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Inauguration of the Center for Economic Sustainability and Entrepreneurial Finance (CESEF)

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Inauguration of the Center for Economic Sustainability and Entrepreneurial Finance (CESEF) Inauguration of the Center for Economic Sustainability and Entrepreneurial Finance (CESEF) Being the first research and knowledge transfer center of the region on (1) economic sustainability; (2) entrepreneurial finance; and (3) internet finance, CESEF aspires to be a leading force in the academic and applied research on frontier issues in these inter­ related areas. The success of CESEF will draw upon (i) Hong Kong’s strategic positioning as an international financial hub to support innovation­based economy; (ii) PolyU’s reputation for applied research with focuses on science and technology, as well as its strong industrial partnership; and (3) the intellectual richness of the School of Accounting and Finance as the largest inter­disciplinary school in areas of accounting, finance, economics and law in the Asia Pacific region. The Inauguration Ceremony of CESEF in the morning session A whole­day event was held on 25 September 2015 to celebrate the inauguration of CESEF. The Inauguration Ceremony was officiated by Prof. Sir James Mirrlees, Winner of the 1996 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Prof. Edwin Cheng, Dean, Faculty of Business and Prof. C.S. Agnes Cheng, CESEF Director, Chair Professor of Accounting and Head, School of Accounting and Finance. Quite a number of honourable guests attended the ceremony. In the morning session, Prof. Sir James Mirrlees delivered a keynote speech on “The Cost of Controlling Climate”, followed by the Roundtable Session, at which distinguished industry leaders in the Center’s three areas of research discussed the theme “Bridging the Gap”, including Mr Hugh Gozzard, Partner, Enterprise Risk Services at Deloitte Hong Kong, Dr. Jonathan Zhu, Managing Director of Bain Capital Asia, Prof. Manhong (Mannie) Liu, Chairman of National Venture Capital Research Committee, Chinese Society for Management Modernization, and Mr. Yanjun (Samuel) Lin, Chief Strategy Officer of 9F Inc. In the afternoon session, co­organized by the Chinese Financial Association of Hong Kong and IFC1000, Hong Kong Internet Finance Summit gathered hundreds of industry leaders and professionals in the field of internet finance. Prof. Alex Wai, Vice President (Research Development), Prof. K.C.Chan, GBS, JP, Secretary for Financial Service and Treasury, HKSAR, Dr Zhanghong Hu, Chairman of the Chinese Financial Association of Hong Kong, President of the China Construction Bank (CCB) International and Prof. Sir James Mirrlees spoke at the Summit. Welcome Speech by Prof. C.S. Agnes Cheng, Head of Keynote Speech by Prof. Sir James Mirrlees School of Accounting and Finance and CESEF Director Group photo in the morning session Hong Kong Internet Finance Summit in the afternoon session Public Lecture by Nobel Laureate Prof. Lars Peter Hansen School of Accounting and Finance, and the Center for Economic Sustainability and Entrepreneurial Finance (CESEF) hosted a public lecture by Prof. Lars Peter Hansen, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences 2013, entitled “Confronting Uncertainty in a Changing Environment” on 19 November 2015. The lecture discussed the impact of uncertainty as well as the corresponding countermeasures under today's fast­changing economic environment, and offer valuable insights to both academics and practitioners. Prof. Lars Peter Hansen Prof. Lars Peter Hansen is the David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. Prof. Hansen won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2013 for his contribution of developing statistical methods for testing empirical analysis of asset prices, which is known as the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). His research led to explore the relations between macroeconomic indicators and assets in financial markets. The work has greatly influenced all other fields of economics, as well as statistics and social sciences. Prof. Hansen received the 2006 Nemmers Prize in Economics, the 2008 CME­MSRI Prize, and the 2010 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award. Journal of Law, Finance and Accounting (JLFA) 2015 International Conference Jointly Organized by JLFA and the School of Accounting and Finance at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), JLFA 2015 International Conference was held on PolyU campus on 1­2 June 2015. Prof. C. S. Agnes Cheng, Chair Professor of Accounting and Head of the School, and Prof. Joshua Ronen, Professor of Accounting at NYU Stern School of Business, addressed the two­day Conference, which provided a platform for scholars in law, finance and accounting to exchange research ideas and views. (from left to right) Prof. Joshua Ronen, Prof. C.S. Agnes Journal of Law, Finance and