My research interests are primarily in the areas of banking, corporate finance, financial institutions, and climate finance. My research is mostly empirical and closely connected to economic and finance theory. I often seek to disentangle competing theories using observational empirical data. My research projects can be categorized into three groups. The first category of research studies financial institutions and their interaction in the financial market. The second category focuses on climate finance. The third category of research investigates factors affecting corporate sustainability. For each project, I carefully investigate the background mechanism, examine the main prediction using empirical data, and derive the novel contribution. Besides my research, I have taught various classes, such as Corporate Finance, Financial Management, Derivative Securities, Options and Futures, Financial Institutions, and Sustainable Finance. 

Selected Working Papers (* = presentation by coauthors)

"From Teller to Tech: Labor Demand Shift and Bank Lending"  with Steven Ongena
(Presentations: 2026 SFIC)

"Commercial Financing Disclosure Laws and Nonbank Lending: Who Benefits and Who Suffers?"  with Steven Ongena
(Presentations: 2026 ICBFS)

"Preempting Gas Bans: Policy Retrenchment and Credit Allocation"  with Thomas Lambert and Francesco Mazzola
(Presentations: 2026 EFI workshop*, 2026 RCF-ECGI, 2026 Credit*, 2026 ICBFS, 2026 GRASFI*, 2026 IWH*, 2026 CEA, 2026 CSBF, 2026 SFI Brown Bag, 2026 PSB Workshop*, 10th Shanghai-Edinburgh-London Finance Conference*, 2026 EBES, 2026 CEFIN*, ESCP Business School*, University of Geneva)
*Best Paper Award 2026 ICBFS, Best Paper Award 2026 EBES

"Cybersecurity and Bank Distance-to-Default"  (Reject & Resubmit at JFQA)
(Presentations: 2026 CSBF, 2025 SFIC, 2025 World Finance Conference, 2024 FMA European Conference)
*Best Paper Award 2025 World Finance Conference

“Climate Change and Bank Default”  (R&R)
(Presentations: 2025 SFIC, 2024 Boca-ECGI Corporate Finance and Governance Conference, 2024 Adam Smith Sustainability Conference & 2nd Annual Conference of the British Accounting Review, 2024 WBFS)
*Best Paper Award in Banking 2025 SFIC

Work in process

"Stay and Compete: Immobile Inventor and Product Market Performance" with S. Ghon Rhee

Publications

“Skilled Labor Mobility and Bank Default” with Akif Midilli and Steven Ongena, Journal of Financial Stability, September 2026.
(Presentations: 2026 Vassa Banking Research Workshop)

"Happiness and Innovation around the World" with Fangfang Hou and Seongkyu Gilbert Park, Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, April 2026.
(Presentations: 2022 Greater China Area Finance Conference*, 2022 Asian FA*, 2021 APAD*, 2018 ICAFEL, 2018 Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society*, 2018 FMA European Conference, 2018 Midwest Economic Association*, 2017 Asiatic Research Institute*)

"Natural Disaster and the Real Effect of Skilled Labor Mobility"  with S. Ghon Rhee, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 94, December 2025, 102940.
(Presentations: 2025 FeAT*, 2024 Adam Smith Sustainability Conference & 2nd Annual Conference of the British Accounting Review, 2024 WBFS)

"Climate Change, Bank Fragility, and Systemic Risk" Review of Corporate Finance, 4, 2024, 127-150.
(Presentations: 2023 Dolomites Summer Finance, 2023 Risklab/Bank of Finland/ESRB Conference on Systemic Risk Analytics, University of Basel)

"Political Corruption, Dodd-Frank Whistleblowing, and Corporate Investment" with Qingjie Du, Journal of Corporate Finance, 73, April 2022, 102145.
(Presentations: 2020 FMA European Conference, 2019 CAFM, 2019 Australasian Finance and Banking Conference, 2019 FMA Asia-Elevator Pitch) 

"Does Corruption Grease or Sand the Wheels of Investment or Innovation? Different Effects in Advanced and Emerging Economies" with Fangfang Hou and Seongkyu “Gilbert” Park, Applied Economics, 53, 2021, 35-60.
(Presentations: 2019 Midwest Finance Association Meeting, 2018 Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, 2018 CAFM)