On June 21, 2024, Faculty of Finance at City University of Macau organized the nineteenth Finance Salon (2023-2024) at the Taipa campus. The salon was delivered by Professor Eliza Wu from the University of Sydney. Her research paper titled "S as Social: Global Credit Markets Responses to Labor and Community Issues". The study employing a difference-in-differences approach analyzes how social incidents in different countries are perceived in global credit markets. Credit Default Swap (CDS) spreads jump immediately for affected firms, with stronger effects for repeated and more severe incidents. The credit market distinguishes between labor-related and community-related issues. CDS spread increases upon labor incidents are greater in consumer-facing and competitive industries, and in countries with stronger employment laws, suggesting that firms’ internal relationships with employees affects credit risk primarily via the business risk channel. CDS spread increases upon community incidents are more pronounced in countries with weaker institutions and information environments, indicating that firms’ external relationships with communities are particularly important for credit markets where institutional voids are greater.

Professor Wu currently holds the position of Professor and Discipline Head of Finance and Banking at the University of Sydney Business School. Her research interests include financial markets and financial intermediation. She has published papers in top academic journals such as the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Journal of Corporate Finance.

During this academic salon, Professor Wu engaged in friendly exchanges with the Faculty of Finance, broadening the academic perspectives of us. The Finance Salon organized by Faculty of Finance at City University of Macau serves as a platform for exchanging academic ideas and fostering academic awareness. With finance as the main focus, we invite senior scholars/experts from academia and the financial industry to engage in research discussions on cutting-edge topics and share industry development trends, aiming to provide a fresh academic experience and thinking model for CityU students and members of the faculty. Through activities like the Finance Salon, we hope to offer graduate students a better academic platform, encouraging further exploration and research on academic issues.