Accounting (JLFA) 2015 Cheng, Dr Lu Haitian International Conference Prof. James Ohlson inducted into The Accounting Hall of Fame Prof. James Ohlson, Chair Professor of Accounting, was inducted into The Accounting Hall of Fame at the American Accounting Association Annual Meeting in Chicago on 10 August 2015. Prof. James Ohlson The Accounting Hall of Fame was established at The Ohio State University in 1950 for the purpose of honoring accountants who have made or are making significant contributions to the advancement of accounting. Its international board of electors select one or two honorees each year. Through 2015, 93 influential and respected accountants from academe, accounting practice, government and business have been elected to The Accounting Hall of Fame. Dr Walid Saffar won the Emerald Citations of Excellence 2015 Dr Walid Saffar won the Emerald Citations of Excellence award 2015 with his paper “Political Connections and the Cost of Equity Capital” published in the Journal of Corporate Finance. Each year, Emerald Group Publishing recognizes highly cited papers relating to the areas of Business Management, Finance, Accounting, Economics and Marketing. The selection is based on citations of papers published in a previous year, 2012 for the award this year, as well as the content of the papers in terms of novelty, inter­ disciplinary interest and relevancy in today’s world. Faculty Awards and FB Fellow Award 2014/15 Faculty members of our School received several Faculty Awards for Outstanding Performance/Achievement 2014/2015 for their remarkable performance in teaching, research and services. Dr Alice Shiu received Faculty Award for Teaching. Dr Lu Haitian was awarded Faculty Prize for Services and the title of FB Fellow for his significant contribution to reputations of the Faculty and PolyU. Dr Alice Shiu (left) and Prof. Edwin Cheng, Dean of Dr Lu Haitian (left) received the Faculty Prize for Services Faculty of Business (right) from Prof. Edwin Cheng, Dean of Faculty of Business (right) Dr Lu Haitian (left) received the FB Fellow Award from Prof. Edwin Cheng, Dean of Faculty of Business (right) Outstanding Professional Services Awards 2014 Mr Derek Yim, School of Accounting and Finance, and Ms Betty To, China Business Centre, received the Merit Award, Multi­ departmental Participation Award of Outstanding Professional Services Awards presented by PolyU Technology and Consultancy Co. Ltd. (PTeC) with the project “Summer Programme 2014”. The project provided fundamental training on business and management to undergraduate students from the Chinese Mainland. Mr Derek Yim and Ms Betty To received the award from Prof. Alex Wai, Vice President (Research Development) Staff Publications in Top­tier Journals Since December 2014, 7 papers from faculty members of the School have been published/accepted for publication in A* or University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) listed journals, including Accounting, Organizations and Society, Information Systems Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of International Business Studies, Review of Accounting Studies, Strategic Management Journal and The Accounting Review. Period Faculty members Title of paper Journal Dec 2014 Dr June Cheng "Information Technology Substitution Revisited", co­authored with Dawei Information Systems Research Zhang, Hasan A. Qurban H. Mohammad and Barrie R. Nault (accepted) May 2015 Dr Simon Fung “Corporate Political Connections and the 2008 Malaysian Election” co­ Accounting, Organizations and Society, authored with Ferdinand A. Gul and Suresh Radhakrishnan Volume 43, May 2015, pp. 67–86 Sep 2015 Prof J.C. Lin “The R&D premium and Takeover Risk”, co­authored with The Accounting Review (accepted) Yanzhi(Andrew) Wang Sep 2015 Dr Walid Saffar “Near and Dear? The Role of Location in CSR Engagement”, co­ Strategic Management Journal authored with Bryan W. Husted and Dima Jamali (accepted) Sep 2015 Dr Nancy Su "Do School Ties Between Auditors and Client Executives Influence Audit Journal of Accounting and Economics Outcomes?", co­authored with Yuyan Guan, Donghui Wu and Zhifeng (accepted) Yang Sep 2015 Dr Walid Saffar “National Culture and Privatization: The Relationship between Journal of International Business Studies Collectivism and Residual State Ownership”, co­authored with Narjess (accepted) Boubakri, Omrane Guedhami and Chuck C.Y. Kwok Oct 2015 Dr Yang Shuo "CEO Incentives and the Health of Defined Benefit Pension Plans", co­ Review of Accounting Studies, authored with Joy Begley , Sandra Chamberlain and Jenny Li Zhang September 2015, Volume 20, Issue 3, pp 1013­1058 Research Grants The School has been awarded grants from General Research Fund (GRF) for 6 projects with a total amount of $1,723,796 and from Early Career Scheme (ECS) for 1 project with an amount of $226,614 by the Research Grants Council (RGC) in 2015/16. Dr Zhang Shaojun received a grant of $898,840
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