Lisa Yao Liu

Assistant Professor of Accounting, Columbia Business School

About me

I am an Assistant Professor in the Accounting Division of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. My research examines whether auditing, disclosure regulation, and information technology create real accountability (e.g., workplace safety, cybersecurity, and environmental performance). Methodologically, I combine archival analysis, structural estimation, field interviews, and theoretical modeling.

I am an Affiliate Fellow of the Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. At Columbia, I teach Financial Accounting in the core MBA program.

I received my PhD in Business and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a master’s degree in Economics from Duke University, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Renmin University of China.

CV; Google Scholar Profile; SSRN

Contact: yl4689@gsb.columbia.edu

Research Papers

1. Sustainability and Auditing

(Focus: The evolving role of disclosure, auditing, and regulation in shaping accountability and sustainable outcomes)

Published and Accepted Papers:

"The Real Effects of Mandated Information on Social Responsibility in Financial Reports: Evidence from Mine-Safety Records"

with Hans Christensen, Eric Floyd, and Mark Maffett

Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 64, No. 2-3, 2017.

Presented at the Journal of Accounting and Economics Conference

Distinguished Contribution to Accounting Literature Award

Selected Press: Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog, Chicago Booth Review, U.S. Department of Labor CLEAR (Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research), Chicago Booth Rustandy Center Social Impact Research

“The Effect of Firms’ Information Exposure on Safeguarding Employee Health: Evidence from COVID-19" (Previously titled “Information Exposure and Corporate Citizenship")

with Shirley Lu

Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 61, No. 3, 891-933, 2023.

Presented at the Journal of Accounting Research Conference: Current Topics in Accounting Research and the Economics of Sustainability Reporting

The Chazen Global Research Fund ($10,000)

Selected Press: Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog, Columbia Business School Magazine Ideas at Work, Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State Working paper

"Financial Statement Audits and Data Breaches"

Solo-authored

Management Science, Vol. 71, No. 8, 6340-6366, 2024.

Dissertation Committee: Philip G. Berger, Hans Christensen (chair), Christian Leuz, Mark Maffett, Mike Minnis

Stigler Center PhD Dissertation Award (Bradley Fellowship)

Cited in systematic review in Australian Accounting Review

"Cash Substitution and Deferred Consumption as Data Breach Harms" (Previously titled “How Do Data Breaches Affect Consumer Spending?")

with Lior Strahilevitz

Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 54, No. 2, 357 - 412, 2025.

Selected Press: Consumer Law & Policy Blog, Keystone, University of Chicago Law & Economics Research Paper Series, University of Chicago Public Law and Legal Theory Working Paper Series

“The Spillover Effect of Public Firm Audit Regulation on Private Firm Auditing: Evidence from Common Partners”

with Lijing Tong

Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 81, No. 1, 2026.

Best Paper Award, Haskell & White Corporate Reporting and Governance Conference

Working Papers:

"ESG Ratings of ESG Index Providers"

with Sona Agrawal, Shiva Rajgopal, Suhas Sridharan, Yifan Yan, and Teri Yohn, Minor Revision

This paper integrates two earlier working papers: “ESG Ratings of ESG Index Providers” by Agrawal, Liu, and Rajgopal, and “ESG Rating Agency Incentives” by Sridharan, Yan, and Yohn

Selected Press: Yahoo Finance, ProMarket, Institutional Investor, ETF Stream, ESG Professionals Network

"Public Firms and Regulatory Challenges: Implications for Cross-Country Shareholder-Stakeholder Conflicts"

with Sona Agrawal and Anthony Le

Selected Press: Duke University Law School FinReg Blog

"Mandatory CSR Disclosures and Real Asset Regulatory Leakage"

with Hans Christensen, Mark Maffett, and Wendy Wen

Selected Press: MSCI

"Who Bears Climate Risk? Differential Impacts on Public and Private Firms"

with Sona Agrawal and Shiva Rajgopal

Selected Press: Forbes, MSCI

"Estimating the Value of Auditing Services for Private Firms: Evidence from Chinese Data"

with Edwige Cheynel, Lijing Tong, and Frank Zhou

"Social Movements and Court Decisions Toward Corporations: Evidence from Employee Protests"

with Claudia Imperatore and Trung Nguyen

2. Disclosure Regulation, Technology, and Real Effects

(Focus: How disclosure mandates, regulatory design, and technology shape corporate transparency and real outcomes)

Published and Accepted Papers:

"Proactive Financial Reporting Enforcement and Shareholder Wealth"

with Hans Christensen and Mark Maffett

Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 69, No. 2-3, 2020.

Presented at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA)

Selected Press: Chicago Booth Review

Working Papers:

“How Does Internal Communication Technology Affect Internal Information: Theory and Evidence”

with Ehsan Azarmsa and Suzie Noh, R&R

“Internal Frictions and the Role of Managerial Reporting Quality in Investment Efficiency”

with Philip G. Berger, Feng Li, and M.H. Franco Wong, R&R

“How Do Multiple Regulators Regulate? Evidence from Fairness Opinion Providers’ Conflict of Interest Disclosures” [Video]

with Phil Berger, Rachel Geoffroy, and Claudia Imperatore, R&R

Presented at the Journal of Accounting Research Second Registered Reports Conference

Bernstein Center Faculty Research Grant ($10,000)

Selected Press: Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog

"Compliance and Avoidance Under Threshold-Based Financial Reporting Regulation: Decomposing Regulatory Costs and Information Benefits"

with Yu Cao, R&R

Works in Progress

“Financial Reporting Regulation and Firm Dynamics”

Research proposal and data access are approved by the U.S. Census Bureau and the IRS

"PCAOB Monitoring and Auditor Effort: Evidence from Dynamic Model Estimation"

with Shunsuke Matsuno, R&R

Presented at the 2024 PCAOB/TAR Registered Reports Conference on Current Issues in Auditing

"Private Clients and Auditor Human Capital: Evidence from Structural Estimation"

with Ying Liang and Lijing Tong

"Information and Preference Channels in Environmental Fund Demand: Structural Demand Estimation"

with Dian Jiao and Sona Agrawal

"Private Firms' Disclosure for Everyday Investors on Crowdfunding Platforms"

with Suzie Noh and Andy Jiarui Su

“Externalities of Improved Internal Controls”

with Philip G. Berger, Feng Li, and M.H. Franco Wong

“Trust in Regulators and Product Market Access”

with Yu Cao

George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State, Research Grant ($35,000)

The World Bank East Asia and Pacific Research Fund ($20,000)

Practitioner and Invited Publications

"Follow the Money: Are Severe Weather Events Value Relevant?"

with Sonakshi Agrawal and Shivaram Rajgopal

Accountability in a Sustainable World Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 3, June 2025.

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