Shan Yan - Broad College of Business - Michigan State University

Shan YanDepartment of FinancePhone: 517-420-4591(Mobile)Eli Broad College of Business Fax: 517-432-1080330 Eppley Center Email: yanshan@msu.eduEast Lansing, MI 48824EducationEli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MIPh.D. in Finance, Expected May 2012Department of Statistics and Probability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MIPh.D. student in Statistics Fall 2006 – Summer 2007Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZMA. in Economics Fall 2004 – Summer 2006College of Economics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, ChinaM.A. in Econometrics Fall 2000 – Summer 2003B.A. in International Finance Fall 1996 – Summer 2000Research InterestsEmpirical Corporate Finance, Merger and Acquisition, Financial Intermediation, ManagerialOverconfidence, Textual Analysis, Corporate Governance, CEO Compensation, Hedge FundsTeaching InterestsCorporate Finance, Investment, International Finance, Financial Markets and Institutions, EmpiricalMethods in Finance and EconomicsWorking PapersManagerial Attitudes and Merger Outcomes: Evidence from Corporate TakeoverFilings (Job Market Paper)Abstract: We examine the textual content of merger and acquisition related SEC filings in an effort tounderstand the role of managerial attitudes and beliefs in merger negotiations and outcomes.Using a textual algorithm to identify the degree to which filings of bidders and targets exhibitnegative/cautious tones vs. positive/optimistic tones, we find that bidders employing themost optimistic language in their filings actually experience the worst long-run performancefollowing the transactions. In contrast, bidding managers who appear to acknowledge and understandthe risks of the transactions experience relatively better post-merger performance. Fortargets, we use the tone of their filings as a measure of how positive or negative their managementteams are towards the proposed transaction. We find that target filings are more negativefor deals with lower initial premiums, and that negative filings are associated with lower dealcompletion rates. For completed mergers, bidders are more likely to increase premia for resistanttargets. Thus our analysis of the textual content of merger filings appears to give us a newmethod for investigating the role of bidder and target attitudes and beliefs on merger outcomes.1

Bank Debt, Flexibility, and the Use of Proceeds from Asset Sales (with Ted Fee,Joshua Pierce, Hoontaek Seo)Abstract: In the theory of financial intermediation, bank debt is often characterized as being more readilyrenegotiable than public debt. Banks are also conjectured to gain valuable non-public informationthrough closer monitoring. Given these features, bank debt can theoretically be more flexible than publicdebt and can lead to better investment/liquidation decisions. We investigate this possibility using asample of firms facing the important decision of whether to reinvest the proceeds from asset sales orwhether to distribute the proceeds to debtholders. While higher levels of leverage are associated with anincreased probability of distributing proceeds to creditors, this relationship is significantly muted for bankdebt as opposed to public debt. This finding is consistent with the conjecture that bank debt providesenhanced flexibility when compared to public debt. Further we find that asset sale announcement periodabnormal stock returns are increasing in firms’ use of bank debt, but not public debt. This suggests thatmarket participants believe that banking relationships are leading to better decision making for thisparticular type of investment/liquidation decision. We find no significantly different effects of bank vs.public debt on the initial decision to undertake an asset sale in the first place. Thus, in the context of assetsales, the main observable difference arises in the use of proceeds decision, rather than the initial assetsale decision.How Hedge Funds' Alpha is Created (with Massimo Massa, Andrei Simonov)Abstract: We argue that hedge funds are able to take the opposite side of unprofitable (for mutual fund)trades. Hedge funds exploit inefficiencies of mutual funds, especially domestic ones. We show that theperformance of hedge funds is significantly higher when mutual fund market coverage is higher. Thiseffect is mostly concentrated among domestic mutual funds and is stronger the higher the investmenthorizon of the hedge funds compared to mutual funds. Hedge funds are more likely to earn "alpha” in thepresence of a high degree of mutual fund market coverage and their probability of survival is higher. Thisis especially true for the alpha funds. The degree to which hedge funds react to changes in publicinformation (either analyst recommendations or EPS forecasts) is directly related to the degree of mutualfund market coverage.Teaching ExperienceInstructorDepartment of Finance, Michigan State UniversityFI 312: Introduction to Investments, Summer 2011, Summer 2010, Summer 2009Most Recent Teaching Evaluation: 1.67 [1 highest, 5 lowest]FI 321: Theory of Investments, Spring 20092

Teaching AssistantDepartment of Finance, Michigan State UniversityFI 312: Introduction to Investments,Fall 2011, Fall 2010, Summer 2009, Fall 2009, Fall 2008, Fall 2007FI 311: Financial Management, Fall 2009, Summer 2009, Summer 2008FI 379: Advanced Derivatives Spring 2010FI 852 Financial Markets & Strategies, MBA level Spring 2010FI 851 Introduction to Investments, MBA level Spring 2010, Spring 2008Department of Economics, University of ArizonaINDV 103, Individuals and Society Spring 2006, Fall 2005, Spring 2005, Fall 2004BNAD 301, Global and financial Economics and Strategies Fall 2004Professional ActivitiesDiscussant: Financial Management Association Meeting, New York, 2010Member of American Finance AssociationMember of Financial Management AssociationIndustry ExperiencesSecurity Analyst, Industrial (Xing Ye) Security Corporation, Shanghai, China 2003-2004Researched Mutual fund public offering in the Chinese market and Mutual fund style andperformanceAwards and HonorsGraduate Student Instructor Teaching Award, Department of Finance, Michigan State University 2011Summer Research Fellowship, the Graduate School at Michigan State University 2010, 2009AFA Doctoral Student Travel Grant, Atlanta, GA, 2010George W. Coleman Scholarship, University of Arizona, 2004-2005Boland V. F. Scholarship, University of Arizona, 2004-2005Graduate Registration Scholarship, University of Arizona, 2004-2006Excellent Graduate Thesis, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 2000SkillsComputer: SAS, Stata, Matlab, C++, PERL, R, LatexLanguages: English and Chinese3

ReferencesTed Fee (Chair)Associate ProfessorPhilip J. May Endowed Professor of FinanceDepartment of FinanceEli Broad College of BusinessMichigan State University315 Eppley Center 315 Eppley CenterEast, Lansing, MI 48824 East, Lansing, MI 48824Charles HadlockProfessorA.J.Pasant Endowed Professor of FinanceDepartment of FinanceEli Broad College of BusinessMichigan State UniversityPhone: (517)-353-2920 Phone: (517)-353-9330Email: fee@bus.msu.eduEmail: hadlockc@bus.msu.eduMichael MazzeoAssociate ProfessorInterim ChairpersonDepartment of FinanceEli Broad College of BusinessMichigan State University315 Eppley CenterEast, Lansing, MI 48824Phone: (517)-884-6036Email: mazzeo@bus.msu.edu4