker’s overall performance, andorder-by-order auctions, where market makers bid on individual orders, a recent U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission proposal. Order-by-order auctions improve al-locative efficiency, but face a winner’s curse reducing retail investor welfare, partic-ularly when liquidity is limited. Additional market participants competing for retailorders fail to improve total efficiency and investor welfare when entrants possess in-formation superior to incumbent wholesalers. Our results hold when new entrants are less informed or the information structure differs. We also examine the cross-subsidization of brokers’ routing.

On The Origin Of Green Finance Policies, Theodor Florian Cojoianu, D. French, Andrea G. F. Hoepner, Sheenan L., Anh Vu

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Despite the rising number of green finance policies, the socioeconomic determinants shaping them remain largely unexamined. Drawing from the literature analysing the relationship between regulation, market development and institutional economics, we contend that green finance policy adoption is driven by both market-based and institutional factors. Using a survival analysis approach to understand the levers influencing green finance policy adoption across 188 countries from 2000 to 2019, we find that exposure to the fossil fuel industry predominantly drives the initial issuance of green finance policies. The positive effect of fossil fuel commercial financing on the adoption of green finance policies exists …

Do Search Costs Explain Persistent Investment In Active Mutual Funds?, Aljoscha Janssen, Jurre Thiel

Research Collection School Of Economics

Active funds, though losing market share since the 1990s, make up nearly half of all mutual funds but charge more without better performance. We analyze fund data and a search model, highlighting the impact of search costs and active fund preferences. From 1993 to 2018, reduced search costs expanded the market and heightened competition, while a preference shift from active to passive funds increased the latter's market share. However, investors who choose active funds, facing higher search costs, and continue to show a strong preference for them, allow these funds to keep charging higher fees.

Information Production By Institutions And Information Extraction By Underwriters In Hybrid Ipo Auctions, Thomas J. Chemmanur, Pengfei Ma, Qianqian Yu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We analyze the informational properties of hybrid IPO auctions using a large and unique database of institutional bids from Chinese IPO auctions. We find strong evidence of information production by institutions about the intrinsic values of IPO firms and of underwriters extracting and using this information in IPO pricing. The IPO offer price is more sensitive to bids from institutions able to produce more precise information. In particular, the offer price is more sensitive to bids from domestic institutions, compared to bids from foreign institutions who likely have less knowledge or experience about the Chinese firms and financial market due …

Multi-Period Portfolio Allocation: A One-Shot Stochastic Optimization Approach, Peng Liu, Chyng Wen Tee, Xiaofei Xu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Multi-period portfolio optimization is a central problem in finance, yet it is computationally intractable for traditional dynamic programming methods due to the curse of dimensionality. This paper develops a tractable and theoretically grounded 'one-shot' stochastic optimization framework that recasts the sequential decision problem into a single, high-dimensional optimization task. Our approach models the predictive distribution of factor returns using Gaussian Processes (GPs), allowing it to capture complex, non-linear market dynamics. We make three primary contributions. First, for the special case of a linear GP kernel, we derive an analytical solution for the optimal portfolio path, providing a clear economic interpretation …

Unlocking The Power Of Socio-Knowledge Association For Enterprise Risk Identification In Stock Market, Zhenghao Liu, Keng Siau, Shaochen Yang, Feicheng Ma

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Potential risk signals reflected in supply chain and equity connections between enterprises and social connections between investors are becoming crucial to identifying enterprise risks in addition to basic financial indicators. Traditional risk management systems face challenges in adapting to these complexities, highlighting the need for a proactive paradigm shift in risk management. Leveraging graph models such as social networks and knowledge graphs offers a promising approach to identifying and managing potential associated risks effectively. To bridge existing research gaps, a novel risk identification framework driven by social-knowledge graphs has been proposed, integrating graph deep learning and reinforcement learning techniques guided …

Why Does My Transaction Fail? A First Look At Failed Transactions On The Solana Blockchain, Xiaoye Zheng, Zhiyuan Wan, David Lo, Difan Xie, Xiaohu Yang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Solana is an emerging blockchain platform, recognized for its high throughput and low transaction costs, positioning it as a preferred infrastructure for Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and other Web 3.0 applications. In the Solana ecosystem, transaction initiators submit various instructions to interact with a diverse range of Solana smart contracts, among which are decentralized exchanges (DEXs) that utilize automated market makers (AMMs), allowing users to trade cryptocurrencies directly on the blockchain without the need for intermediaries. Despite the high throughput and low transaction costs of Solana, the advantages have exposed Solana to bot spamming for financial exploitation, resulting …

The Gender Effects Of Covid: Evidence From Equity Analysts, Frank Weikai Li, Baolian Wang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We use COVID-19 and sell-side analysts as an experiment to study the effects of gender on labor productivity. We find that the forecast accuracy of female analysts declined more than that of male analysts, especially when schools were closed and among analysts who were more likely to have young children, were inexperienced, were busier, or lived in southern states of the US. Relative to male analysts, females also reduced their forecast timeliness and resorted to more heuristic forecasts but did not reduce coverage or updating frequency. Relative to pre pandemic, female analysts’ careers were more negatively affected than male analysts’. …

Unlocking Private Equity Investing: A Primer, Yin Wang, Steve Balaban

Asian Management Insights

Private equity might provide higher returns, but investors should be aware of the associated risks.

