March 24, 2026, the CUFE Business School successfully hosted the 7th session of the 2026 Academic Forum. The lecture featured Professor Yin Cheng from the Department of Accounting at Tsinghua University as the guest speaker. More than 10 participants, including faculty members, doctoral and master’s students from the School of Business, as well as scholars from other universities, attended the event.
The lecture was moderated by Professor Dou Chao of the School of Business at Central University of Finance and Economics. At the beginning of the event, Professor Dou Chao introduced Professor Yin Cheng’s academic background to the attendees. Yin Cheng currently serves as a Professor in the Department of Accounting at Tsinghua University, with primary research areas including information disclosure in capital markets, ESG disclosure, cost management, and corporate governance. His research has been published in international journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Management, Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, Journal of Information Systems, and Strategic Science. He has served as a reviewer for journals including the Journal of Management, Organization Science, and Contemporary Accounting Research, and currently leads a National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Young Scientist Project.
The topic of Professor Yin Cheng’s lecture is “When More Is Less: Above-Target Environmental Performance and Market Response After Pollution Incidents.” Drawing on data from U.S. publicly listed companies from 2007 to 2019, he employs causal inference and exploratory analysis to examine the impact of “Above-Target Environmental Performance” (ATEP) on market reactions under various scenarios. The study found that during normal periods, investors typically overlook a company’s exceeding of its self-imposed pollution reduction targets; however, during pollution incidents, exceeding targets has the opposite effect—the greater the excess, the harsher the market punishment the company faces. This negative effect is more pronounced in companies held by socially responsible investors and in those where executives personally certify and disclose the exceeding of targets. Further analysis indicates that companies subject to market penalties subsequently reduce their reported above-target environmental performance and increase the ambiguity of their target disclosures. Professor Yin’s research reveals that investor attention to environmental performance is significantly context-dependent and highlights the dynamic feedback loop between market reactions and corporate environmental governance, offering important insights for corporate managers and policymakers.
Following the lecture, faculty and students engaged in a lively discussion with Professor Yin Cheng on topics including the market reaction mechanism to ESG disclosures, corporate environmental governance strategies in the wake of pollution incidents, the assessment of investor situational dependence, and the expansion of related research in the Chinese context, further fostering the exchange and collision of academic ideas.
As a key platform for fulfilling the mission of “contributing new knowledge in management,” the “Excellence in Academic Forum” of the CUFE Business School is dedicated to addressing cutting-edge issues in business administration and Chinese corporate management practices. By bringing together global wisdom and innovative perspectives, the forum aims to provide theoretical support and practical pathways for promoting the sustainable development of Chinese society and the economy.
