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Before joining Helsinki GSE and Hanken, Zhang was a research fellow at the Department of Economics of KU Leuven. Her research focus lies on digital platforms bringing together advertisers and users on the platform. One of her main applications is the competition between TV channels which act as platforms bringing together firms advertising their products and consumers watching the TV programmes.

Jiekai Zhang will also be a valuable addition to one of the four new Areas of Strength of Hanken: Competition Economics and Service Strategy. The work of researchers in these four areas was evaluated by an international expert panel last year to meet top international standards. Competition Economics and Service Strategy focuses on the interdisciplinary frontier between economics and marketing/consumer research, and involves Hanken researchers from both subject areas.

“We are very pleased to welcome Jiekai to our faculty and research team. Her research topics and competences complement our current research efforts very well, says Dean of Research, Professor Jaakko Aspara, who is also a researcher in the group.

Alongside with Zhang, Helsinki GSE recruited two postdoctoral researchers. These positions are also housed at Hanken School of Economics. Xiaogeng Xu graduates with a PhD from Norwegian School of Economics, NHH. She specializes in behavioural economics and experimental economics. Vesa-Heikki Soini, in turn, has a PhD from University of Pennsylvania and focuses on macroeconomic effects of labour markets and financial markets.

“I am very happy about these recruitments which represent Hanken’s areas of specialisation within the Helsinki GSE. They will also strengthen the research collaboration and interdisciplinary Areas of Strength at Hanken, connecting researchers in economics, marketing and consumer research, and finance”, says Topi Miettinen, Professor of Economics at Hanken.

The mission of the Helsinki Graduate School of Economics, established in 2018, is to expand the scope and improve the quality of education and research in economics in Finland, as well as to promote cooperation between economics and other fields of science. The Helsinki Graduate School of Economics is a unit jointly managed by Hanken School of Economics, Aalto University, and University of Helsinki.

More information:

Otto Toivanen, Academic Director, Helsinki Graduate School of Economics
tel: +358 50 4622125
otto.toivanen@aalto.fi 

Topi Miettinen, Professor, Hanken Svenska handelshögskolan
tel: +358 40 352 1406
topi.miettinen@hanken.fi