On 15 Oct 2026, Faculty of Finance at City University of Macau hosted the second academic salon for this academic year at the Golden Dragon Campus. This academic salon featured Dr Joye Khoo, Senior Lecturer in Finance at Curtin University, as the speaker. She presented her research paper titled “Officials with send-down movement experience and firm innovation: Evidence from China”. Her research interests focus on corporate finance, particularly capital structure, trade credit, and debt maturity structures.
Drawing on upper echelons’ theory, this study examines how the formative political experiences of local government officials shape corporate strategic outcomes, focusing on the impact of mayors' sent-down movement experience on firm innovation. Using a panel dataset of Chinese listed firms from 2010 to 2022, she finds that mayors with sent-down experience are associated with lower firm-level innovation. This finding remains robust across a range of endogeneity and robustness tests. She proposes two channels through which sent-down experience may influence innovation: the disruption of formal education and the political-ideological imprinting of a people-oriented governance orientation. Supporting these mechanisms, the negative association is weaker among mayors admitted through the highly competitive 1977 restored Gaokao but stronger among those admitted through the Worker–Peasant–Soldier program, which placed greater emphasis on political commitment. In addition, cities led by these mayors exhibit higher social welfare expenditures and fewer city-level patents. Overall, the findings suggest that formative political experiences leave lasting imprints on leaders' governance orientations, with important implications for local economic development and firm innovation.
During the Academic Salon, Dr Joye Khoo shared her latest research findings with the Faculty of Finance, enriching the faculty’s academic horizons. The Faculty of Finance Academic Salon at the City University of Macau serves as a platform for exchanging ideas and fostering scholarly awareness. With a focus on finance and economics, the salon invites experts from academia and the financial industry to discuss cutting-edge research and industry trends, offering new perspectives and intellectual models to faculty and students alike. Through initiatives such as the Academic Salon, the Faculty aims to provide graduate students with a stronger academic platform while encouraging deeper exploration and research among both faculty and students.