This Faculty Spotlight is on Dr. Yutong Xie, Assistant Professor of Finance who joined TCNJ School of Business in Fall 2020. He is currently conducting research on the topic, “Mandatory Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Disclosure and Financial Reporting Quality.” We spoke to Dr. Xie regarding his research, and here is what he shared.
Tell us a little about this research project?
“Mandating ESG disclosure is under debate in the U.S. Supporters argue that ESG-related information is demanded by investors, but current voluntary ESG disclosure is not standardized and firms can cherry-pick what they want to disclose. Those who oppose, argue that any ESG information that is material to investors is already required by the current financial reporting standards.”
What drew you to this topic?
“Studying the unintended impact of a policy or regulation provides important theoretical and practical insights to researchers, investors, and policymakers. Despite a very intense debate, we believe that changes in financial reporting quality caused by the implementations of mandatory ESG disclosure is one of the many important moving pieces that has not been studied.”
Can you describe any challenges?
“The biggest challenge is the data and studying the potential implementations of such activities.”
What is the most interesting fact you discovered while conducting this research?
“In economic research, the fact that changing one thing can lead to changes in ten other things. This fascinates me.”
See what the TCNJ School of Business faculty are working on. Look for the next Faculty Spotlight soon!