MY RESEARCH

- Bragging
- Research by topic
        - corporate finance and corporate governance
        - price limits
        - behavioral finance
        - other research   
- Research by region
        - China
        - Japan
        - other East Asian and Southeast Asian economies
        - U.S.
        - Europe       
- Current featured research

- Most recent publication
 

BRAGGING

I hope you won't mind if I brag a little.  According to a recent study, I am one of the top 1,000 most prolific finance scholars of the past half-century.  You are most likely surprised, so you can click here to see the study.  Or, maybe you're just surprised to discover there are over 1,000 finance professors in this world. 
 

RESEARCH BY TOPIC
 

My research primarily focuses on corporate finance and corporate governance, but I also have research interests in market microstructure (in particular, price limits) and behavioral finance.  If you want to learn more about my research in each of these topics, then here is my research organized by topic:

corporate finance and corporate governance,

price limits,

behaviorial finance,

"other research,"

RESEARCH BY REGION

Recently, I've also been conducting research on Chinese financial markets.  Click the flag below to see what I've been up to in this regard.

I've also done a lot of research on Japan and other East Asian and Southeast Asian economies.  In fact, most of my research has been on non-U.S. financial markets.  This is why I primarily teach International Finance.  Recently, I published an interesting study on corporate governance in Europe (see featured research below).  And, of course, I also do research on U.S. markets.


FEATURED RESEARCH

I spent the majority of my research career criticizing financial markets regulations.  This is not surprising considering my initial training in economics included learning the doctrines of Adam Smith (think "invisible hand") and Milton Friedman (think "Freedom to Choose").  Regulations interfere with what are otherwise "efficient" markets.  However, with the passage of time, I have come to realize that many regulations (particularly well-designed ones) can be beneficial to markets and to overall social welfare.  In a recent paper, I argue in favor of strong minority shareholder protection laws to empower small investors.  In my study, I find that empowered minority shareholders are able to influence board composition in a positive way.  See the paper below:

Kim, Kenneth A., Pattanaporn Kitsabunnarat, and John R. Nofsinger, 2007, "Large shareholders, board independence, and minority shareholder rights: Evidence from Europe," Journal of Corporate Finance 13, 859-880.

MOST RECENT PUBLICATION

When a firm conducts a stock repurchase, it is generally considered good news by investors.  This is common knowledge.  When a firm announces a stock repurchase, its stock price immediately jumps up.  But, the firm's creditors can't be too thrilled about it.  After all, the repurchasing firm is increasing its financial leverage ratio and likely dispersing cash, neither of which is something a creditor wants to see its borrower do.  Now consider this,... Many firms maintain important relationships with creditors such as main banks.  How might these relationships affect stock repurchases?  In my most recent publication, I examine this issue.  Overall, I show benefits to maintaining these firm-bank relationships.  See the paper below:

Kang, Jun-Koo, Kenneth A. Kim, Pattanaporn Kitsabunnarat, and Takeshi Nishikawa, 2011, "The effects of bank relations on stock repurchases: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Financial Intermediation 20, 94-116.