上周在本欄分析自保公司在風險管理、成本控制方面具有優勢，但並非所有企業都適合設立自保公司。究竟須具備什麼條件，才能實現預期的風險分散目標，而避免對企業構成新風險源？
12 Nov 2025
教學人員
Prof. Hong ZOU
金融學
Professor
IMBA Programme Director
3917 7785
KK 835
Biography
Joe Hong Zou is a professor of finance at University of Hong Kong. He graduated in Statistics from Fudan University, completed a Master degree in insurance & accounting with distinction (sponsored by UK insurer Aviva) and received a PhD in Finance from University of Wales (UK). He had six-year industry experience (four years in a local government and two years in an investment bank) and qualified the CPA and investment analyst exam. He previously taught at Cardiff University (UK) and City University of Hong Kong, and received the Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) 2017/2018 IMBA teaching award, the 2019/2020 HKU-PKU EMBA Teaching Award, and the 2021, 2022, 2023, & 2024 FBE Faculty UG Teaching Reward in the University of Hong Kong. He was ranked as one of the HKU Scholars in the world’s Top 1% based on Thomson Clarivate Analytics’ Essential Science Indicators in the 10-year period (2008-2018) (2008-2018 湯森路透科睿唯安世界排名前1%的學者) (http://hub.hku.hk/local/top1pc/top1pc.jsp?year=2018). He is consistently ranked in the top 10% of Authors on SSRN by all-time downloads.
His research interests include corporate finance, corporate governance, risk management, financial services, and the Chinese financial market. He published 46 peer-reviewed journal articles in English and his research works appear in top finance journals (Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Management Science), top accounting journals (e.g., Journal of Accounting and Economics), top international business journals (e.g., Journal of International and Business Studies), top insurance journals (e.g., Journal of Risk and Insurance), and economics journals (e.g., Journal of Law and Economics). He won 9 international research awards (including the 2002 & 2003 Shin Insurance Research Awards at New York-based International Insurance Society (IIS), the 2012 Patrick Brockett and Arnold Shapiro research award given by the American Risk and Insurance Association (ARIA), the 2012 China International Conference in Finance (CICF) best paper award, the semifinalist for the best paper award at the 2017 FMA Annual Meeting in Boston, the best paper award at the 2022 China International Conference on Insurance and Risk Management (CICIRM) hosted by Tsinghua University and the 2024 Asian Finance Association Annual Conference). He also published 17 journal articles in Chinese (e.g., Economic Research). His research works are featured in the Handbook of Insurance, the CFA Digest, the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, the Columbia Law School’s blog on corporations and capital markets (Blue Sky), the NBER Working Paper series, the European Corporate Governance Institute – Finance Working Paper series, and two finance textbooks. He also coauthored FinTech cases Ping An OneConnect Virtual Bank (平安一賬通虛擬銀行 Data driven banking business) and Micro Connect (滴灌通 Solution to Micro and Small Business financing).
He once gave a lecture in the Lloyd’s of London, and received media interviews (e.g., Reactions, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, the Financial Management magazine of AICPA-CIMA). He was a finance paper examiner of the professional qualification exams at the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers (HKIB) and Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries (HKICS). He is a research fellow at the Center of China Insurance and Social Security Research, and is an associate editor for British Accounting Review – a flagship journal of the British Accounting and Finance Association (2023 CiteScore 8.6), an associate editor for China Financial Review International, and a former associated editor of Journal of Insurance Issues – the official journal of Western Risk and Insurance Association in the U.S., and was on the editorial board of China Journal of Accounting Studies, and Frontiers of Business Research in China (published by Springer) between 2010 and 2016. He was a former independent director of the cross-listed Chong Qing Bank.
Specific research interests
- Corporate governance, novel investor protection, boards, directors’ and officers’ liabilities, litigation risk
- Corporate risk management, hedging, and interactions with other corporate financial policies; emerging risk (e.g., ESG risk; cyber risk)
- Loan contracts, cost of debt and equity, IPO
- M&As, innovation
- Financial institutions (including insurance companies)
- Household finance, behavioral finance
- Financial reporting, disclosure, tax avoidance
- FinTech
- Chinese financial markets
Selected Publications
(For a full list of publications, please refer to http://www.hkubs.hku.hk/~hongzou/)
- The real effect of sociopolitical racial/ethnic animus: Mutual fund manager performance during AAPI hate (with Agarwal, V., Jiang, W., Luo, Y.C.). 2025. Review of Financial Studies, conditionally accepted.
