Professor Jie Chen

Profile

Jie Chen is Professor of Finance in the Accounting and Finance Department at the University of Leeds. He joined Leeds in August 2018 as an Associate Professor of Accounting and Finance. Before that, he worked as a Lecturer of Finance at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. In 2014, Jie was awarded PhD in Finance from the University of Bristol where he has also worked as a teaching assistant.

Research interests

Jie’s research focuses on empirical corporate finance and governance topics such as executive compensation, the role of corporate non-financial stakeholders, boards of directors, corporate innovation, and dividend policies. He strives to bridge the gap between academic insights and real-world corporate practices by providing an evidence-based understanding of how key mechanisms, such as executive compensation and board structure, impact firm performance and stakeholder outcomes. Of equal importance to Jie are corporate innovation, social responsibility, and behavioural finance, particularly the roles of managerial overconfidence and gender diversity. He strives to address the traditional disconnect between corporate decision-making processes and the broader goals of sustainable value creation, ethical governance, and societal well-being.

He seeks to uncover how corporate governance mechanisms and financial policies, as well as biases and structural barriers, influence firm performance and decision-making. By providing strong evidence-based insights, Jie aims to empower firms to enhance corporate governance practices, improve financial decision-making and promote sustainable business strategies whilst overcoming inefficiencies, reducing misconduct, and finding a balance between economic performance and social responsibility so that firms can balance shareholder interests with societal expectations.

By tackling the multifaceted challenges of modern business, Jie’s work helps firms align their strategies with broader societal goals, ultimately contributing to a more equitable and sustainable economy. For example, his investigations into the role of gender diversity on boards aim to uncover how diverse leadership influences corporate outcomes, decision-making, and social responsibility practices.

PhD Supervision

Jie is available to supervise Doctoral Candidates in corporate finance and governance, with a specific interest in:

• Executive compensation
• The role of corporate non-financial stakeholders
• Board dynamics
• Corporate social responsibility (with a focus on how firms balance profitability with social and environmental goals).

Activities

Jie supervises accounting and finance dissertations at the Master's level and research methods at the PhD level. He has previously taught advanced finance, financial derivatives, and investment management at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is a member of the International Banking Institute.

Awards and honours

Jie was awarded the Best Paper Award at the 2016 Financial Management Association (FMA) Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, US, and was a finalist for the Best Paper Award at the 2016 FMA European Conference in Helsinki, Finland.

Research groups and institutes

• International Banking Institute

Current postgraduate researchers

• Wenqi Guo