Zeyang (Jackie) Ju's Homepage

Short Bio

Welcome! I am Zeyang (pronounced “Zuh-Yahng”) Ju, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate at the Von Allmen School of Accountancy, University of Kentucky. I use archival and field experiment methods to understand real-world accounting issues in the context of digital technology and sustainability. I infuse artificial intelligence and data analytics into accounting lecturing.

Before pursuing my doctoral studies, I worked as a research associate and taught business statistics at the Australian National University, where I received two summer research fellowships. I earned a research master’s degree with Chancellor’s Commendation for Academic Excellence from the Australian National University and a bachelor’s degree from Beijing Institute of Technology.

Feel free to reach out via zeyang.ju@uky.edu!

Research

[5] Does technological peer pressure distort the informativeness of corporate AI investment disclosure?, Single-authored dissertation

Dissertation committee: Brian Bratten (Co-Chair), Sean Cao (Maryland), Brent Harrison (Kentucky CS), Tyler Kleppe, Hong Xie (Co-Chair)
“Tech peer pressure induces firms to overstate actual AI investment to attract capital and project AI competitiveness, temporarily inflating valuation without delivering superior operating or AI innovation performance relative to peers whose disclosures reflect underlying AI investment.”
Best Paper Award at 2025 Rutgers Accounting Doctoral Symposium; 2025 JAAF Symposium Travel Grant
Presentations
2024 Kentucky Accounting Colloquium; University of Kentucky^2; Junior Accounting Scholars Organization; 2025 Rutgers Accounting Doctoral Symposium; 2025 AAA Deloitte Foundation/J. Michael Cook Doctoral Consortium; 2025 Graduate Research Accounting Conference Emory; 2025 ABR-Fudan Joint Conference; The 18th ABFE Annual Meeting; 2025 JAAF Symposium plenary; 2025 Boston Accounting Students Symposium; 2026 Hawai'i Accounting Research Conference; 2026 AAA MAS Midyear Meeting; 2026 AAA Joint Midyear Meeting of the AIS and SET Sections; Zhejiang University; University of International Business and Economics; University of Queensland; Monash University; University of Arizona; Chinese University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen; Shanghai University of Finance and Economics; China Europe International Business School

[4] The effects of asymmetric cost behavior on corporate environmental commitments and actions, with Clara Chen (UIUC), Hong Xie (Kentucky), and Detian Yang (Fudan)

“Cost sticky firms initially commit less to environmental initiatives because they cannot deploy multi-year resources to sustain committed initiatives especially during future downturns.”
Revise and Resubmit at Contemporary Accounting Research
Developed from an accounting seminar proposal
Presentations
University of Kentucky Brownbag (Ju); 2024 Kentucky Accounting Colloquium (Ju); University of Kentucky (Ju); Chinese University of Hong Kong (Chen); Early Career Researchers Support Network (Ju); 2025 Hawai'i Accounting Research Conference (Ju); 2025 AAA MAS Midyear Meeting (Ju); 2025 AAA Current Issues in Sustainability Conference (Ju); University of Cincinnati (Xie); Fudan University (Yang); The 47th Annual Congress of European Accounting Association (Yang); 2025 JAAF Symposium (International) on ESG, AI, and Big Data (Yang); 2025 CAAA Annual Conference (Ju); 2025 AFAANZ Conference (Ju); 2025 AAA Annual Meeting (Ju); 2026 AAA IAS Midyear Meeting (Xie); 2026 AAA FARS Midyear Meeting (Xie); City University of Hong Kong (Xie, scheduled)

[3] Dare to say No? Externalities of employee employment protection on financial misreporting, with Chan Li (Kansas) and Hong Xie (Kentucky)

