Dragon Yongjun TANG
Prof. Dragon Yongjun TANG
Finance
Associate Director, Centre for Financial Innovation and Development
Professor

2219 4321

KK 1004

Academic & Professional Qualification
  • Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin
  • M.S., Texas A&M University
  • B.S., Jilin University
Biography

Prof. Dragon Yongjun TANG received his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005.  He also holds a B.S. from Jilin University, and M.S. from Texas A&M University.  Dragon joined The University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2007, and became Associate Professor of Finance in 2013.  Before joining HKU, Dragon also held teaching positions at the University of Texas at Austin and Kennesaw State University.

Dragon’s current research interests include credit risk, credit derivatives, and Chinese banking and credit markets.  He has previously done research on mutual funds and Bayesian methods in finance.  His research articles are published in top journals such as the Journal of Finance and Journal of Financial Economics.  He has also received numerous research awards.

In HKU, Dragon was the Director of the Master of Finance Programme in 2012 – 2015, and has been the Associate Director of the Center for Financial Innovation and Development since 2013, and of the Center for China Financial Research since 2015.

More information can be found at http://www.hkubs.hku.hk/~yjtang.

Research Interest
  • Green Finance and ESG
  • Credit Risk
  • Credit Derivatives
  • China Credit Markets
Selected Publications
  • “Property rights, political connections, and corporate investment” with Meng Miao, Lixin Colin Xu and Xiao Yan, 2023, Review of Finance, forthcoming.
  • “Withholding bad news in the face of credit default swap trading: Evidence from stock price crash risk” with Jinyu Liu, Jeffrey Ng, and Rui Zhong, 2023, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, forthcoming.
  • “The Value of Employee Satisfaction in Disastrous Times: Evidence from COVID-19” with Chenyu Shan, 2023, Review of Finance, 23(3), 1027–1076.
  • “Can Central Banks Boost Corporate Investment? Evidence from ECB Liquidity Injections” with Stine Louise von Rüden, Marti G Subrahmanyam, and Sarah Qian Wang, 2023, The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 12(2), 402–442.
  • “Product Market Competition with CDS” with Jay Y. Li, 2022, Journal of Corporate Finance 73, 102185.
  • “The Diversification Benefits and Policy Risks of Accessing China’s Stock Market” with Chenyu Shan, Sarah Qian Wang, and Chang Zhang, 2022, Journal of Empirical Finance 66, 155-175.
  • “Subnational Debt of China: The Politics-Finance Nexus” with Haoyu Gao and Hong Ru, 2021, Journal of Financial Economics 141, 881-895.
  • “Credit Default Swaps and Bank Regulatory Capital” with Chenyu Shan, Hong Yan, and Xing (Alex) Zhou, 2021, Review of Finance 25, 121-152.
  • “Is “Greenness” Priced in the Market? Evidence from Green Bond Issuance in China” with Zhiyao Deng and Yupu Zhang, 2020, Journal of Alternative Investments 23, 57-70.
  • “Do Shareholders Benefit from Green Bonds?” with Yupu Zhang, 2020, Journal of Corporate Finance 61, 101427.
  • “Do Banks Still Monitor When There is a Market for Credit Protection?” with Chenyu Shan and Andrew Winton, 2019, Journal of Accounting and Economics 68, 101241.
  • “Employees’ Risk Attitude and Corporate Risk Taking: Evidence from Pension Asset Allocations” with Yanling Guan, 2018, Journal of Corporate Finance 48, 261-274.
  • “Model Specification and Collateralized Debt Obligation (Mis)Pricing” with Dan Luo and Sarah Qian Wang, 2018, Journal of Futures Markets 38, 1284-1312.
  • “Credit Default Swaps, Exacting Creditors and Corporate Liquidity Management” with Marti Subrahmanyam and Sarah Qian Wang, 2017, Journal of Financial Economics 124, 395-414.
  • “Understanding Transactions Prices in Credit Default Swaps Market” with Hong Yan, 2017, Journal of Financial Markets 32, 1-27. Lead Article
  • “The Leverage Externalities of Credit Default Swaps” with Jay Li, 2016, Journal of Financial Economics 120, 491-513.
  • “Credit Default Swaps: Past, Present, and Future” with Patrick Augustin, Marti Subrahmanyam, and Sarah Qian Wang, 2016, Volume 8 of Annual Review of Financial Economics.
  • “Suitability Checks and Household Investments in Structured Financial Products” with Eric Chang and Miao Zhang, 2015, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 50, 597-622.
  • “Internal Control Quality and Credit Default Swap Spreads” with Feng Tian and Hong Yan, 2015, Accounting Horizons 29, 603-629.
  • “Does the Tail Wag the Dog? The Effects of Credit Default Swaps on Credit Risk” with Marti Subrahmanyam and Sarah Qian Wang, 2014, Review of Financial Studies 27, 2927-2960.
