Biography

Professor Hang Kei Ho (PhD, MBA, MSc, MA, MEng (Hons)) is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR. Additionally, he holds the position of Visiting Professor of Chinese Studies in the Department of Cultures at the Faculty of Arts, and Associate Professor of Sociology (Title of Docent), both at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

His research interests include capital flows within global property markets, shifting paradigms in the drinks and fashion industries, the globalisation of wine, housing policy and urban segregation, inequality and the super-rich, luxury brand consumption and management, and pandemic management strategies.

He has held academic positions in Finland, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, lecturing in multiple disciplines such as anthropology, Asian studies, business management, development studies, economic geography, geopolitics, public health, sociology, and urban studies. Moreover, he holds a PhD, an MBA, and three master’s degrees in diverse academic fields, including electronic engineering, digital humanities, geography, and luxury brand management.

Professor Ho has been featured as an expert in various global media outlets such as The Conversation (UK), Die Welt (Germany), The Guardian (UK), Helsingin Sanomat (Finland), The Local (Sweden), Luxemburger Wort (Luxembourg), and YLE (Finland). Furthermore, the peer-reviewed article authored by Professor Ho and Professor Rowland Atkinson, titled Looking for big ‘fry’: The motives and methods of middle-class international property investors, has won the Academy of Hong Kong Studies 2018/2019 Outstanding Paper Award.

Recently, Professor Ho, in collaboration with Professor David Inglis, has completed Drinks in Vogue: Exploring the Changing Worlds of Fashions and Beverages (Routledge, 2024), an edited book that examines the changing paradigms within the global fashion and beverage industries.

Prior to entering academia, Professor Ho worked in education outreach, engineering, IT, marketing, and real estate consultancy.

Academic experience         

Visiting Professor of Chinese Studies, Department of Cultures, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2023-present

Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, PRC, 2023-present

Associate Professor of Sociology (Title of Docent), University of Helsinki, Finland, since 2023

Researcher, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2019-2022

Lecturer in Communications, Department of Oriental Languages and Communication, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands, 2019

Lecturer in Globalisation and Development, Department of Society Studies, Maastricht University, Netherlands, 2017-2019

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala University, Sweden, 2015-2017

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Sociology, University of York, United Kingdom, 2014-2015

Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Sociology, Goldsmith, University of London, United Kingdom, 2014-2015

Interests

Capital flows from South East Asia to global property markets

Cultural consumption and changing societal trends

Development studies and South-South corporations, geopolitics, and Africa-East-West relations

East Asian business management and intercultural communications

Globalisation of the wine industry

Housing policy, inequality, geographies of the super-rich, and urban segregation

Investment patterns of the middle-class and super-rich

Luxury brand consumption, management, and marketing

Public health and COVID-19 pandemic management strategies

Research profile and publications

https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/hang-kei-ho