HKBU business researchers share insights on economics and finance via mass media

Three researchers from the School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University, have recently shared their research findings and insights on concerned topics related to economics and finance with the general public through the publication of opinion editorials and articles  on  mass media platforms.
 

Coronavirus recovery: protect lenders and borrowers to ease bad loan damage
South China Morning Post (View full article)

Dr Janus Zhang, Assistant Professor of the Department of Accountancy and Law, co-authored a study to examine how policy uncertainty (PU) affects banks’ accruals for loan losses, as extensive evidence indicates that higher PU is associated with future negative macroeconomic and microeconomic conditions.

The result shows that higher attention paid to a banks’ financial reporting strengthens the role of loan loss provisions as a signal of expected loan losses. The paper offers insight into how, in the face of PU, banks convey information about their loan portfolios to their stakeholders.

How your face can determine the funds you raise (while crowdfunding)
e27 (View full article)

A research study co-authored by Dr Yang Duan and Dr Ray Wang, Assistant Professors of the Department of Finance and Decision Sciences and the Department of Accountancy and Law respectively, examined whether and how entrepreneurs' facial trustworthiness is associated with the success of their crowdfunding campaigns.

The research adopted a novel dataset extracted from the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform and employed machine learning-based facial detection techniques to construct a comprehensive index that measures facial trustworthiness for the  investigation. The results suggest that entrepreneurs' facial trustworthiness is positively associated with crowdfunding campaign success.
 

Inspection audits can maximise Asian mergers and acquisitions potential    
Asia Times Financial (View full article)

A research co-authored by Dr Gaoguang Zhou, Assistant Professor of the Department of Accountancy and Law in the School of Business, examined how Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) international inspections of non-U.S. auditors affected      international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) outcomes.

The research found that clients of inspected auditors are more likely to become acquisition targets after the public disclosure of an auditor's inspection report. It suggests that deal completion is more likely and deal announcement returns are higher if deals involve targets with auditors for which inspection reports are available. Engagement deficiencies and unremediated quality control deficiencies identified in inspection reports weaken the positive effect of PCAOB oversight on M&A outcomes. Collectively, the results suggest that PCAOB oversight reduces information uncertainty in M&A deals.