Dr. Le Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Finance in the Department of Finance, Real
Estate and Business Law at California State University, Fresno. She earned her doctoral
degree in Business Administration (Finance) as well as master’s degrees in Finance
and Hospitality Management from Florida International University. Dr. Zhao holds the
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) designation and was selected to participate in
the competitive doctoral workshop on market microstructure at Stockholm Business School.
She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Southwestern Finance Association
(SWFA).
Dr. Zhao's research interests lie in the areas of market microstructure and investments,
with a focus on retail trading and venue competition. Her work has been presented
at various national and international conferences, including the Financial Management
Association, Academy of International Business, World Finance Conference and the Eastern
Finance Association. In 2025, Dr. Zhao received the Craig School of Business Faculty
Award for Research in recognition of her scholarly contributions.
Personal Website: https://www.lezhao.page
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/le-zhao-ph-d-007358255/
Market microstructure, retail trading, investment.
Caglayan, M. O., Canayaz, M., Simin, T. T., and Zhao, L. (2026). Macro Sentiment Risk
and Hedge Fund Returns. Journal of Banking and Finance, :107685. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2026.107685
Fallah, M., Han, S., & Zhao, L. (2025). Forecast Bias in Analysts’ Initial Coverage:
The Influence of Firm ESG Disclosures. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 18(10), 585. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm18100585
Jain, P.K., Mishra, S., O'Donoghue, S. and Zhao, L., (2024). Trading Volume Shares
and Market Quality: Pre-and Post-Zero Commissions. Journal of Empirical Finance. 79:101564. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jempfin.2024.101564. (Featured on NPR)
Zhao, L., Nguyen, V.H. and Li, C., (2024). The Volatility-Liquidity Dynamics of Single-Stock
ETFs. Finance Research Letters, p.106163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2024.106163
Nguyen, V.H., Zhao, L. and Mishra, S., (2024). Innovations in exchange-traded funds:
a comprehensive analytical overview. American Journal of Finance and Accounting, 8(1), pp.57-80. https://doi.org/10.1504/AJFA.2024.139132
Zhao, L., Vafai, N., Velazquez, M. and Amin, A., (2024). "Follow the Leader: How Culture
Gives Rise to a Behavioral Bias That Leads to Higher Greenhouse Gas Emissions." Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 17(6), p.245. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm17060245
Zhao, L. and Parhizgari, A.M., (2024). Climate change, technological innovation, and
firm performance. International Review of Economics & Finance. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2024.04.025
Diala, L. U., Zhao, L., Parra, F., & Davis, L. (2023). Does the HyFlex learning environment
affect student likelihood to whistle-blow on academic dishonesty? Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 20(2023). https://doi.org/10.33423/jlae.v2023i20.6519
Talukdar, B., Bhuyan, R., Hamid, S. S., & Zhao, L. (2022). Intraday transactions,
volume and volatility in pre- and post-decimalization regimes. Quarterly Journal of Finance and Accounting, 60(3–4), 101–146. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27224941
Mishra, S., & Zhao, L. (2021). Order routing decisions for a fragmented market: A
review. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 14(11), 556. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm1411055