- Ethnicity diversity and interstate investments (with Mao, Y., Wang, Z.). 2025. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, in press.
- Director liability protection and the quality of independent directors (with Masulis, Ronald, Shen, Sichen). 2025. Management Science, 71(8), 6426-6456.
- Governance by one-lot shares (with Cao, Feng, Yuhai Xuan, Rongli Yuan). 2025. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 60(2), 874-909.
- Stakeholder orientation, product market competition, and the cost of equity: Evidence from a natural experiment (with Chen, Z., Shen, S.). 2024. Review of Corporate Finance Studies,
- Quid pro quo in IPO auctions (with He, Jingbin, Liu, Bo). 2024. Journal of Business Ethics, 199(2), 412-436.
- Liquidity effects of litigation risk: Evidence from a legal shock (with Oliviero, Tommaso, Park, Min). 2023. Journal of Law and Economics, 67(1).
> Featured in Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog on corporations and capital markets.
- Do financial regulations shape the functioning of financial institutions’ risk management in ABS investment? 2020. Review of Financial Studies (with Chen, X.J., Higgins, E., and Xia, H.), 33(6), 2506-2553.
- Is Skin in the game a game changer? Evidence from mandatory changes to D&O insurance policies. 2019. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 68(1), 101225 (with Lin, C., Officer, M., Schmid, T.)
- Covenants, creditors’ simultaneous equity holdings, and firm investment policies. 2019. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 54(2), 481-512. (with Chava, S., Wang, R.)
- Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and the cost of equity. 2016. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 61(1), 100-120. (with Chen, Z., Li, Z.)
- Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and loan spreads. 2013. Journal of Financial Economics 110(1), 37-60. (with Lin, C., Officer, M., Wang, R.)
- he real and financial implications of corporate hedging. 2011. Journal of Finance 66(5), 1615-1647. (NBER 16622 Working Paper) (with Campello, M., Lin, C., Ma, Y.)
- Summarized by Keith Black of CFA Institute in CFA Digest 42(1), 2012, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2469/dig.v42.n1.38)
- Referenced in FINANCE FOR EXECUTIVES: A practical guide for managers. By Nuno Fernandes, 2014, NPV Publishing; ISBN-10: 9899885401; ISBN-13: 978-9899885400
- Cited in INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, by Bekaert, Geert, and Robert Hodrick. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
- Chief executive officer incentives, monitoring, and corporate risk management: Evidence from insurance use. 2011. Journal of Risk and Insurance 78(3), 551-582. (with Adams, M.B., Lin, C.)
- Referenced in Dionne, G. (Ed.). (2013). Handbook of Insurance. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
- Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and acquisition outcomes. 2011. Journal of Financial Economics 102(3), 507-525. (with Lin, C., Officer, M.)
- Friend or foe? The role of state and mutual fund ownership in the split share structure reform in China. 2010. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 45(3), 685-706. (with Firth, M., Lin, C.).
- The effectiveness of using a basis hedging strategy to mitigate the financial consequences of weather-related risks. 2010. North American Actuarial Journal 14(2), 157-175. (with Golden, L.L., Yang, C.)
- 2012 American Risk and Insurance Association (ARIA) Patrick Brockett and Arnold Shapiro best paper award.
- Corporate ownership and equity risks and returns in China. 2008. Journal of International Business Studies 39(7), 1149-1168. (with Adams, M.)
- Best paper award, Chinese Economic Association (UK) Conference, London, 2002
- Debt capacity, cost of debt and corporate insurance. 2008. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 43(2), 433-466. (with Adams, M.B.)
- Referenced in Dionne, G. (Ed.). (2013). Handbook of Insurance. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
- Corporate purchase of property insurance: Chinese evidence. 2006. Journal of Financial Intermediation 15(2), 165-196. (with Adams, M.B.) (lead article)
- Corporate risk and property insurance: Evidence from China. 2003. Journal of Risk and Insurance 70(2), 289-314. (with Adams, M.B., Buckle, M.J.)
- 2002 Shin Research Award (US$3,000) at the International Insurance Society (New York-based) annual conference
Selected Revise & Resubmits
- Management Science
- Journal of Risk and Insurance
- Journal of Business, Finance and Accounting
Selected Publications in Chinese
- Wei, G., Xiao, Z., Travlos, N., and Zou, H. 2007. Independent directors’ background and corporate performance in China, Economic Research (经济研究), 52(3), 92-105.