“Employment protection empowers employees to resist managers’ misreporting directives and curbs managers’ incentives to solicit employee collusion, making misreporting difficult to execute.”
Revise and Resubmit at Review of Accounting Studies
Best Paper Award at JAAF Symposium on ESG 2024
Developed from second-year summer paper
Presentations
University of Kentucky Brownbag (Ju); University of Kentucky (Ju); University of Kansas (Li); Early Career Researchers Support Network (Ju); 2024 CAPANA Annual Research Conference (Xie); Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (Xie); Chongqing University of Technology (Xie); Chongqing Technology and Business University (Xie); The 7th Dragon-Horse Accounting and Finance Symposium keynote (Xie); 2024 Graduate Research Accounting Conference Emory (Ju); 2024 JAAF Symposium on ESG plenary (Ju); 2025 Hawai'i Accounting Research Conference (Ju); 2025 AAA Auditing Section Midyear Meeting (Ju); 2025 AAA Current Issues in Sustainability Conference (Xie); 2025 CAAA Annual Meeting (Ju); 2025 AFAANZ Conference (Ju); 2025 AAA Annual Meeting (Ju)

[2] Constituency statutes and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from major customer identities, with Jenny Tucker (Florida) and Hong Xie (Kentucky)

“Legal recognition of stakeholder orientation nudges managers towards improving non-owner stakeholders' information environment.”
Revise and Resubmit at Journal of Business Finance & Accounting
2025 Gatton Doctoral Research Excellence Award
Developed from first-year summer paper
Presentations
University of Kentucky Brownbag (Ju); Texas Christian University (Tucker); Concordia University (Tucker); University of Toronto (Tucker); University of Florida (Tucker); 2023 AAA Doctoral Student/Faculty Interchange SE (Ju); 2023 Graduate Research Accounting Conference Emory (Ju); Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Xie); Lingnan University (Xie); Shanghai National Accounting Institute (Xie); University of Texas at Arlington (Tucker); 2024 AAA FARS Midyear Meeting (Ju); 2025 Gatton Doctoral Research Excellence Series (Ju); 2025 AAA Current Issues in Sustainability Conference (Ju); 2025 CAAA Annual Conference (Ju); HEC Lausanne (Tucker); 2025 AFAANZ Conference (Ju); 2025 AAA Annual Meeting (Ju); 2026 Journal of Business Finance & Accounting Conference (Xie, scheduled)

[1] Corporate disclosure in the presence of financially constrained competitors, with Lingwei Li (ANU) and Steven Wu (ANU)

“When peer firms become financially constrained, focal firm discloses its value-relevant information more and mention its competition threats less.”
Developed from masters thesis
Presentations
Australian National University (Ju); 2020 AFAANZ Conference (Wu); The 47th European Finance Association Annual Meeting (Wu); University of Kentucky Brownbag (Ju); 2024 AAA Spark Meeting (Ju); The 36th Asian Finance Association Annual Meeting (Ju)

External Presentations

2023

Invited presenter of "Constituency statutes and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from major customer identities," at the AAA Doctoral Student/Faculty Interchange SE. Virtual. June 2023
Invited discussant of "The audit quality and economic implications of KPMG's persistent organization-level quality control system deficiencies," at the AAA Doctoral Student/Faculty Interchange SE. Virtual. June 2023
Refereed presenter of "Constituency statutes and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from major customer identities," at the Graduate Research Accounting Conference Emory. Atlanta, GA. July 2023
Invited discussant of "Damp deals: The effect of mandatory flood disclosures on real estate transactions," at the Graduate Research Accounting Conference Emory. Atlanta, GA. July 2023

