
Overview
Background
Dr Tan is an Associate Professor in Finance at the UQ Business School.
Dr Tan has earned a reputation as a researcher with expertise in capital structure and econometrics. His work has been published in leading academic and practitioner journals, such as Organization Science (Financial Times Top-50 Journal list, and UTD-24), Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Financial Intermediation, Journal of Banking and Finance, and Nature Profolio's Scientific Reports. Five of his papers have also been named as the Best Papers at the following five conferences: (1) the Asian Finance Association Conference, (2) the European Real Estate Society Conference, (3) the Western Risk and Insurance Conference; (4) the 6th Behavioural Finance Conference; and (5) the 4th International Conferences on Advances in Business & Law. In addition, he was recently awarded the 2016 Early Career Researcher Excellence in Research Award by the UQ Faculty of Business, Economics and Law, and the 2017 and 2024 Award for Excellence in Research by the UQ Business School.
Dr Tan teaches FINM3403 International Financial Management and FINM7402 Corporate Finance at UQ Business School, and was recently awarded the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2013 and the Commendation for Postgraduate Teaching in 2017. Besides being an inspiring teaching instructor, Dr Tan is also a great research mentor for junior faculty and Ph.D. students. Dr Tan is particularly proud of all of his Ph.D. students, because all of them had at least one chapter of their theses published in an A* journal (ABDC ranked) and/or received at least a research award before their Ph.D. graduation. In addition, his current first-year PhD students have also been awarded a few numerous best paper awards at various prestigious international conferences. In recognition of his contribution to research supervision, he was awarded two research supervision awards in 2020: (1) the UQ Business School Award for Excellence in PhD Supervision; and (2) the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law (BEL) Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Research (HDR) Supervision.
His research has been featured in UQ News and over 100 media outlets across the globe, such as Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, 7News, ABC Radio, Yahoo News, International Business Times, MedicalXpress etc. As of 2022 June, his research was ranked in the Top 0.2% of all research outputs (21,383,946) ever tracked by Altmetric. In recognition of his contribution to cross-disciplinary research, he was awarded the Cross-Discipline Research Award by the UQ Business School in 2022.
In terms of service and engagement within the UQ Business School (UQBS), Dr Tan is the Honours Program Leader, who also sits on the UQBS Research Committee and UQBS Education Committee. Dr Tan was a Postgraduate Coordinator for the finance Ph.D. program between 2017 and 2020. Outside UQBS, Dr Tan serves as a Vice President (membership) and a board member for the Asian Finance Association, which is one of the top finance associations in Asia. Dr Tan is currently serving as a Deputy Editor at the Accounting and Finance Journal (ABDC "A" ranked Journal) and a Guest Editor for Pacific-Basin Finance Journal (A) and Accounting and Finance (A). Dr Tan also served as an Associate Editor at the Accounting Research Journal between 2018 and 2021.
His research interests focus on corporate finance, capital structure, and labor economics.
Availability
- Associate Professor Kelvin Tan is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Commerce, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Corporate Finance, Capital Structure, Debt Financing, Climate Finance, Labor Economics
Research impacts
Dr Tan's work has had a substantial impact beyond academic philosophy through media and the finance industry. For instance, his 2016 ‘A*’ publication in the Journal of Corporate Finance attracted some media attention. It was covered in the London School of Economics (LSE) Business Review (UK) on 3 February 2016 with the following headline: “Overconfident CEOs Prefer Short-term Debt”. Multiple of his papers have also been featured in The FinReg blog by the Duke Financial Economics Center.
My work also has had an impact on the finance industry. For example, in conjunction with the Australian Corporate Treasury Association (AFTA), he conducted a survey of CFOs’ corporate capital structure decisions in Australia and New Zealand. This project has produced not only an ‘A’ journal publication but also a practitioner report that was distributed to the FTA’s members, who typically hold senior finance positions. Furthermore, the findings from the survey were the subject of a panel discussion at the 2014 FTA Congress. As a result of this project, the FTA’s members can benchmark their treasury performance and corporate decisions to their peers and improve their current practices.