Bogging Down Investors: An Unintended Consequence Of Litigation Risk, Siwen Fu, Ke Wang, Liandong Zhang, Liu Zheng

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Securities litigation risk is a well-recognized yet underexplored source of financial reporting complexity or unreadability. This study examines the effect of litigation risk on the readability of corporate financial reports. The 1999 Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) court ruling unexpectedly reduced litigation risk for firms within the Ninth Circuit Court's jurisdiction. Using a difference-in-differences design centered on the SGI court ruling, we find that, while the readability of financial reports generally declines over the sample period, treated firms in the Ninth Circuit experience a comparatively smaller decline in readability than control firms in other states after the ruling. Put differently, treated …

Institutional Dual-Holders And Corporate Disclosures: A Natural Experiment, Lin Cheng, Qiang Cheng, Liwei Weng, Mark Yuzhi Yan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study examines the impact of the presence of institutional dual-holders, whose portfolios hold both loans and equity securities of the same firms, on those firms' voluntary disclosures. Using mergers between institutional shareholders and lenders to the same firms as exogenous shocks to identify firms with institutional dual-holders that have high relative equity ownership, we document that such firms are less likely to provide management forecasts and disclose fewer voluntary 8-K items. In cross-sectional analyses, we find that the reduction in voluntary disclosures is more pronounced when institutional dual-holders have higher board representation and when firms have lower litigation risk. …

Exploring How The High Or Low Of Firm Transparency And Speed Of Adjustment In Its Capital Structure Relates To The Implied Cost Of Capital Of A Firm, Yung Chee Leong

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation tackles a core challenge in corporate finance — how firms can optimise both their capital structure decisions and the way those decisions are communicated to investors. It shows that while financial responsiveness (SOA) and transparency each help lower a firm’s implied cost of capital (ICC), the most meaningful reduction occurs when both are present and working together. For CFOs, the research offers a practical way to connect capital structure planning with communication strategy to improve market understanding and reduce financing costs. For investors and analysts, it introduces the idea of a transparency–SOA alignment measure to better assess firm …

Essays On Empirical Asset Pricing, Ruxue Gong

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The dissertation consists of three chapters on behavioral finance, arbitrage activities, cryptocurrencies and ETFs. The first chapter examines the existence and trading behavior of triangular arbitrageurs in cryptocurrency markets. Using a novel account-level orderbook dataset from an Indian cryptocurrency exchange, we document persistent price deviations between USD- and INRquoted token pairs, and use the triangular arbitrage opportunities to identify arbitrageurs and noise traders. Our results show that arbitrageurs significantly outperform noise traders on their holding-based returns, after adjusting for market returns and trading fees. However, arbitrageurs are not immune to behavioral biases when making trading decisions. Using a composite behavioral …

On Sgx’S Voyage To Corporate Sustainability: Exploring Emerging Topics In Multi-Industry Corpora, Xinwen Ni, Min Bin Lin, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx, Wolfgang Karl Hardle

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Topic modeling and LDA (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) have proven valuable in various fields as an innovative approach to studying areas of interest and identifying topics in a dynamic content. The underlying assumption is that techniques like LDA can swiftly capture emerging topics in textual documents compared to other categorization tools. These unsupervised approaches have been used to identify new industries and technological domains. However, our study on the nascent topic of “sustainability” within the corpora of SGX-listed companies highlights clear limitations in employing techniques like LDA on sparse data. The dynamic LDA approach, also called DTM (Dynamic Topic Modelling),based on …

How Do Institutional Investors Facilitate Reporting Comparability? Evidence From Common Institutional Ownership In The United States, Xuanbo Li, Yun Lou, Rencheng Wang, Kaitang Zhou

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine how common institutional investors (CIIs) facilitate the financial reporting comparability (FRC) of US firms. Common ownership increases FRC of firms that are directly owned by CIIs (via a direct effect) and has positive spillover effects on other firms in the same industry. We find spillover effects in two types of firms: (1) those that are commonly owned by different institutional investors but are connected through common firms, and (2) those that do not have any common ownership. These results suggest that the effect of common ownership goes beyond commonly owned firms and extends to non-commonly owned firms. Furthermore, …