Research Interests
- Financial Intermediation
- Corporate Finance
- Investment Banking
- Sustainable Finance
Publications
Customers as Friendly Shareholders: Uncovering the Complex Mutual Fund-Broker Relationship
with Yuehua Tang and Kelsey Wei
Management Science, forthcoming
Inter-Firm Relationships and the Special Role of Common Banks
with Emanuela Giacomini and Andy Naranjo
Journal of Financial Intermediation 2024, vol. 58
The Decline of Secured Debt
with Efraim Benmelech and Raghuram Rajan
Journal of Finance 2024, vol. 79, 35-93
– WFA Charles River Associate Award for Best Paper on Corporate Finance
The Secured Credit Premium and the Issuance of Secured Debt
with Efraim Benmelech and Raghuram Rajan
Journal of Financial Economics 2022, vol. 146, 143-171
Prime (Information) Brokerage
with Kevin Mullally, Sugata Ray and Yuehua Tang
Journal of Financial Economics 2020, vol. 137, 371-391
– First Prize, Chicago Quantitative Alliance (CQA) Academic Competition
– Yihong Xia Best Paper Award, China International Conference in Finance
Political Interference and Crowding Out in Bank Lending
Journal of Financial Intermediation 2020, vol. 43
Book Chapters
Sustainable Private Capital Markets
with Sehoon Kim, Jongsub Lee and Junho Oh
Book chapter in Climate Change and Climate Finance: Current Experience and Future Directions, edited by Fariborz Moshirian and Cyn-Young Park, Asian Development Bank (September 2023), 165-179
Working Papers
ESG Lending
with Sehoon Kim, Jongsub Lee and Junho Oh
revise & resubmit, Journal of Financial Economics
– WFA 2023, MFA 2022, UN PRI Academic Network Conference 2022, Oxford Sustainable Private Market Conference 2022, Univ of Delaware Weinberg Center/ECGI Corporate Governance Symposium 2022, OSU Finance Conference 2022, NEOMA Sustainable Finance Conference 2022, Wolfe Research QES ESG Investment Conference 2022, FMA 2021, Fixed Income and Financial Institutions Conference 2021, Paris December Finance Meeting 2021, Australasian Finance and Banking Conference 2021, Conference on Asia-Pacific Financial Markets 2021, Asia-Pacific Corporate Finance Online Workshop Series 2021
Abstract: Sustainable lending has flourished amid widespread issuance of sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) with spreads contingent on borrower ESG performance. These loans are issued between reputable firms and banks with superior ESG profiles that face greater stakeholder scrutiny, mostly as revolving credit facilities through banking relationships. SLLs vary widely in the transparency of publicly available information on sustainability related contract details. Consistent with greenwashing concerns, borrower ESG scores deteriorate after the issuance of low-transparency SLLs. Stock markets exhibit vigilance against potential greenwashing, responding positively to issuance announcements only for high-transparency SLLs. Our findings highlight the importance of transparency in ESG-contingent financing.
Non-Disclosure of Stress Tests and Bank Opacity (draft available upon request)
with Mark Flannery, Mahendrarajah Nimalendran and Manvendra Tiwari
Inactive Working Paper
How did the Big Banks Grow Bigger?
with Indraneel Chakraborty and Mark Flannery
– China International Conference in Finance 2017
Abstract: Conventional wisdom holds that big banks have grown by mergers. We investigate the growth in large banks by expanding the time period to include the last two decades. We find that deposit growth has been fueled half by mergers and half by faster organic growth. While the importance of mergers is expected, this paper documents faster organic growth of large banks, especially after the crisis, despite recent efforts to control the size of systemically important financial institutions. Deposit concentration at the hands of a few large banks has important consequences for competition in the local deposit market. We show that large banks do not respond to competition in the local deposit market through their deposit rates, but do respond to the presence of other large banks. Consequently, the significant growth of a few large banks on the national scale has made them less responsive to competition in the local deposit market, thereby having adverse effects on consumer welfare.
Fellowships, Honors, and Awards
- Charles River Associates Award for Best Paper on Corporate Finance, Western Finance Association (WFA) 2020 Meeting
- Yihong Xia Best Paper Award, China International Conference in Finance 2018
- First Prize, Chicago Quantitative Alliance (CQA) Academic Competition 2017
- Eugene F. Fama PhD Fellowship, Chicago Booth, 2014-2015
- Katherine Dusak Miller PhD Fellowship in Finance, Chicago Booth, 2013-2014
- CRSP Summer Paper Award, Chicago Booth, 2011
- Chicago Booth PhD Fellowship, 2010-2015
- L.H. Penny Scholarship in Accounting, UCLA Anderson, 2009
- Dean’s List and Faculty Scholar, UCLA Anderson, 2008
- UCLA Anderson Fellowship Award, 2007-2009
- National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) Scholarship, India, 2000-2004
Media Coverage
“Business school sustainability research: What is read most?” Financial Times, July 5, 2023.
“Sourcing sustainability: the maturation of ESG lending,” Financier Worldwide Magazine Cover Story, December 2022 issue.
“Sustainability-linked loans: A strong ESG commitment or a vehicle for greenwashing?” Principles of Responsible Investment (PRI) Academic Blog, July 20, 2022.
“Secured Credit Spreads,” Harvard Law School bankruptcy Roundtable, July 28, 2020.
“New study highlights the real cost of political interference in banking,” Warrington College of Business Newsroom, February 11, 2020.
“The Decline in Secured Debt,” Warrington College of Business Newsroom, January 30, 2020.
“The Decline in Secured Debt,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, January 27, 2020.
“Secrets don’t make friends: New research shows hedge funds gain information advantage from unique relationships with investment banks,” Warrington College of Business Newsroom, September 24, 2019.
“Prime Brokers And Hedge Funds Prefer A Friends-With-Informational-Advantage Relationship,” Dealbreaker, July 6, 2017.
“Who benefits and who suffers from politically based lending?” Chicago Booth Review, February 27, 2015.