Yun Liu, PhD

Dr. Liu, who joined KGI in July 2016, received her PhD in finance from the University of Maryland, MA in Economics from Simon Fraser University, and BEcon in Money and Banking from Peking University. Prior to joining KGI, Liu served as Assistant Professor of Finance at UC Riverside. She received the 2020 Riggs Excellence in Teaching Award at KGI, the 2011 Distinguished EMBA Professor recognition at UCR, the 2006 Krowe Award for Teaching Excellence, and the 2006 Joseph Wikler Award for Teaching Excellence at the University of Maryland.

Liu’s primary research interest is empirical corporate finance, focusing on how corporate executive and director network, skillsets, and diversity affect turnover, promotion, and compensation contracts. She also studies how social connections affect earnings management, financial report readability, and the formation and returns of strategic alliances. Liu has published in the Journal of Corporate Finance and the Journal of Banking and Finance. Her research has been presented in international and regional academic conferences and featured in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, the Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, The Conversation, Canberra Times, and the CFA Institute Asia Research Exchange. She received the Outstanding Paper in Empirical Finance Award at the 2016 Southern Finance Association Conference.

“The Dark Side of CEO Social Capital: Evidence from Real Earnings Management and Future Operating Performance” (with P. Griffin, H. Hong, and J. Ryou), Journal of Corporate Finance (2021), 101920.

Inter-Firm Connections, Alliance Formation and the Value Created by Alliances” (with T. Mantecon, S. Silveri, and W. Sun), Quarterly Journal of Finance 10 (2020), 2050019.

“The Price of Boardroom Social Capital: The Effects of Corporate Demand for External Connectivity” (with S. P. Ferris and D. Javakhadze), Journal of Banking and Finance 111 (2020), 105729.

“Outside Options and CEO Turnover: The Network Effect”, Journal of Corporate Finance 28 (2014), 201-217.