Sonya Lim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Finance & Real Estate and a fellow for the Driehaus Center for Behavioral Finance. Professor Lim received her Bachelors of Science in electrical engineering and her Masters of Science in management engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. As an electrical engineering major, she started becoming interested in the human side of things. “I was interested in how people think instead of those circuits,” Lim said.
Lim found that finance requires the understanding of analytical skills and human behavior and made the decision to come to the U.S. to pursue her PhD degree in finance. While working on her PhD, Lim’s academic advisor introduced her to the field of behavioral finance and it was then she realized that is what she wanted to specialize in. Lim shared, “There’s a human side of finance, even among finance overall, that deals with the psychological aspects and the effects of financial decisions. Understanding how people think was what was really feeding my interest in behavioral finance.” Lim went on to earn a PhD in finance from The Ohio State University.
Lim also shared with us that she believes she grew interested in behavioral finance and studying financial behaviors among different cultures in part due to being an international student herself when she came from Korea to study in the U.S. “There was a big cultural difference and I found it is so interesting to understand how people think differently across cultures,” Lim said. She continued, explaining that behavioral finance is more about looking at how people think. It used to be more about psychology but it is shifting towards sociology and cultural studies. “I did some research on limited attention. We don’t have enough attention to pay for everything because we have a limited capacity. I was interested in looking at the effects of limited attention and stock prices,” said Lim.
Lim has been teaching at DePaul since 2003 and has found a good balance between teaching and research. “I enjoy working at DePaul because I get to interact with students and there is a good environment for my research.”
Professor Lim’s research interests include behavioral finance, investments, household finance and analyst forecasts. Her research has been published in leading academic journals, including, The Journal of Finance, Management Science, The Journal of Business and The Review of Asset Pricing Studies. More recently, she has been interested in the effects of culture and values, how trust affects financial decisions, and how trust affects our lending decisions.
Lim admires and commends students who are motivated and find a way to balance school and work life. She recommends all students make good use of all of the available resources at DePaul to the best of their ability. “Take advantage and don’t be shy about asking your professors questions,” said Lim.
For leisure, Lim likes to not do anything and just relax. “I can spend time without doing anything and that’s the way I relax. But I also enjoy watching movies and listening to music.”
Fun fact! Professor Lim is currently reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and she is a big dog person.
Professor Lim’s work and research can be found here.
By Damita Menezes