Dr Cormac O'Keeffe

I have been a lecturer in the School of Business since 2002 and deliver modules on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the School of Business, including:

• Master of Business Studies: Monetary Economics.
• Master of Business Studies: Econometrics
• Bachelor of Business Studies (Hons): Behavioural Finance, Introduction to Statistics, Financial Management
• BA Finance and Investment: Behavioural Finance, Introduction to Statistics.
• BA International Business: Introduction to Statistics.

I also supervise a number of students at undergraduate and postgraduate level and co-ordinate the final year Economics/Finance Research Paper for BBS(Hons).

My main research areas of interest are Capital Markets, Behavioural Finance. My publications have been focused on the areas role of behavioural finance in explaining the presence of stock market anomalies and the behaviour of market analysts.  

Current Postgraduate Students:

• PhD Co-Supervision – Charlie Browne: ‘A schema for risk factors in market risk management’ (commenced 2021).
• Doctor in Business Administration Co-Supervision - Denis McCarthy - 'An exploration of influences on intra-sector collaboration in the Irish credit union sector' (commenced 2020).
• Doctor in Business Administration Co-Supervision - Kieran Essex - 'An Explorative Study into the Transformational Impact a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Programme has on the Global Business Services (GBS) model' (commenced 2023).

Postgraduate Students Graduated to date:

PhD Co-Supervision – Aine Murphy:  ‘Investigation into momentum in the UK stock market and the behaviour of brokers and analysts’ (completed 2017).

PhD Co-Supervision – Oksana Doherty:  ‘Pricing of new offers in IPO clusters. Application of game theory analysis and behavioural aspects of asset pricing’ (completed 2020).

Doctor in Business Administration Co-Supervision - Paul Keane - 'From the classroom to the boardroom, a framework for the promotion of Entrepreneurship as an alternative career path' (completed 2021).

Funding Secured:

• 2014 IOTI Postgraduate Research Scholarship Initiative (with Prof. Sheila O' Donohoe): Secured funding of €16,000 per annum to fund a PhD student examining "Analysts’ Conflicts of Interest Pre and Post Financial Crisis: The impact of European Union’s Market Abuse Directive (MAD)".  

Examiner Roles

• PhD Internal Examiner – Yogesh Jaiyawala:  'An exploratory investigation of the role of residential property and other pension assets in the life-cycle of middle-income households in Ireland' (2022).
• PhD External Examiner (London South Bank University) - Muriel Claire Lisson - 'Non-Executive Directors and Corporate Strategy: Theory and Exploratory Empirical Insights from FTSE 350 Companies' (2022).
• DBA Internal Examiner  – Donnchadh Ō Madagáin: Exploring the influence of cognitive communication factors on the preparation of financial narrative board reports (2020).
• PhD Internal Examiner – Andrea McNamara:  'Country Characteristics in the Demand and Supply Nexus of SME Credit: A European Perspective' (2014).

Community:

Served as Director of Waterford Credit Union in a voluntary capacity (2014-2019), incorporating the following roles and committees.

• Treasurer (Jan 2017-Dec 2018)
• Secretary of the Board of Directors (July 2014 - Dec 2016)
• Member of the Investment Committee
• Member of the Nominations Committee (Chair)
• Member of the Strategy Committee
• Member of the Board Liaison Committee
• Member of the Remuneration Committee (Chair)
• Member of the Internal Audit Review Committee.

The role as Director requires the completion of at least 15 hours of CPD training annually. The following are some of the courses completed:

• Fitness & Probity (2 hours)
• Complaints Handling (2 hours)
• Data Protection (2 hours)
• Combat Money Laundering (2 hours)
• Risk Management (2 hours)
• Credit Union Acts (2 hours)
• Ethics (2 hours)
• Loan Protection and Life Savings (2 hours)
• Personal Insolvency Act (2 hours).   

Journal Articles

Forbes, W., Murphy, A., O’Keeffe, C., and Su C. 2019. Are Financial Analysts Eager Postmen of Bubble Psychology? Evidence in the UK. International Journal of Finance and Economics, 25(1), pp.120-137.

O’ Keeffe, C. and Gallagher, L.A.  2017. The winner-loser anomaly: recent evidence from Greece. Applied Economics, 49(47), pp.4718-4728. 

O’ Keeffe, C. and Gallagher, L.A.  2014. Momentum in Irish Stocks: Evidence from the Credit Crisis.  Applied Economics Letters, 21(11), pp.717-722.  

Other Publications

Co-author of a number of reports on the performance of the economy of the South East of Ireland as a member of the South-East Network for Economic and Social Research (SENSER) group. 

South East Economic Monitor (Vol 5 - August 2021) with Dr Ray Griffin and John Casey. 

South East Economic Monitor (Vol 4 - July 2019) with Dr Ray Griffin and John Casey

South East Economic Monitor (Vol 3 - July 2018) with Dr Ray Griffin and John Casey.

South East Economic Monitor (Vol 2 - June 2017) with Dr Ray Griffin and John Casey.

South East Economic Monitor (Vol 1 - June 2016) with Dr Ray Griffin.

Full reports can be accessed here. 

For more information on SENSER and further publications, see www.senser.ie.

Selected Conference Papers

Gordon N, O’Donohoe, S., and O’Keeffe, C. Regulating Analyst Target Price Optimism in three Jurisdictions. IAFA Annual Conference, Limerick [24-25 May 2018].

Gordon N, O’ Donohoe, S., and O’ Keeffe, C. Analysts’ Recommendations: Gender Matters – An Irish Perspective. IAFA Annual Conference, Athlone [18-19 May 2017].

Doherty, O., O’ Keeffe, C. and Forbes, W. Social Learning and Informational Cascades in Financial Markets: Review and Synthesis. INFINITI  Conference, Dublin [13-14 June 2016].

Murphy, A., O’ Keeffe, C. and Forbes, W. An investigation into momentum in the UK stock market: 1995-2015. IAFA Annual Conference, Waterford [19-20 May 2016].

Forbes, W., Murphy, A., and O’ Keeffe, C.  and Su, C. Do Analysts Exacerbate Financial Crises? Evidence from the UK. BFWG, [June 2015]. 

Gallagher, L.A. and O’ Keeffe, C.  The Winner-Loser Anomaly: Robust Evidence from Greece.  IAM Annual Conference, Limerick [3-5 September 2014].

Gallagher, L.A. and O’ Keeffe, C.  Robust Evidence of Momentum in Irish Stocks.  IAM Annual Conference, Waterford [3 September 2013].

Forbes, W., Murphy, A. and O’ Keeffe, C. and Su, C.  The Law of Small Numbers and the Value of Analysts’ Stock Recommendations.  BAFA Annual Conference, Newcastle [9-11 April, 2013].

Gallagher, L.A. and O’ Keeffe, C. The Winner-Loser Anomaly: Robust Evidence from Irish Shares, Irish Economic Association Annual Conference, Mullingar, [3 April 2002].