Research in the Department of Finance

Research in the department covers a wide range of themes including asset pricing, banking, corporate finance, corporate governance, fintech, financial intermediation, market microstructure, merger and acquisitions, venture capital performance, and responsible business including green finance, sustainable finance, and corporate social responsibility.

Our research is supported by our specialist research centre, the Sustainable Financial Innovation Centre (SFiC) and academics work closely with world-leading universities, international policymaking institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), HM Treasury, OCED and the Bank of England, among other institutions.

The department hosts a finance seminar series as well as other events, in which prominent members of the field present their research on a range of topics. We also work with the media to engage with our communities.

Impact and engagement 

Members of the Department of Finance work with external organisations, SMEs, industry, and policymakers both locally and globally to facilitate new engagement and empower research to influence debates, policy and practice as well as encourage collaborations and project new funding. 

Much of our impact is interdisciplinary, such as our work on the role of technology and innovation in driving change within the financial sector. When appropriate, our research aims to respond immediately by providing artistic research and analysis. Accordingly, we have had notable responses to the current pandemic from the media across our research portfolio and some examples from our engagement are below. Further examples are available from our staff research webpages.

Current externally funded research projects

Causal Evidence on the Economic Effects of Neighbourhood Segregation

Funder: Leverhulme RPG grant (£383,399)
Principle investigator: Danny McGowan; Co-investigators: Hisham Farag and Christoph Gortz 

BREAK RISK

Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR- €324,381)
This is a consortium between The University of Cergy Pontoise (THEMA) and ESSEC Business School
Co-Investigator: Malika Hamadi

Did the furlough and mortgage holiday policies prevent financial distress during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Funder: UKRI / ESRC Covid-19 Research Grant (£86,249)
Principle investigator: Danny McGowen

COVID 19 Health Professional Impact Study 

Funder: Abbott Laboratories and the National Institute of Health Research, UK (Details: NIHR CRN support IRAS ID 287432), (£40,000)
Co-investigator: Anandadeep Mandal

Examining the market microstructure of Bursa Malaysia 

Funder: The Malaysian Government (50,000 Malaysian Ringgit)
Co-investigator: Anandadeep Mandal

Mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), accounting quality and investment decisions for Latin American firms 

Funder: FAPESP Brazilian government (£40,000)
Co-investigator: Chun Mak
This is a collaborations with Brazil, Mexico and China. 

Technological and economical insights into the metal hydride-based thermal energy storage system to enhance the share of renewable energies

Funder: NERC “Discipline Hopping for Environmental Solutions (£10,000)
Co-investigator: Eilnaz Kashefi Pour

Pre- And Post-Delisting Performance: A Crosss-Country Analysis

Funder: The British Academy (£10,000)
Principle investigator: Eilnaz Kashefi Pour

Latest publications

Our research appears in many leading academic journals including: Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Management Science, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Journal of Accounting Research,  and Journal of Corporate Finance. 

Examples of recent publications include:

Ahmed, S., Bu, Z. and Ye, X., 2022. Illiquidity, R&D investment, and stock returns. Forthcoming, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking. 

Alperovych, Y., Cumming, D., Czellar, V. and Groh, A., 2021. M&A rumors about unlisted firms. Journal of Financial Economics, 142(3), pp.1324-1339. 

Amini, S., Johan, S., Pour, E.K. and Mohamed, A., 2022. Employee welfare, social capital, and IPO firm survival. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, p.10422587221120821. 

Carline, N.F., Pryshchepa, O. and Wang, B., (2021). CEO Compensation incentives and playing it safe: evidence from FAS 123R. Available at SSRN 3774070. 

Carline, NF & Gogineni, S., (2021). Antitakeover provisions and investment in mergers and acquisitions: a causal reevaluation. Journal of Corporate Finance, vol. 69, 101962. 

Cumming, D., Farag, H., Johan, S. and McGowan, D., (2021). The Digital Credit Divide: Marketplace Lending and Entrepreneurship. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, forthcoming.

Danisewicz, P., McGowan, D., Onali, E. and Schaeck, K., (2021). Debtholder monitoring incentives and bank earnings opacity. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 56(4), pp.1408-1445.

Duqi, A., McGowan, D., Onali, E. and Torluccio, G., (2021). Natural disasters and economic growth: The role of banking market structure. Journal of Corporate Finance, 71, p.102101.

Farag, H. and Dickinson, D., (2020). The power of Connections: Evidence from financial companies. Journal of Corporate Finance, 64, p.101643.

Farag, H. and Johan, S., (2021). How alternative finance informs central themes in corporate finance. Journal of Corporate Finance, 67, p.101879.

Guo, J., Li, P. and Li, Y., (2021). What can explain momentum? Evidence from decomposition. Management Science.

Kashefi Pour, E., Amini, S., Uddin, M. and Duxbury, D., (2020). Does cultural difference affect investment–cash flow sensitivity? Evidence from OECD countries. British Journal of Management, 31(3), pp.636-658.

Marshall, A., Farag, H., Neupane, B., Neupane, S., and Thapa, C. (2021), Tax threat and the disruptive market power of foreign portfolio investors. British Journal of Management, Forthcoming

McGowan, D. and Nguyen, H. (2021). To Securitize or to Price Credit Risk?'. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, forthcoming.

Neupane, B., Thapa, C., Marshall, A., and Neupane, S. (2021). Mimicking insider trades. Journal of Corporate Finance, 68, 101940. 

Paudyal, K., Thapa, C., Koirala, S. and Aldhawyan, S., (2021). Economic policy uncertainty and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Journal of Financial Stability, 56, p.100926.

Rao, S., Koirala, S., Thapa, C. and Neupane, S., (2021). When rain matters! Investments and value relevance. Journal of Corporate Finance, p.101827.

Thapa, C., Rao, S., Farag, H. and Koirala, S., (2020). Access to internal capital, creditor rights and corporate borrowing: Does group affiliation matter?. Journal of Corporate Finance, 62, p.101585.

Wang, Y., Farag, H. and Ahmad, W., (2021). Corporate culture and innovation: A tale from an emerging market. British Journal of Management, 32(4), pp.1121-1140.