Welcome
Hello! My name is Zirui Song. I am a third-year PhD student at MIT Sloan. Previously I worked at Chicago Booth after graduating from the University of Chicago with degrees in Mathematics, Economics (Honors), and Statistics.
My research interests are Banking, Debt Contracting, and Corporate Finance.
Working Papers
"Tax Shields under Siege"
Presented at: 15th EIASM Conference on the Current Research in Taxation, Emerging Scholars in Accounting Conference at Boston University 2025*, IESE Tax Conference 2025, MIT PhD Student Brown Bag, NYU Big Apple Conference 2025*, University of Toronto*, University of Utah*, University of Florida*
"Information Covenants of Nonbank Direct Lending"
Presented at: MIT (2x)
Work in Progress
"Human Capital in Financial Contracting"
"Firms' Leverage Targets"
Presented at: MIT Finance Lunch
* presented by coauthor
Subsumed Papers
"When Expertise Matters: Loan Officer Industry Specialization, Loan Pricing, and Contract Design"
Subsumed by "Human Capital in Financial Contracting"
Teaching
MIT Sloan, Spring 2026 — Professor Nemit Shroff
MIT Sloan, Summer 2025 — Professor S.P. Kothari
MIT Sloan, Summer 2024 — Professor S.P. Kothari