HighlightsRecognized for methodological rigor and practical relevance in fintech, banking, and digital finance; recipient of multiple best paper awards and teaching honors; research informs policy and industry on financial inclusion, privacy, and market efficiency; strong interdisciplinary approach bridging economics, technology, and finance.
Focused research areas include Bank CEO learning and crisis response; digital disruption in banking and its implications for financial inclusion; fintech lending and contract design; cryptocurrency and Bitcoin flight; privacy costs of digitalization; option market maker hedging; financial scams and initial coin offerings; transaction costs in option strategies; abstract reasoning in financial analysis; global market mispricing.
- The Impact of Managerial Thinking Style on A Firm's ESG Activity, SKBI, 2020
- Are Poker-face CEOs better negotiators? Evidence from Mergers and Acquisitions, SKBI
- SMU Internal Grant, Ministry of Education Tier 1, 2019
- Travel Grant, American Finance Association, 2015
- National Merit Scholarship, Ministry of Education People's Republic of China, 2009-2011
Showing up to 6 latest publications from the past 5 years.
- GY Yu, J Hu, C SongAvailable at SSRN 5843882, 2025
- GY YuJournal of Financial Economics 166, 104009, 2025
- K Phua, C Wei, GY YuAvailable at SSRN 5137239, 2025
- K Phua, C Wei, GY Yu
- J O'Donovan, GY YuSingapore Management University School of Business Research Paper Forthcoming, 2024
- J O'Donovan, GY Yu, J ZhangAvailable at SSRN 4567604, 2023
Education
| 2018 | Ph.D., Finance, INSEAD, France and Singapore |
| 2012 | Bachelor of Science (with distinction) in Economics, Minor in English Literature, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China |
Current Position(s) Held
| Jul 2018 - Now | Assistant Professor of Finance Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University |
Awards, Recognition and Honors
- Winner of ANU-FIRN Banking & Financial Stability Meeting best paper award, 2025
- Winner of WRDS best conference paper award at EFMA, 2024
- Winner of Australian Stock Exchange PrIze for the best paper on Derivatives at AFBC, 2024
- SMU Most Promising Teacher Award Nomination, 2022
- Dean’s Teaching Honour List, 2021
- Runner-up in the 2019 Toronto FinTech Conference, 2019
Research Interests
- FinTech
- Financial Intermediaries
Selective Research
1. “Do Bank CEOs Learn From Crisis Experiences?” , Journal of Financial Economics, 166, 104009
2. "Bank Competition amid Digital Disruption: Implications for Financial Inclusion", with Erica Xuewei Jiang, Jinyuan Zhang, forthcoming at Journal of Finance
3. “Flight to Bitcoin” with Yanlin Bao, Jinyuan Zhang, accepted at Management Science
4. "One Size Does Not Fit All: Contract Design in FinTech Lending", with Jianfeng Hu, Changcheng Song
5. "Retail Option Trading and Market Quality: Evidence from High-Frequency Data", with James O′Donovan, Jinyuan Zhang
6. "Grand Theft Identity: The Privacy Costs of Digitalization", with Kenny Phua, Chishen Wei
7. The Economics of Financial Scams: Evidence from Initial Coin Offerings, with Kenny
Phua, Bo Sang, Chishen Wei