Dr Yan Zeng

Position:

Senior Lecturer - Accounting and Finance (Financial Technology), PhD, SFHEA, Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Business Management and Economics

Department:

College of Business and Law

About me

Dr Zeng holds a PhD in Accounting and Finance from Newcastle University and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). She has held academic posts at the University of Bath, Newcastle University and Shanghai International Studies University, where she led a postgraduate FinTech programme, and has extensive experience in teaching and supervision across accounting, finance and economics. She teaches, or is involved in teaching, international finance, accounting, project management and research methods.

She is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies (Emerald) and reviews for journals including the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, the Journal of Applied Accounting Research, the European Journal of Finance and the Journal of Financial Services Research. She is a research mentor in the BAFA Mentoring Scheme and a member of the British Accounting and Finance Association and the British Academy of Management.

Area of expertise

Dr Zeng is an academic specialising in digital, institutional and international finance. Her interdisciplinary research sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), financial markets, corporate governance and business ethics, examining how innovation-driven financial systems operate under real-world institutional constraints and how governance can reduce misuse and unintended consequences. Her current work uses machine learning, explainable AI and text analysis to study equity crowdfunding, fintech and crypto-assets, board networks and litigation risk, audit reporting, and ESG and CSR disclosure, mainly in China and other emerging markets. She has published in ABS 3 and 4 journals including the European Journal of Finance, Small Business Economics, the Journal of Travel Research and Annals of Tourism Research.

She leads the SME Practitioner Roundtable of UWE's Governance and Accountability Research Group (GARG), in partnership with Cool Ventures and FinTech West, and is developing external partnerships and research funding, with applications to major funders under way. She welcomes PhD supervision enquiries, particularly in digital finance and FinTech, AI and machine learning in finance, corporate governance and ESG disclosure, and innovation and SME finance.

Current Funding

• Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Research Seed Fund (2026–2027): Principal Investigator (PI), Innovation and Justice

• Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) (2025-2026): Co-lead, Gamification in Accounting and Finance (A&F) education to enhance employability.

Current PhD supervision

• Fully funded studentship: Innovation signalling in UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), using large language models to analyse crowdfunding campaigns.

• Credit-to-GDP and Downside Growth Risk in Emerging Asia with Application to Vietnam

Publications

Publications loading...