A journal paper co-authored by Garam Kim and her academic adviser, Prof. Doo-jin Ryu, was published in the International Review of Financial Analysis (Impact Factor=5.373), the top 7% SSCI academic journal in Business/Finance. Garam Kim, who earned her master’s degree in economics at SKKU in 2019, is currently in Ph.D. program at SKKU and completed two semesters so far. It is very rare in the world to publish a paer as the first author in the top academic journal of Finance before completing the Ph.D. program. This is a paper on behavioral finance, explaining the relationship between investor sentiment and the information power of analyst reports in our financial markets under information uncertainty. The publication information is as follows. IRFA, Vol. 77, Oct. 2021, 101835, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2021.101835

How I Started Graduate School at Sungkyunkwan University

Garam majored in economics and business administration at Ajou University. After the graduation, she got a job at large company yet wanted to study further. Her family were not able to support her going study abroad and her alma mater was not research-oriented university. In summer 2017, she made her mind to study at Sungkyunkwan University which aims to be the “world-class research-oriented university” and entered Sungkyunkwan University for M.A. program. Since it was not her alma mater, it took her time to adapt herself to new surroundings. “Unlike those who graduated from this university, those who graduated from other universities had few scholarship benefits. And I had a different goal from my colleague who went to the graduate school to prepare for overseas studying. With my vague idea of studying finance, I visited a Professor Doo-jin Ryu’s Finance Lab. Prof. Ryu, my academic adviser, used all of his personal research funds to support my living expenses, computer, and high-performance research equipment. I was very lucky to meet my adviser as well as my colleagues who I could research and discuss together in the lab.”

Thesis and Research

Generally, other students focus on studying courses during their M.A. program, but students in our lab were able to dive into paper research as soon as we entered. The academic adviser said, “Coursework and research are not things to separate. It’s too late to start a thesis study after taking all the classes. When you start writing your thesis, if you have things that you don’t know or you’re lacking at, you learn by asking.” So, the study that I started since my M.A. program paid off and I was able to publish 6 papers in the international prestigious SSCI journal and in the field of economics and business administration, respectively.

Begin of working life

I had a problem just before graduating from my master’s degree in 2020. I wanted to continue studying, but I had to get a job and earn income right away because of the difficult family circumstances. At that time, I was told that the department of economics might have more scholarship benefits for students if it was selected for the BK project. However, it was difficult for me to commit a full-time doctoral program because it was not guaranteed. My adviser mentioned five conditions below to hold down a job and a study.

1. School and company should be close,

2. Come to lab every day,

3. Study eight hours a day,

4. Connect work and research in the field, and

5. Fully commit to work on thesis on weekends

On the recommendation of my adviser, I work as an analyst at Korea Asset Pricing which is 10 minutes away from school. And my work in the company is related to financial market analysis and bond rating and credit rating issues which is directly related to my research.

In order to get two birds with one stone, I wake up early and go to the lab to participate in lab seminar and review the research process before going to work every day. I use my half day-off once a week to focus on reading papers. I go back to the lab right after getting off to work to read and write paper until the late night. I spend all day to study at the lab on weekends. It is such tight schedule but it doesn’t bother me much because I think it improves me day by day to be a good researcher. Also, by doing so, I am making progress in academic performance faster than anyone else.

My Definition of Student Success

As I am still in the second year of doctoral program, it’s too early to talk about student success. However, I want to achieve good results in both my work, major studies, and research activities and go on a path that no one else has been to. The dean of college of economics, my academic adviser, and our graduate school systematically provide a lot of support, including research space, in-depth consultants, and academic career management, so that I can focus on my study efficiently for my “student success”. I think student success is the process of concentrating and using all my concentration and resources so that I don’t neglect any of my choices and goals.

As of summer 2021, the results of Garam Kim’s publication are as follows. Sungkyunkwan University is looking forward to her further performances as continuing the doctoral program.

1) 2021. Information uncertainty, investor sentiment, and analyst reports. International Review of Financial Analysis (SSCI), 제1저자.
2) 2021. Term structure of sentiment effect on investor trading behavior. Finance Research Letters (SSCI), 제1저자.
3) 2021. Do sentiment trades explain investor overconfidence around analyst recommendation revisions? Research in International Business and Finance (SSCI), 제1저자.
4) 2021. Does sentiment determine investor trading behavior? Applied Economics Letters (SSCI), 제1저자.
5) 2020. Predictive ability of investor sentiment for the stock market. Romanian Journal of Economic Forecasting (SSCI), 제1저자.
6) 2020. 애널리스트 투자의견 변경이 금융시장과 투자자 심리에 미치는 영향. 경제학연구, 제1저자.
7) 2019. Investor sentiment, stock returns, and analyst recommendation changes: The KOSPI stock market. Investment Analysts Journal (SSCI), 제1저자.
8) 2019. 신용등급 변경공시가 투자자 심리에 미치는 영향. 선물연구.
9) 2018. 투자심리지수의 대용변수와 유용성: 개별기업 주식수익률에 미치는 영향을 바탕으로. 경영학연구, 제1저자.