Dr. Kevin Zhao

Professor

Dr. Kevin Zhao
615-898-5473
Room N307, Business & Aerospace Building (BAS)
MTSU Box 27, Murfreesboro, TN 37132

Degree Information

  • PHD, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (2008)
  • MBA, University of South Carolina (2004)
  • BS, Peking University (1995)

Areas of Expertise

Investments, Corporate Governance, Risk Management, International Finance

Biography

Dr. Kevin Zhao has served over 5,000 students at MTSU. He has taught finance courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He also advised Economics Ph.D. students. Dr. Zhao's research focuses on market regulation on short selling and corporate governances in developing markets. He has published over 20 research articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Applied Economics, Review of Pacific-Basin Financial Markets and Policies, Applied Financial Economics, Journal of Economics and Financ...

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Dr. Kevin Zhao has served over 5,000 students at MTSU. He has taught finance courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. He also advised Economics Ph.D. students. Dr. Zhao's research focuses on market regulation on short selling and corporate governances in developing markets. He has published over 20 research articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Applied Economics, Review of Pacific-Basin Financial Markets and Policies, Applied Financial Economics, Journal of Economics and Finance, Journal of Accounting and Finance, Applied Economics Letters, Business and Economics, among others. He has presented his researches in national finance conferences, such as FMA, SFA, EFA, and MFA. As a veteran from the investment banking industry and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Dr. Zhao helps his students in networking with investment professionals, getting involved in the CFA program, and building financial careers. Dr. Zhao has advised the CFA Research Challenge for more than ten years. Leveraging on his investment experiences, Kevin has advised the TVA Investment Challenge (FIN 4900), which frequently beat the S&P 500 total return, during the last ten years. Most recently, the TVA portfolio at MTSU beta the market return by a wide margin of 6.1% in 2021, and 6.2% in 2020. Dr. Zhao has sponsored over twenty CFA test scholarships, saving students more than $20,000 in testing expenses. In his spare time, Kevin enjoys playing chess, running half marathon, building wood furnitures from pallets, and cooking healthy and delicious cusines. 

 

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Publications

Zhao, K.M. 2023. Signaling or tunneling: the dividend policies of Chinese ADRs listed in the US. International Journal of Managerial Finance,  https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMF-03-2022-0111

Zhao, M. 2022. The expectation of exchange rate and foreign share discount: the evidence from Hong Kong H-share discount. Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies.25, 1, 225007. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219091522500072.

Zha...

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Zhao, K.M. 2023. Signaling or tunneling: the dividend policies of Chinese ADRs listed in the US. International Journal of Managerial Finance,  https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMF-03-2022-0111

Zhao, M. 2022. The expectation of exchange rate and foreign share discount: the evidence from Hong Kong H-share discount. Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies.25, 1, 225007. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219091522500072.

Zhao, M. 2020. Short sell constraints and the price premium of Chinese stock A-shares over Hong Kong H-shares. Journal of Accounting and Finance. 7, 20, 185-191. https://doi.org/10.33423/jaf.v20i7.3817

Zhao, M. et al. 2020. Investors’ regulatory concerns and the SEC’s regulation SHO pilot program on the NYSE. Applied Economic letters. 28, 17, 1458-1461. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2020.1826397

Zhao, K. & Homaifar, G. 2019. Option Embedded Bonds: The Convertible Puttable Bond. Journal of Accounting and Finance. 19, 3-5. https://doi.org/10.33423/jaf.v19i3.2033.

Zhao, M. 2017. A new perspective for solving the credit spread puzzle. International Research Journal of Applied Finance. VIII, 3, 163-169.

Zhao, M. 2016. Short sale constraints and information driven short selling: evidence from NASDAQ. Applied Economics. 48, 23, 2113-2124. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2015.114578.

Zhao, M. 2015. Analyst Downgrades, Short Sale Constraints, and Intra-day Stock Price Efficiency. Journal of Applied Business Research, 31, 5, 1343-1354.

Fayissa, B. and Zhao, K. 2014. R&D Expenditure and Import Competition: Recent Evidence for the U.S. British Journal of Management and Economics. 4, 3, 453-467. https://doi.org/10.9734/BJEMT/2014/6979.

Zhao, M. 2014. Short-sale Constraints and Short Selling Strategies: The Case of SEC's Revocation of the Uptick Rule in 2007. Applied Financial Economics. 24, 18, 1199-1213. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603107.2014.925050.

Zhao, M. and Leng, F. 2014. Insider Trading around open-market share repurchases. Journal Of Economics and Finance. 38, 3, 461-491.

Deme, M. and Zhao, K. 2013. The Clustering of Short Sales on the NASDAQ. Journal of Financial and Economic Practice. Zhao, M. 2013. Does the uptick rule inflate stock prices? Journal Of Applied Business Research. 29, 1 (2013), 111-124.

Zhao, M., Homaifar, G. 2013. The Long-run Relationship between Stock Return Dispersion and Output. Applied Economics. 45, 943-952. DOI:https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2011.613792.

Zhao, M. 2012. The Uptick Rule and Stock Returns: An Analysis of Regulation SHO on the NYSE. Applied Financial Economics. 22, 633-649.

Zhao, M. and Deme, M. 2012. Short Sale Constraints and Autocorrelated Short Sales on the NASDAQ. International Research Journal of Applied Finance. 3, 5, 572-591.

Zhao, K. and Homaifar, G. 2011. Dynamics of Short Selling: An Empirical Investigation. Journal of Economics and International Finance. 3, 4 (2011), 195-203.

Deme, M. and Zhao, K. 2011. Host Country Degree of Rurality and the Location Choice of Multinational Enterprises: A Panel Model Analysis. British Journal of Management and Economics. 1, 2, 42-60.

Zhao, M., Ford, W.F. and Baum, C.L. 2011. Top Five Executives' Share of Core Earnings. Journal of Financial and Economic Practice. 12, 2, 88-100.

Zhao, M. and Deme, M. 2009. An Empirical Investigation into the Current Foreclosure. Global Review of Business and Economic Research. 5, 2, 279-292.

Zhao, M. 2009. Short Sale Constraints and Stock Misvaluation: Daily Evidence on the NASDAQ. Economia Internazionale. 62, 4, 505-530.

Zhao, K.M. et al. 2009. The CEO Share of Earnings: A New Approach to Evaluating Executive Compensation. Business Economics. 44, 2, 120-122.

Ford, W.F. and Zhao, K.M. 2009. Are CEOs overpaid? Tennessee Business. 18, 3, 13-14.

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In the Media

MTSU business students produce 'stunning' results in investment challenge 2020

https://www.murfreesborovoice.com/article/4583/mtsu-business-students-produce-stunning-results-in-investment-challenge

Courses

FIN 3010 Principles of Corporate Finance

FIN 3810 Investments

FIN 4810 Portfolio Theory and Management

FIN 4900/5900 TVA Investment Challenge (offered in Spring semesters)

FIN 6460 Investments (previously Equity Evaluation)

MBAF 6885 Decision Making in Accounting and Finance 

MBAF 6845 Managerial Finance