  • “Credit Default Swaps (CDS): A Survey” with Patrick Augustin, Marti Subrahmanyam, and Sarah Qian Wang, 2014, Foundations and Trends in Finance 9(1-2), 1-196.
  • “Potential Losses from Incorporating Return Predictability into Portfolio Allocation”, 2014, Australian Journal of Management 39, 35-45.
  • “Rating Shopping or Catering: An Examination of Response to Competitive Pressure for CDO Credit Ratings” with John Griffin and Jordan Nickerson, 2013, Review of Financial Studies 26, 2270-2310.
  • “Did Subjectivity Play a Role in CDO Credit Ratings?” with John Griffin, 2012, Journal of Finance 67, 1293-1328.
  • “Did Credit Rating Agencies Make Unbiased Assumptions on CDOs?” with John Griffin, 2011, American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 101:3, 125-130.
  • “Market Conditions, Default Risk, and Credit Spreads” with Hong Yan, 2010, Journal of Banking and Finance 34, 724-734.
  • “Unitary Boards and Mutual Fund Governance” with Sophie Xiaofei Kong, 2008, Journal of Financial Research 31, 193-224.
  • “Macroeconomic Conditions, Firm Characteristics, and Credit Spreads” with Hong Yan, 2006, Journal of Financial Services Research 29, 177-210.
Awards and Honours
  • Research Grant from International Network for Sustainable Financial Policy Insights, Research, and Exchange (INSPIRE), June 2019
  • Outstanding Paper Award, 13th International Conference on Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Seoul, 2018
  • Best Paper Award (sponsored by Elsevier and Pacific-Basin Finance Journal), Asian Finance Association Annual Meeting, Tokyo, Japan, 2018
  • Outstanding Paper Award, 15th Financial System Engineering and Risk Management Conference, 2017
  • FGV/HSG Best Paper Award in Finance, 2016
  • Best Doctoral Dissertation Supervision Award, National Economics Foundation of China, 2016
  • General Research Fund, Research Grant Council, Hong Kong, PI, 2016
  • General Research Fund, Research Grant Council, Hong Kong, Co-I, 2016
  • Outstanding Researcher Award, the Faculty of Business and Economics (HKU Business School), 2015
  • Best Paper Award (Derivatives), Northern Finance Association Annual Meetings, 2014
  • Best Paper Prize, the 5th Annual Financial Markets and Corporate Governance Conference, 2014
  • Research Output Prize, The University of Hong Kong (香港大学研究成果獎), 2013
  • Best Paper Award, 20th Annual Conference on the Theories and Practices of Securities and Financial Markets at National Sun Yat-Sen University, 2012
  • Research Project Award, Paul Woolly Centre for Study on Market Dysfunctionality, 2012
  • The Chinese Finance Association Award for the Best Paper on Chinese Financial Markets, 2011
  • Semifinalist for Best Paper Award, Financial Management Association, 2010
  • Best Paper Award, 17th Annual Conference on the Theories and Practices of Securities and Financial Markets at National Sun Yat-Sen University, 2009
  • Best Paper Award (Risk Management), Financial Management Association, 2009
  • Journal of Financial Research Outstanding Article Award, 2009
  • Best Paper Award, International Economics, Finance, and Accounting Conference at National Taiwan University, 2008
  • Best Paper Award (Financial Institutions), Eastern Finance Association, 2006
Recent Publications
Property rights, political connections, and corporate investment

We study the impact of an urban land titling program on firm investment in Shenzhen, China. We find that this program increased the investment rate for titling firms, but this positive effect only holds for politically connected firms. Further analysis suggests that the titling effect is more pronounced for those titling firms associated with greater expropriation risk. During program implementation, the connected titling firms increased their investment perhaps because, as observed, they experienced fewer disputes than non-connected titling firms.

Withholding Bad News in the Face of Credit Default Swap Trading: Evidence from Stock Price Crash Risk

Credit default swaps (CDSs) are a major financial innovation related to debt contracting. Because CDS markets facilitate bad news being incorporated into equity prices via cross-market information spillover, CDS availability may curb firms’ information hoarding. We find that CDS trading on a firm’s debt reduces the future stock price crash risk. This effect is stronger in active CDS markets, when the main lenders are CDS market dealers with securities trading subsidiaries, or when managers have more motivation to hoard information. Our findings suggest that debt market financial innovations curtail the negative equity market effects of firms withholding bad news.

