Personal Profile

She is currently Associate professor at Shenzhen Audencia Financial Technology Institute (SAFTI).

Education Experience

• Ph.D.      Hong Kong Polytechnic University  

• M.Sc.       Cass Business School, University of London, U.K.                                      

B.Com.    University of British Columbia, Canada      

Research Interests

Environmental, Social, and Governance, Corporate Finance, Financial Accounting and Auditing

Research

Publications in International Journals

Ferdinand A. Gul, Arifur Khan, Karen Lai, Dessalegn Getie Mihret, and Mohammad Badrul Muttakin. (2023). Corporate political donations and audit fees: Some evidence from Australian audit pricing. International Journal of Auditing https://doi.org/10.1111/ijau.12334.

Karen M. Y. Lai, Mehdi Khedmati, Ferdinand A. Gul, and Matthew P. Mount (2023).  Making honest men of them? How institutional investors improve the corporate disclosure policies of all-male boards through first-time female directors. Journal of Corporate Finance Vol 78, 102334.

Iliyas Yusoff, Chen Chen, Karen Lai, Vic Naiker, and Jun Wang. (2023) Foreign Exchange Exposure and Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts. Journal of Banking and Finance Vol 146, 106715.

Karen Lai, Ashna Prasad, George Wong, and Iliyas Yusoff. (2020). Corporate deleveraging and financial flexibility: A Chinese case-study. Pacific Basin Finance Journal Vol. 61, pp. 1-9, doi: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2020.101299.

Karen Lai, Walid Saffar, Kevin Zhu, and Yiye Liu. (2020) Political institutions, stock market liquidity and firm dividend policy: Some international evidence. Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics.

Karen M. Y. Lai, Andriyawan Sasmita, Ferdinand A. Gul, Yee Boon Foo, and Marion Hutchinson. (2018). Busy Auditors, Ethical Behavior and Discretionary Accruals Quality in Malaysia. Journal of Business Ethics, Vol 150: 1187-1198.

Karen M.Y. Lai, Bin Srinidhi, Ferdinand A. Gul and Judy S. L. Tsui. (2017) Board Gender Diversity, Audit Fees and Auditor Choice. Contemporary Accounting Research, Vol. 34 (3) 1681-1714.

Ferdinand A. Gul, Mark Ma Shuai and Karen Lai. (2017) Busy Auditors, Partner-Client Tenure, and Audit Quality: Evidence from an Emerging Market. Journal of International Accounting Research, Vol. 16 (1): 83-105.

Jeffrey L. Callen, Karen M.Y. Lai, and Steven X. Wei (2016). The Volatility of Return Revisions and Financial Statement Literacy in Emerging Markets: The Case of Cross-listed Chinese Firms. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting 43:5&6, 572-596.

Ferdinand A. Gul, Marion R. Hutchinson and Karen M.Y. Lai. (2013). Gender Diversity and Properties of Analyst Earnings Forecasts. Accounting Horizons 27:3, 511-538.