Staff profile

Dr Yingchao (Jane) Zhang is an Assistant Professor in Management at the Durham University Business School.

A Personnel economist, Jane’s interests lie in the application of economic and mathematical approaches and econometric methods to traditional questions in human resources management. Her original PhD work in Vienna was an investigation of the influence of information settings on preference and behaviour in this area. In respect of the latter, Jane is currently focusing on Corporate Governance, Firm Performance, and data-driven decision-making analysis. She has a broad interest in big data and Personnel management, collaborating with a range of academic partners around the world. Her work regularly appears highly ranked international journals, such as Small Business Economics, Theory and Decision, International Journal of Corporate Governance etc. Jane continues to work with institutions around the world on various projects, collaborating with colleagues from institutions ranging from University of Chicago and the Oregon State University in US, through to UCL (UK), University of Vienna (Austria), RWTH Rachen University (Germany), Fudan University (China), and Waseda University (Japan).

Jane also belongs to a number of professional bodies, such as the Academy of Management, European Academy of Management, European Economic Association and The Econometric Society.

Mini Biography

Dr. Zhang is an Assistant Professor in Management at Durham University Business School. She has received her PhD from University of Vienna. Prior to joining Durham University, she was a research associate within Department of Economics at University of Chicago.

• Corporate Governance and Performance Management
• Compensation and Firm Performance
• Data Driven Decision Analysis

Journal Article

• Niu, S., Gao, X., Gu, Z., Zhang, Y., & Wei, Q. (2024). Global Flow of Foreign Aid and Change in Recipients’ Local Labor Institutions. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, 2024, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/1147752
• Chen, K., Chen, P., Elston, J. A., & Zhang, Y. (2023). Are family firms more efficient? Revisiting the U-shaped curve of scale and efficiency. Small Business Economics, 61, 983–1008. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-022-00720-8
• Fabel, O., Mauser, S., & Zhang, Y. (2023). Performance Contests and Merit Pay with Empathic Employees. Managerial and Decision Economics, https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.4003
• Zhang, Y., Gao, X., & Niu, S. (2021). Choice of Information Learning: Evidence from Revisiting Price Discovery during the 2006 Dual Listing Craze in China. Theoretical Economics Letters, 11(6), 1165-1182. https://doi.org/10.4236/tel.2021.116074
• Gao, X., Gu, J., & Zhang, Y. (2021). Option Informativeness Before Earnings Announcements and Under Real Activity Manipulation. Pacific Accounting Review, 33(3), 361-375. https://doi.org/10.1108/par-07-2020-0090
• Elston, J. A., & Zhang, Y. (2016). The dynamic role of state governance in executive compensation in China. International Journal of Corporate Governance, 7(3), 223-246. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijcg.2016.080682
• Zhang, Y., Fabel, O., & Thomann, C. (2015). Pay inequity effects on back-office employees’ job performances: the case of a large insurance firm. Central European Journal of Operations Research, 23(2), 421-439. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10100-015-0381-z
• Graf, C., Vetschera, R., & Zhang, Y. (2013). Parameters of social preference functions: measurement and external validity. Theory and Decision, 74(3), 357-382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11238-012-9312-9