Name
Hyoeun Yang
What is the title of your thesis? Who are your supervisors? When did you start your doctoral research?
My thesis title is “The Legitimacy and Efficacy of Financial Regulatory Reform after the Global Financial Crisis”. My supervisors are Professor Kern Alexander and Dr Mahmood Bagheri.
Tell us about your thesis
My thesis aims at addressing the critical issues of legitimacy and efficacy of financial regulatory reforms after the global financial crisis of 2008. It presumes that the lack of attention to the legitimate principles of financial regulation and the confusion between emergency responses and structural reforms have made the post-crisis financial regulatory reforms less successful and adequate to address the root causes of the crisis and emerging risks for the next crisis.
One of the main hypotheses is that insufficient consideration has been paid to the legitimacy of financial regulation while too much focus has been given to financial stability within a narrow scope of financial markets and the governance of financial institutions. As a result, more important issues such as sustainable economic growth and equality have not been sufficiently discussed in the course of post-crisis regulatory reforms. Considering that the legitimacy and efficacy of financial regulatory reforms are mutually reinforcing principles, the thesis argues that the legitimacy of regulatory reform is critical to improving the efficacy of any reform.
What motivated you to study that topic? Why is that research important?
I have been very interested in the intersection of financial regulation and international economic policymaking because I thought that the area covers many interesting issues such as policy prioritization, distribution of limited public resources, and compliance and incentive schemes for market participants. So I thought that analysing the legitimacy and efficacy of global financial regulation would help policymakers better understand how regulatory approaches and policy tools should be designed in order to achieve the resilience and inclusiveness of the economy.
The current global health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates how vulnerable the global economy is even after a decade of ambitious financial regulatory reform efforts. The chronic issues of income inequality and unequal access to quality financial services have been just escalating during lockdowns. I believe that the global economy could have met the challenge if the post-crisis financial regulation reforms had paid more attention to the fundamental issue of legitimacy in order to make the global economy more resilient and less divided.
What did you do before starting your PhD at IALS?
Before starting my PhD at IALS, I have worked at a public think tank in South Korea as a senior researcher and have written research papers and policy briefs mainly in the areas of global financial regulation, EU trade and investment policies, and innovation in financial markets including the evolution of fintech and regulatory ecosystem. I also supported the G20 summit in 2017 and participated in UNCTAD’s Annual High-level IIA Conference as a rapporteur.
Why did you choose to study at IALS for your PhD? What do you most enjoy about IALS?
My first motivation to come to IALS was the availability of supervision by distinguished scholars.
Also, I was attracted by the vast collection of the library and excellent academic training programs. Considering my interest in financial regulation and policymaking, I could not think of any place better than IALS for my PhD.
What do you hope to do at the end of your PhD?
I would like to stay in academia and continue policy analysis. I look forward to having more opportunities to expand my research after I complete my PhD.
Anything else that you would like to add
I am always grateful that IALS has allowed me to pursue my PhD research in a flexible and encouraging environment.