The Value of Employee Satisfaction in Disastrous Times: Evidence from COVID-19

Employee treatment is an important but challenging element of corporate environmental, social, and governance policies. Satisfying employee needs can increase corporate productivity, but is also costly to shareholders. Using unique data of Chinese publicly listed firms, we show that having satisfied employees is valuable to the firm. Specifically, firms with higher employee satisfaction scores withstand COVID-19 better, in terms of stock market performance. Such an effect is more pronounced for firms with more intangible assets and in knowledge-based industries. Moreover, higher employee satisfaction scores predict better operating performance. While not fully revealed in tranquil times, the effect of employee satisfaction is materialized when the firms experience negative shocks, such as COVID-19. Our findings suggest that firms can do well in crisis periods by doing good in normal times.

港大教授:投資A股有效分散風險

內地刺激經濟政策陸續出台,帶動A股及港股上周五表現向好。港大經管學院金融學教授湯勇軍(圖)早前接受訪問時表示,外國投資者購買內地A股並不多,但實際上內地股票有很多好處值得他們考慮,由於A股市場與全球股票市場的關連性較低,受國際金融危機的影響比其他主要經濟體都要小,因此若將A股納入國際投資組合,便會提高其夏普比率(反映衡量風險與回報的指標),數目越高回報越好。

Sanctions on Russia Could Drive Moscow Closer to Beijing and Change the Global Financial System

Punitive sanctions incurred by President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are leaving Russia economically isolated. Speaking on Feb. 24, the day of the incursion, U.S. president Joe Biden announced measures that “exceed anything we’ve ever done.”

綠債發行已逾3000億 香港打造綠色金融重鎮

《粵港澳大灣區發展規劃綱要》提到將香港打造成為區內綠色金融中心,港府也承諾將致力爭取於2050年前實現碳中和。事實上,港府近年銳意發展綠色金融,迄今累計發行綠色債券總值已逾3000億元,未來5年更計劃再發行多1700億元綠債。經濟學家看好前景,預期未來幾年本港有望發展成為區內綠色金融重鎮。

A Shield with a Razor’s Edge: Understand the Pros and Cons of CDS With an Empirical Lens

A research by Professor Dragon Youngjun Tang, Professor in Finance at HKU Business School and other co-authors discovers that banks using CDS for capital relief have effectively freed up extra capital for businesses, but at the same time are more likely to extend loans and build up riskier loan portfolios.

港大湯勇軍示警 綠色泡沫宜早規管

信用違約互換(CDS)被視為2008年金融海嘯的「元兇」之一,香港大學經管學院金融學教授湯勇軍表示,監管機構應對CDS作更多規管,若監管機構落後於金融創新,將會帶來社會後果。

綠色債券.上|全球新趨勢 香港可成綠色金融中心

對全球及未來一代而言,氣候變化是最嚴重的威脅之一,全球日益關注當中涉及的風險,「綠色金融」(Green Finance)亦開始走入公眾視線,其中綠色債券(Green Bond)便是常見的金融工具。中國自2016年起連續四年成為綠色債券發行量最大的國家,而現時全球的金融中心在推動綠色債券上亦不遺餘力,站在發展前沿的香港亦不例外,特區政府除了積極發行綠色債券外,還致力推出不同的便利措施,吸引企業來港籌集資金,包括參與可持續發展並具有環境效益的投資。然而,綠色金融到底是解決全球暖化的關鍵,還是只是隨波逐流、迎合金融業趨勢的工具?兩者之間又該怎樣取得平衡?

綠色債券.上|全球新趨勢 香港可成綠色金融中心

對全球及未來一代而言,氣候變化是最嚴重的威脅之一,全球日益關注當中涉及的風險,「綠色金融」(Green Finance)亦開始走入公眾視線,其中綠色債券(Green Bond)便是常見的金融工具。中國自2016年起連續四年成為綠色債券發行量最大的國家,而現時全球的金融中心在推動綠色債券上亦不遺餘力,站在發展前沿的香港亦不例外,特區政府除了積極發行綠色債券外,還致力推出不同的便利措施,吸引企業來港籌集資金,包括參與可持續發展並具有環境效益的投資。然而,綠色金融到底是解決全球暖化的關鍵,還是只是隨波逐流、迎合金融業趨勢的工具?兩者之間又該怎樣取得平衡?