2024

Invited discussant of "Does employment-based healthcare coverage impact financial reporting quality?" at the AAA Auditing Section Midyear Meeting. New Orleans, LA. January 2024
Refereed presenter of "Constituency statutes and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from major customer identities," at the AAA FARS Midyear Meeting. Denver, CO. January 2024
Invited presenter of "Dare to say No? Externalities of employee employment protection on financial misreporting," at the Early Career Researchers Support Network. Virtual. May 2024
Refereed presenter of "Corporate disclosure in the presence of financially constrained competitors," at the AAA Spark Meeting. Virtual. June 2024
Invited discussant of "ESG risks and financial statement verification in bank lending," at the AAA Spark Meeting. Virtual. June 2024
Invited discussant of "Firm level cryptocurrency adoption and trading silence before anticipated information events," at the AAA Spark Meeting. Virtual. June 2024
Refereed presenter of "Corporate disclosure in the presence of financially constrained competitors," at the 36th Asian Finance Association Annual Meeting. Macau, China. June 2024
Invited discussant of "Do managers withhold bad news? Evidence from terror attacks," at the 36th Asian Finance Association Annual Meeting. Macau, China. June 2024
Invited discussant of "Communication culture and voluntary disclosure around the world," at the 36th Asian Finance Association Annual Meeting. Macau, China. June 2024
Refereed presenter of "Dare to say No? Externalities of employee employment protection on financial misreporting," at the Graduate Research Accounting Conference Emory. Atlanta, GA. July 2024
Invited discussant of "Skilled immigration and corporate resource adjustments: New evidence from cost behavior and labor dynamics," at the AAA Annual Meeting. Washington, DC. August 2024
Refereed presenter of "Dare to say No? Externalities of employee employment protection on financial misreporting," at the JAAF Symposium on ESG 2024. Cincinnati, OH. October 2024
Invited presenter of "Asymmetric cost behavior and corporate environmental commitments," at the Early Career Researchers Support Network. Virtual. December 2024