His recent research has been featured in UQ News and over 100 media outlets across the globe, such as Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, 7News, ABC Radio, Yahoo News, International Business Times, MedicalXpress etc. As of 2022 June, his research was ranked in the Top 0.2% of all research outputs (21,383,946) ever tracked by Altmetric.
Works
Search Professor Kelvin Tan’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2019
Journal Article
Labor unions and corporate financial leverage: the bargaining device versus crowding-out hypotheses
Woods, Keegan, Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng and Faff, Robert (2019). Labor unions and corporate financial leverage: the bargaining device versus crowding-out hypotheses. Journal of Financial Intermediation, 37, 28-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jfi.2017.05.005
Featured
2016
Journal Article
Deviation from target capital structure, cost of equity and speed of adjustment
Zhou, Qing, Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng, Faff, Robert and Zhu, Yushu (2016). Deviation from target capital structure, cost of equity and speed of adjustment. Journal of Corporate Finance, 39, 99-120. doi: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2016.06.002
Featured
2016
Journal Article
CEO overconfidence and corporate debt maturity
Huang, Ronghong, Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng and Faff, Robert W. (2016). CEO overconfidence and corporate debt maturity. Journal of Corporate Finance, 36, 93-110. doi: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2015.10.009
2025
Journal Article
Organization capital and labor investment efficiency
Chowdhury, Hasibul, Hue Le, Trinh and Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng (2025). Organization capital and labor investment efficiency. Journal of Financial Stability, 77 101384, 101384-77. doi: 10.1016/j.jfs.2025.101384
2024
Journal Article
Does exchange-traded fund ownership affect a firm’s expected crash risk?
Chowdhury, Hasibul, Lin, Beiqi, Mei, Shunji, Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng and Zhang, Lei (2024). Does exchange-traded fund ownership affect a firm’s expected crash risk?. European Accounting Review, 1-33. doi: 10.1080/09638180.2024.2368129
2024
Journal Article
Effect of stock liquidity on the economic value of patents: Evidence from U.S. patent data
Im, Hyun Joong, Selvam, Srinivasan and Tan, Kelvin J.K. (2024). Effect of stock liquidity on the economic value of patents: Evidence from U.S. patent data. International Review of Financial Analysis, 94 103314, 1-19. doi: 10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103314
2024
Journal Article
CEO Initial Contract Duration and Corporate Acquisitions
Chen, Guoli, Huang, Ronghong, Mei, Shunji and Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng (2024). CEO Initial Contract Duration and Corporate Acquisitions. Organization Science, 36 (1), 1-23. doi: 10.1287/orsc.2022.16493
2024
Journal Article
Do exchange traded funds affect corporate cash holdings?
Lin, Beiqi, Mei, Shunji, Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng and Zhang, Lei (2024). Do exchange traded funds affect corporate cash holdings?. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 51 (5-6), 1547-1592. doi: 10.1111/jbfa.12755
2024
Journal Article
An introduction to frontier on corporate finance and capital market development in China
Quan, Xiaofeng, Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng and Li, Donghui (2024). An introduction to frontier on corporate finance and capital market development in China. Pacific Basin Finance Journal, 87 102504, 102504. doi: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2024.102504
2023
Journal Article
Missing the boat: regulatory approval delay and investment project outcomes
Ye, Qiaozhi, Huang, Ronghong and Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng (2023). Missing the boat: regulatory approval delay and investment project outcomes. The British Accounting Review, 55 (6) 101186, 1-27. doi: 10.1016/j.bar.2023.101186
2023
Journal Article
Corporate cash holdings through economic policy uncertainty: An Australian study
Heeney, Luke, Yang, Shanelle, Chowdhury, Hasibul and Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng (2023). Corporate cash holdings through economic policy uncertainty: An Australian study. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 79 102008, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2023.102008
2023
Journal Article
To see is to believe: Corporate site visits and mutual fund herding
Quan, Xiaofeng, Xiang, Cheng, Li, Donghui and Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng (2023). To see is to believe: Corporate site visits and mutual fund herding. Financial Management, 52 (4), 711-740. doi: 10.1111/fima.12421
2022
Journal Article
The determinants of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality across countries
Chang, Dianna, Chang, Xin, He, Yu and Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng (2022). The determinants of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality across countries. Scientific Reports, 12 (1) 5888, 5888. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-09783-9
2022
Journal Article
Nowhere to hide: response of corporate restructuring activities to mandatory segment disclosure
Le, Trinh Hue, Oliver, Barry and Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng (2022). Nowhere to hide: response of corporate restructuring activities to mandatory segment disclosure. Journal of Corporate Finance, 76 102251, 1-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2022.102251
2022
Journal Article
Toxic emissions and corporate green innovation
Li, Wenquan, Neupane-Joshi, Suman and Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng (2022). Toxic emissions and corporate green innovation. SSRN Electronic Journal, 1-82. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4113290
2022
Journal Article
Do external labor market incentives improve labor investment efficiency?
