PROFILE
Dr. Jun-Koo Kang
Cornering a Niche in Cross-Border Research
By Kathleen Farrell
When Dr. Geoffrey Booth joined The Eli Broad College of Business as chair of the Department of Finance over two years ago, his mission was to develop a first-class research department. One of the first, and wisest, moves he made was hiring Dr. Jun-Koo Kang.
"He's just an outstanding addition to our department," says Booth. "He does a fantastic job." Originally from Korea, Kang has recently been promoted to professor of finance and holds the title of MSU Federal Credit Union Endowed Chair in Financial Institutions and Investments.
Kang is well known for his research and teaching interests, which include corporate finance and international finance, particularly in Japanese corporate finance. His research appears in many publications including the Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Business, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and many other leading academic journals. He currently serves as an associate editor of the International Review of Finance and the Pacific-Basin Finance Journal.
Kang says he has always had a strong interest in finance and his published articles echo that. His many topic areas include firm performance, corporate governance, and top executive turnover in Japan; investment restrictions and the pricing of Korean convertible Eurobonds; and corporate restructuring during performance declines in Japan. "I became interested in these areas mainly because I thought the comparative analysis between the United States and other countries could provide better insights into corporate finance practices of U.S. firms," he says.
Kang is currently conducting research in the areas of cross-border mergers and acquisitions, which include those of U.S. firms by Japanese or other European firms. "I am also researching corporate governance and the comparison of governance mechanisms between U.S. and Japanese firms and their relative effectiveness." Kang adds that he is looking at the agency problem between large shareholders and small shareholders, the monitoring role of banks in client firms, the cost of bank financing during the banking crisis period, raising capital, and international portfolio allocation. Booth, for one, couldn't be happier to have Kang on his team. "He's one of our outstanding faculty. He is just a first-class individual with respect to teaching, and his research is simply superb."
Booth adds that a plus to having Kang on board is his ability to recruit. "It's very difficult to recruit at the senior level and the department needed someone like him to add to the more mature scholar area." Kang says he enjoys teaching at Michigan State and became interested in this area after working on his dissertation. "At the time I graduated, there were a couple of important papers written about Japanese companies, and I felt it was an interesting area to pursue."