Rate My Professor Minsu Ko

Minsu Ko is a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Finance in the Department of Banking and Finance at Monash University’s Faculty of Business and Economics, based at the Caulfield campus. He completed his PhD in Finance at The Ohio State University in 2023, a Master’s degree in Finance from Seoul National University in 2017, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the same university in 2015. Ko’s research specializations include corporate finance, corporate payouts, demographic finance, household finance, behavioural finance, and the ageing of economic agents. His empirical work examines managerial expectations in share repurchases, the influence of politics and regulation on bank payouts, and the links between socially responsible investments and gender equality.

Key working papers feature “How do Managers’ Expectations Affect Share Repurchases?” (2023), showing firms repurchase more shares when managers forecast higher earnings than analysts; “Bank Payout Policy, Regulation, and Politics” with Rüdiger Fahlenbrach and René M. Stulz (NBER Working Paper No. 32770, 2024), which finds large banks reduce payouts under Democratic presidents and shift to repurchases post-GFC due to regulation; and “Socially Responsible Investment and Gender Equality in the United States Census” with Cynthia Yin (U.S. Census Bureau Working Paper CES-WP-24-44, 2024), revealing no direct link between SRI and gender pay gaps absent female directorship. Ko has presented at the American Finance Association Annual Meeting PhD Student Poster Session, Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, Southern Finance Association Annual Meeting, Eastern Finance Association Annual Meeting, Australasian Finance and Banking Conference, Financial Research Network Annual Meeting, Midwest Finance Association Annual Meeting, and seminars at University of Technology Sydney, University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne, Monash University, and The Ohio State University. He accepts PhD students and teaches units including BFF2701 Equity Markets.