Chowdhury, Hasibul, Hossain, Ashrafee, Tan, Kelvin and Zheng, Jiayi (2022). Do external labor market incentives improve labor investment efficiency?. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, 34 100648, 100648. doi: 10.1016/j.jbef.2022.100648
2021
Journal Article
Business shocks and corporate leverage
Keng Tan, Kelvin Jui, Zhou, Qing, Pan, Zheyao and Faff, Robert (2021). Business shocks and corporate leverage. Journal of Banking and Finance, 131 106208, 1-21. doi: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2021.106208
2021
Other Outputs
Organization Capital and Labor Investment Efficiency
Le, Trinh Hue, Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng and Chowdhury, Hasibul (2021). Organization Capital and Labor Investment Efficiency. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3894125
2021
Other Outputs
The Determinants of COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality across Countries
Chang, Dianna, Chang, Xin, He, Yu and Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng (2021). The Determinants of COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality across Countries. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3824101
2020
Journal Article
CEO turnover and bankrupt firms’ emergence
Lin, Beiqi, Liu, Chelsea, Tan, Kelvin Jui Keng and Zhou, Qing (2020). CEO turnover and bankrupt firms’ emergence. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 47 (9-10) jbfa.12482, 1238-1267. doi: 10.1111/jbfa.12482
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Kelvin Tan is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Determinants of SPAC Investment Performance
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Firm-level political risks, CEO turnover, and CEO compensation
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Khoa Hoang, Dr Ronghong Huang
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Doctor Philosophy
Climate Change Risk and Labor Investment Efficiency
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Hasibul Chowdhury
-
Doctor Philosophy
Essays on Private Equity
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Ronghong Huang, Professor Rumi Masih
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Doctor Philosophy
Three Essays on Corporate Toxic Emissions
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Suman Neupane-Joshi
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-
Doctor Philosophy
Firm-level political risks, CEO turnover, and CEO compensation
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Khoa Hoang, Dr Ronghong Huang
-
Master Philosophy
Corporate Social Responsibility, Firm-Level Emissions and Emerging Climate Laws: Cross-country Analysis
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Jacquelyn Humphrey
Completed supervision
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2023
Doctor Philosophy
Three Essays on Contracting and Compensation
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Ronghong Huang
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Three Essays on Disclosure and Organization Capital in Firms
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Hasibul Chowdhury
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Asymmetric Information, Fraud, and Switching Costs in Healthcare Insurance Markets
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Luke Connelly
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Three Essays on Corporate Toxic Emissions
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Suman Neupane-Joshi
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2024
Master Philosophy
Impacts of Corporate Social Responsibility and Climate Laws: International Context
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Jacquelyn Humphrey
Media
Enquiries
Contact Associate Professor Kelvin Tan directly for media enquiries about:
- Capital Structure
- Corporate Finance
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