- Xiao, Z. and Zou, H. 2008. Capital sturucture determinants and equity issuance preference of Chinese listed companies, Economic Research (经济研究), 53(6), 119-144.
Recent Publications
12Nov
5Nov
Facing complex risks and high premiums, many firms now favour 'captive insurance'—their own insurance subsidiaries. This strategy retains cash, lowers costs by reflecting true risk, and allows firms to cover 'blank risks' while accessing reinsurance markets directly.
5 Nov 2025
教學人員
1Aug
We study whether legal liability protection helps companies to recruit and retain high-quality independent directors. We conduct difference-in-differences analyses exploiting the 1999 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling on the Silicon Graphics case, which substantially raised the bar for filing securities class action (SCA) lawsuits as a shock. We document supporting evidence for the talent attraction hypothesis by showing improvements in newly recruited independent director quality following the ruling, but only for candidates who are previously not exposed to SCA litigation risk. The effects are stronger for firms facing greater litigation risk ex ante or smaller local supplies of director candidates. Results are more evident for experience-based quality dimensions. We also analyze a sample of voluntary independent director departures and find little support for the talent retention hypothesis, suggesting that more complex factors enter into a director’s continuation decision once a director is already exposed to SCA litigation risk. A policy implication is that liability protection can be useful in attracting more unexposed high-quality candidates to the pool of public boards but does little to attract high-quality candidates who are already in the pool of public firms.
1 Aug 2025
Management Science
1Mar
We use a novel experiment in China to examine the effects of having a quasi-official investor own a small number of shares on specific firm outcomes. We find that, relative to control firms, pilot firms experience an increase in dissenting votes from independent directors, a reduction in tunneling and earnings management activities, and an improvement in merger performance. Independent directors questioned by the quasi-official shareholder in activism events subsequently lose board seats in the director market. Overall, our results shed light on a new mechanism for enhancing the protection of minority shareholders.
1 Mar 2025
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis
3Jul
A股上市公司逐漸形成現金分紅的氛圍，相關監管和稅務政策亦成為投資者關注的議題。近年，中國證監會發布了多項措施，強化對上市公司現金分紅的監管，並推動上市公司提高分紅比率，這體現了監管者致力保障個人投資者利益。
3 Jul 2024
教學人員
3Jul
A股上市公司逐漸形成現金分紅的氛圍，相關監管和稅務政策亦成為投資者關注的議題。近年，中國證監會發布了多項措施，強化對上市公司現金分紅的監管，並推動上市公司提高分紅比率，這體現了監管者致力保障個人投資者利益。
3 Jul 2024
教學人員
26Jun
在成熟的股票市場，不少上市公司進行現金分紅，為投資者帶來經常性收益並增強其信心。去年擬進行分紅的A股上市公司共有3859家，較前兩年增加565家，現金分紅總額達2.24萬億元人民幣，較前年增加5.16%。這趨勢與中國證監會長期以來通過政策引領的努力密不可分。
26 Jun 2024
教學人員
26Jun
在成熟的股票市場，不少上市公司進行現金分紅，為投資者帶來經常性收益並增強其信心。去年擬進行分紅的A股上市公司共有3859家，較前兩年增加565家，現金分紅總額達2.24萬億元人民幣，較前年增加5.16%。這趨勢與中國證監會長期以來通過政策引領的努力密不可分。
26 Jun 2024
教學人員
1Feb
Theory offers two diverging views on the effects of ex ante litigation risk on corporate liquidity proxied by cash holdings. Ex ante litigation risk, however, is difficult to measure. We test the liquidity effects of ex ante litigation risk by exploiting the phase-by-phase introduction of securities class actions (SCAs) in Korea. Following the increase in litigation risk, firms significantly increase their internal liquidity, especially those without directors’ and officers’ liability insurance and those that are financially constrained. The results hold robustly in difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity designs. We also find that the increase in ex ante SCA risk improves firms’ stock market liquidity and valuation, especially for firms that do not carry liability insurance. Taken together, the results are consistent with the arguments that SCAs increase firms’ liability risk and lower investors’ risk.
1 Feb 2024
Journal of Law and Economics
31May
繼筆者上周在本欄撰寫的〈內地股票發行制度改革躍登新台階〉，本文將聚焦於全面實行股票發行註冊制（以下簡稱註冊制）之後，對內地A股市場和香港股票市場的潛在影響扼要分析如下。
31 May 2023
教學人員