Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance (JAAF) Symposium 2026

Symposium Dates

October 23–24, 2026

Location

Fordham Law School
Lincoln Center Campus
Room 7-119
Fordham University
150 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023

Description

The Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance (JAAF) Symposium will take place October 23–24, 2026, at the Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University Lincoln Center Campus in New York City. The Symposium is arranged in collaboration with Fordham University. It will include an afternoon session on October 23 and a morning session on October 24. Symposium attendance is by invitation only.

Symposium Program

Friday October 23
Moderator: Ziqing (Zikky) Tian (Fordham)

Time Description
1:00 to 1:30 Registration/Coffee & Cookies
1:30 to 1:45

Welcoming Remarks
N.K. Chidambaran (Fordham)
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development
1:45 to 2:30 

Plenary Paper I
Carbon Emissions Underreporting and Future Financial Performance: The Impact of Customer Influence
Presenter: Yun Fan (Oklahoma), Discussant: Aneesh Raghunandan (Yale)
2:35 to 3:20 

Plenary Paper II
Environmental Deregulation, Uncertainty, and Financial Statement Verification in Bank Lending.
Presenter: Yujie Ma (Temple), Discussant: Lisa Liu (Columbia)
3:20 to 3:35 Coffee Break
3:40 to 4:25 Plenary Paper III
Environmental Messages on Social Media: Why Firms Do It and What Follows
Presenter: Michael J. Jung (Delaware), Discussant: Youkun Huang (Fordham)
4:30 to 5:30

Concurrent Session I
AI-Attributed Layoffs: Investors Reactions and Firm Outcomes
Presenter: Yeyang Zhou (Oklahoma)

Salient Cues of Economic Transitions in Analyst Forecasting: Evidence from the Electric Vehicle Era
Presenter: Yonghao Zhai (SMU-Singapore)
5:30 to 6:30

Reception
Schmeltzer Dining Area, 2nd floor, Fordham Law School Building

Saturday October 24
Moderator: Youkun Huang (Fordham)

Time Description
8:00 to 8:30 Breakfast 
8:30 to 8:50

Keynote Speech
Arun Sundararajan (NYU)
8:50 to 9:35

Plenary Paper IV
ChatGPT as Information Intermediary: Media Partnerships, Sycophancy, and the Pricing of Earnings News
Presenter: Ziqing (Zikky) Tian (Fordham), Discussant: Chenqi Zhu (UC Irvine)
9:40 to 10:25

Plenary Paper V
How Does Big Data Affect Accounting Information Acquisition
Presenter: Chenqi Zhu (UC Irvine), Discussant: Miao Liu (Boston College)
10:25 to 10:40 Coffee Break
10:45 to 11:30 

Plenary Paper VI
Human-AI Collaboration in Corporate Valuation: Experimental Evidence with a Valuation AI Agent
Presenter: Miao Liu (Boston College), Discussant: Guang Ma (Rutgers)
11:35 to 12:35

Concurrent Session II
Voluntary ESG Disclosure and Heterogenous Beliefs among ESG Investors
Presenter: Michael D. Kimbrough (Maryland)

Paying for Virtue: Reputational Incentives and the Effectiveness of ESG-Linked Compensation
Presenter: Zachery (Ziqi) Ma (Cincinnati)
12:40 to 12:55

Concluding Remarks
C.S. Agnes Cheng (Oklahoma)
Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance Conference Editor
1:00 Boxed Lunch

Scientific Committee

  • C.S. Agnes Cheng, PhD, - University of Oklahoma
  • Mingcherng Deng, PhD, - Baruch College
  • Yiwei Dou, PhD, - New York University
  • Youkun Huang PhD, - Fordham University
  • Hye Seung (Grace) Lee, PhD, - Fordham University
  • Lisa Liu, PhD, - Columbia University
  • Benjamin Segal, PhD, - Fordham University
  • Ziqing (Zikky) Tian, PhD, - Fordham University
  • Qiang Wu PhD, - Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Yuan Xie, PhD, - Fordham University
  • Xiao-Jun Zhang, PhD, - University of California at Berkeley