On May 29 and May 30, NYU Shanghai and the NYU Stern School of Business co-hosted the second NYU Shanghai and NYU Stern Joint Accounting Research Conference. 60 scholars from leading institutions around the world, including NYU Stern, Columbia University, Stanford University, the University of Oxford, and the University of Toronto, gathered at NYU Shanghai to exchange ideas and discuss the latest developments and emerging topics in accounting research.
In her opening remarks, NYU Shanghai Provost Bei Wu underscored the vital role of collaboration in fostering academic innovation. “A joint conference like this is not simply a place to present papers,” she said. “It is a place where conversations begin, where ideas are tested and sharpened, and where future collaborations can take shape.”
In the opening session, conference organizer and NYU Shanghai Professor of Accounting Sterling Huang presented his research on how judicial efficiency shapes the balance between frivolous and meritorious shareholder lawsuits, and how these shifts influence corporate disclosure practices and information transparency. Professor Jonathan Glover from Columbia University explored how technological interdependence shapes firms’ choices among relative, individual, and joint performance evaluation schemes, offering new insights into incentive design under cooperative and competitive environments. Stanford University Professor Jinhwan Kim investigated how firms strategically tailor patent disclosures to influence green technology classifications, shedding light on how disclosure practices can facilitate “greenwashing” in the patent examination process.
During the second session, scholars continued their discussions on topics including accounting research methodologies and the interpretation of macroeconomic information. Professor Oliver Binz from ESMT Berlin addressed methodological challenges in financial statement forecasting research, noting that implementation-related biases may affect the reliability of forecast outcomes. NYU Stern Professor Joshua Ronen examined how images in corporate disclosures reinforce textual information, showing that substantive visual reinforcement is more strongly associated with expert evaluations than purely hype-oriented imagery. Finally, Professor Maria Ogneva from University of Southern California shared her research on how changes in national accounting methods shape investors’ interpretations of macroeconomic information, focusing on the impact of intellectual property capitalization on market reactions.
The conference followed a workshop format that fostered lively intellectual dialogue. Following each presentation, discussants provided in-depth commentary on the research and engaged in active exchange with scholars.
Professor Huang said he was pleased with how well the conference went. “Diversity and quality of the participants and speakers at the conference was instrumental to its success,” he said. “The conference created valuable opportunities for building global networks and collaborations.”
The conference was partially supported by DangDang.com and its co-founder and CEO, Peggy Yu (NYU Stern ’92).