Viet is a Professor of Finance at Alliance Manchester Business School. He is also an editor of the Journal of Business Finance and Accounting (ABS3*), an internationally recognized outlet for research in accounting, corporate finance, and governance. His current research interests are empirical issues in corporate finance and sustainability. 

Viet joined AMBS after successfully completing a Ph.D. in Financial Economics at Leeds University Business School; his PhD thesis was awarded the Best PhD Paper Award at the Financial Management Association (FMA) European Conference. His recent studies have been nominated for various Best Paper Awards at the FMA Annual Meetings (Semi-finalist) and European Conference (Finalist), as well as the European Financial Management Association (EFMA) Conference. Viet's research was funded by the UK's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Productivity Institute (TPI) and has appeared in world-leading finance and management journals, such as the Review of Financial Studies, Management Science, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, and Journal of Financial Markets. His research findings and their implications have been featured in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Forbes.

Viet is a member of the American Finance Association (AFA), FMA, Society for Financial Studies (SFS), European Finance Association (EFA), and EFMA. He was a founding member and former President of the Vietnam Finance Association International (VFAI). Viet currently sits on the Executive Commitee of the Vietnamese Intellectual Society in the UK and Ireland (VIS). He also chairs the Finance major at VinUni, a Vietnamese University recently established in collaboration with Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Viet's research interests are in the following areas of empirical corporate finance:

- Determinants of firm financing decisions, including capital structure dynamics, debt maturity, trade credit, cash holdings, payout, investment, and risk taking; 

- The role of sustainability (ESG issues) and climate risk;

- Interactions among corporate policies and outcomes, including the link between debt financing, stock market listing, and stock prices;

- The role of non-financial stakeholders, such as employees and customers/suppliers, in shaping firm decisions;

- Corporate governance, financial contracting, and executive compensation;

- Corporate finance and market microstructure;

- Applied financial econometrics, such as dynamic panel data methodologies.

Viet's working papers can be found on SSRN. Stata codes for dynamic panel threshold models are also available here.

Research grants

• ESRC-The Productivity Institute (TPI) funded project (to start in 2023). Joint with Prof Ning Gao. Budget: approx. £140,000, duration: 24 months.
• Lord Alliance project "Climate Change, Environmental Policy and Corporate Financial Decisions", funded by Alliance Manchester Business School, joint with Dr. Ning Gao and Prof. Jonatan Pinkse. Budget: approx. £20,000, to be completed in 2023.
• "Climate Change, Environmental Policy and Corporate Financial Decisions", funded by Alliance MBS Strategic Research Investment Fund, joint with Dr. Ning Gao and Prof. Jonatan Pinkse. Budget: approx. £120,000, duration: from 2020 to 2022.
• “Institutional Investors, Financial Innovation and the Real Economy”, funded by Alliance MBS Strategic Research Investment Fund, joint with several colleagues in Manchester Accounting and Finance Group. Budget: approx. £296,000, duration: 10/2015-07/2018.
• "Threshold Regression Models in Dynamic Heterogeneous Panels"; funded by the ESRC, joint with Prof. Yongcheol Shin (PI) of Leeds University Business School. Budget: approx. £82,000, duration: from 12/2008-12/2010. 

Research awards / nominations

1.  Nomination for the Best Paper Award in corporate finance (Semi-finalist) -- FMA Annual Meetings, October 2022.

2.  Nomination for the Best Paper Award in market microstructure (Semi-finalist) -- FMA Annual Meetings, October 2019.

3. Outstanding Contribution Award -- Vietnam Finance Association International, September 2015.

4. Nomination for the Best Paper Award -- EFMA Conference, June 2015 & FMA Annual Meetings (Semi-finalist), October 2015.

5. Nomination for the Best Paper Award in corporate finance (Finalist) -- FMA European Conference, June 2015.

6. Best PhD Paper Award -- FMA European Conference, June 2007.

PhD opportunities

Viet is interested in supervising PhD students within his research interests (see the Research and projects tab). Further information on the application process can be found in the links below:

- General information and Entry requirements

- Making applications

- Funding

Viet welcomes informal enquiries from potential PhD students via email. 

Previous and current PhD students

(1) Cuong Manh Nguyen (9/2008 -- 10/2012): co-supervision with Prof Ian Garrett. Thesis title: "Three essays in capital structure and cash holdings". First placement: University of East London, the UK.

(2) Mohamed Ghaly (9/2011 -- 5/2015): co-supervision with Prof Konstantinos Stathopoulos. Thesis title: "Labor Economics and Corporate Finance". First placement: University of Lancaster, the UK.

(3) Yomna Abdulla (9/2012 -- 9/2015): co-supervision with Prof Arif Khurshed. Thesis title: "Debt Maturity and Trade Credit in Public and Private Firms". Placement: University of Bahrain, Bahrain.

(4) Yangke Liu (9/2014 -- 6/2018): co-supervision with Prof Ed Lee and Dr Colin Zeng. Topic: "Financial Policies and Stock Price Crash Risk". First placement: Queen's University of Belfast, the UK.

(5) Manar Elgazzar (9/2016 -- 11/2022): co-supervision with Prof Marie Dutordoir. Topic: “Three Essays on Corporate Debt Financing Decisions”.

(6) Tiancheng Yu (9/2018 -- 12/2022): co-supervision with Dr Ning Gao. Topic: "Three Essays in Climate Finance". Placement: University of Exeter, the UK.

(7) Hongge Lin (9/2021 -- present): co-supervision with Dr Ning Gao. Topic: TBA.

(8) Huanzhen Yu (9/2023 -- present): co-supervision with Prof Ed Lee. Topic: TBA.

Viet has taken several leadership roles, including the Postgraduate Taught (PGT) Programme Coordinator in the School's Accounting and Finance Division, overseeing a portfolio of four specialist MSc. degree programmes, namely the MSc. Accounting, the MSc. Accounting and Finance, the MSc. Finance, and the MSc. Quantitative Finance. Previously, he was Director for two programmes, the MSc. Accounting and Finance and the MSc. Finance and Business Economics. He currently teaches the following course units:

- Cross-sectional Econometrics (Core course unit, MSc. Accounting and Finance and MSc. Finance).

- Sustainable Finance and Accounting (Elective, MSc. Accounting,  MSc. Accounting and Finance and MSc. Finance).

- Corporate Finance (MSc Financial Management).

- Advanced Corporate Finance (PhD).

Viet's teaching has been rated as Excellent by the School. He was nominated for the Manchester Teaching Awards in 2015/16 and 2017/18.

Viet has been supervising between five and seven MSc. Finance Dissertations per year since 2008. He has also acted as an external supervisor for MSc. dissertations at other business schools. Viet has supervised six PhD students to successful completion and is currently supervising two PhD students in empirical corporate finance and sustainability. He regularly acts as an internal or external PhD examiner.