MI (MEG) Luo, PhD Assistant Professor, Finance
Does a hotel owned by a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) perform better than a non-REIT hotel? Does REIT ownership add value at an individual property level? Limited prior research on the topic has been inconclusive. In collaboration with fellow VSB Professors Shelly Howton, Shawn Howton, and Johnny Lee, Assistant Professor of Finance Mi (Meg) Luo re-examined these questions and arrived at an affirmative response.
Other research that has investigated the impact of REIT ownership on property performance focused on revenue-based performance measures. Luo and her co-authors, however approached this issue using a unique dataset of detailed accounting information for individual hotels across five states. Their expansive dataset differed in that it enabled them to examine both top-line and bottom-line performance of hotel operations. The team of professors used this evidence to conclude that REIT ownership favorably impacts property performance and that REIT-owned hotels have higher profit margins.
Luo’s research has been published in the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Corporate Finance, and the Journal of Internet Commerce. She earned her PhD in finance at the University of Utah and a BS in finance at Nanjing University in China. Luo’s research interests include executive compensation, cash management, and dividend policy. In 2008, she received the Villanova Summer Research Grant.
