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 interests lie in financial reporting regulations and information technologies, with a particular focus on auditing and ESG/stakeholder-related matters. I use various research methods, including empirical archival analyses, theoretical models, structural estimation, field surveys, and interviews.

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

Accepted and Published 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

Selected Press: Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog, Chicago Booth Review

"Proactive Financial Reporting Enforcement and Shareholder Wealth"

with Hans Christensen and Mark Maffett

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

Selected Press: Chicago Booth Review

“The Effect of Firms’ Information Exposure on Safeguarding Employee Health: Evidence from COVID-19"

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

"Financial Statement Audits and Data Breaches"

Solo-authored

Management Science, Forthcoming.

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

Stigler Center PhD Dissertation Award (Bradley Fellowship)

"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, Forthcoming.

Selected Press: Consumer Law & Policy Blog, Keystone

Working Papers

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

with Lijing Tong

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

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

with Ehsan Azarmsa and Suzie Noh

“Within-Firm Information Frictions and the Role of Managerial Reporting Quality in Investment Efficiency”

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

"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

"ESG Ratings of ESG Index Providers"

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

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: Institutional Investor, ETF Stream, ESG Professionals Network

"Long-Run Economic Consequences of Firm Avoidance in the Threshold Regulation for Financial Reporting"

with Yu Cao

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

with Phil Berger, Rachel Geoffroy, and Claudia Imperatore

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

"Mandatory CSR Disclosures and Real Asset Regulatory Leakage"

with Hans Christensen, Mark Maffett, and Wendy Wen

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

with Edwige Cheynel, Lijing Tong, and Frank Zhou

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

with Sona Agrawal and Shiva Rajgopal

Selected Press: Forbes, MSCI

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

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

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

with Claudia Imperatore and Trung Nguyen

“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)