Zicheng Lei

Dr Zicheng Lei is a Senior Lecturer in Finance (Associate Professor) at King’s Business School, King's College London. He holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Warwick, an MSc in Finance from the University of Manchester, and a BSc in Accounting from Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Lei’s research focuses on corporate finance, including corporate payout policy, artificial intelligence applications, mergers and acquisitions, green finance, climate finance, earnings management, corporate political activism, and behavioral finance. His work has been published in top journals such as the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Review of Accounting Studies, and Journal of Corporate Finance. His research highlights include examining CSR’s impact on firm value, CEO behavior and financial misconduct, and the role of CFO board memberships in corporate acquisitions.

• Publications span topics like share repurchases under policy uncertainty, dividend sentiment, and the legal implications of corporate political activism.
• His work has been featured by institutions like the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and the Warwick Business School.

Dr Lei is committed to teaching excellence, emphasizing practical applications of financial theories. He has received multiple teaching award nominations and consistently achieves high student evaluations. He currently supervises PhD students in finance and corporate governance.

His academic contributions also extend to peer review, serving as an ad-hoc referee for Contemporary Accounting Research and Journal of Money, Credit and Banking.