2025

Refereed presenter of "Dare to say No? Externalities of employee employment protection on financial misreporting," at the Hawai'i Accounting Research Conference. Honolulu, HI. January 2025
Refereed presenter of "Asymmetric cost behavior and corporate environmental commitments," at the Hawai'i Accounting Research Conference. Honolulu, HI. January 2025
Refereed presenter of "Asymmetric cost behavior and corporate environmental commitments," at the AAA MAS Midyear Meeting. Austin, TX. January 2025
Invited discussant of "Dependent vs. Independent ESG-Performance Evaluation in Executive Compensation Contracts," at the AAA MAS Midyear Meeting. Austin, TX. January 2025
Refereed presenter of "Dare to say No? Externalities of employee employment protection on financial misreporting," at the AAA Auditing Section Midyear Meeting. Charlotte, NC. January 2025
Invited discussant of "Navigating new waters: Accounting firms as ESG raters," at the AAA Auditing Section Midyear Meeting. Charlotte, NC. January 2025
Refereed presenter of "Constituency statutes and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from major customer identities," at the AAA Current Issues in Sustainability Conference. Arlington, VA. March 2025
Invited discussant of "Employer WARN-ing: Mandatory advance disclosure of employment loss and corporate innovation," at the AAA Current Issues in Sustainability Conference. Arlington, VA. March 2025
Refereed presenter of "Asymmetric cost behavior and corporate environmental commitments," at the AAA Current Issues in Sustainability Conference. Arlington, VA. March 2025
Invited discussant of "Follow the money: Are severe weather events value relevant?" at the AAA Current Issues in Sustainability Conference. Arlington, VA. March 2025
Invited presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at the Junior Accounting Scholars Organization. Virtual. May 2025
Refereed presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at the Rutgers Accounting Doctoral Symposium. Virtual. May 2025
Invited presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at the AAA Deloitte Foundation/J. Michael Cook Doctoral Consortium. Westlake, TX. June 2025
Refereed presenter of "Asymmetric cost behavior and corporate environmental commitments," at the CAAA Annual Conference. Toronto, CA. June 2025
Refereed presenter of "Constituency statutes and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from major customer identities," at the CAAA Annual Conference. Toronto, CA. June 2025
Refereed presenter of "Dare to say No? Externalities of employee employment protection on financial misreporting," at the CAAA Annual Conference. Toronto, CA. June 2025
Invited discussant of "ESG and firm performance: A deep dive into community banks," at the CAAA Annual Conference. Toronto, CA. June 2025
Invited discussant of "Can machine learning improve goodwill impairment prediction?" at the AAA Spark Meeting. Virtual. June 2025
Refereed presenter of "Asymmetric cost behavior and corporate environmental commitments," at the AFAANZ Conference. Brisbane, AU. July 2025
Refereed presenter of "Constituency statutes and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from major customer identities," at the AFAANZ Conference. Brisbane, AU. July 2025
Refereed presenter of "Dare to say No? Externalities of employee employment protection on financial misreporting," at the AFAANZ Conference. Brisbane, AU. July 2025
Refereed presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at the Graduate Research Accounting Conference Emory. Atlanta, GA. July 2025
Invited discussant of "Does the element of surprise deter misconduct?" at the Graduate Research Accounting Conference Emory. Atlanta, GA. July 2025
Refereed presenter of "Constituency statutes and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from major customer identities," at the AAA Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. August 2025
Invited discussant of "Privacy lost? Consumer digital privacy and earnings benchmarks," at the AAA Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. August 2025
Refereed presenter of "Dare to say No? Externalities of employee employment protection on financial misreporting," at the AAA Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. August 2025
Refereed presenter of "Asymmetric cost behavior and corporate environmental commitments," at the AAA Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. August 2025
Invited discussant of "Social media engagement as non-financial indicator of firm performance: An empirical study," at the AAA Annual Conference. Chicago, IL. August 2025
Refereed presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at the ABR-Fudan Joint Conference. Shanghai, China. September 2025
Invited presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at Zhejiang University Research Workshop. Hangzhou, China. September 2025
Invited presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at University of International Business and Economics Research Workshop. Beijing, China. September 2025
Invited presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at University of Queensland Online Research Seminar. Virtual. September 2025
Invited presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at Monash University Online Research Seminar. Virtual. September 2025
Refereed presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Behavioral Finance & Economics. Virtual. September 2025
Refereed presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at the JAAF Symposium 2025. New York, NY. October 2025
Refereed presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at Boston Accounting Students Symposium. Boston, MA. October 2025
Invited presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at University of Arizona Research Workshop. Tucson, AZ. December 2025
Invited presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at Chinese University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Research Workshop. Shenzhen, China. December 2025
Invited presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Research Seminar. Shanghai, China. December 2025

2026

Refereed presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at Hawai'i Accounting Research Conference. Honolulu, HI. January 2026
Invited discussant of “Regulatory Impact on Cost Stickiness: A Multinational Analysis of Competition Law Effects,” at the Hawai‘i Accounting Research Conference. Honolulu, HI. January 2026
Refereed presenter of "Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at the AAA MAS Midyear Meeting. Nashville, TN. January 2026
Invited presenter of “Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?" at China Europe International Business School Research Seminar. Shanghai, China. January 2026
Refereed presenter of “Caught up in the AI rat race: Does technological peer pressure fuel AI washing or hushing?” at the AAA Joint Midyear Meeting of the AIS and SET Sections. Provo, UT. February 2026
Invited discussant of “Compliance in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI): The impact of the IRS’s AI use on taxpayer compliance,” at the AAA Joint Midyear Meeting of the AIS and SET Sections. Provo, UT. February 2026

Teaching

Instructor for ACC 424 Accounting Information System (Spring 2025)
- Instructor evaluation of two sections (80 students): Mean 4.1 and 4.2 out of 5.0 (Department Mean: 4.2)
- Course evaluation of two sections (80 students): Mean 4.1 and 4.1 out of 5.0 (Department Mean: 4.2)
- Student learning evaluation of two sections (80 students): Mean 4.3 and 4.5 out of 5.0 (Department Mean: 4.3)
- Selected qualitative student evaluations
  “Professor Ju was always willing to help students when they needed it… He took the feedback and immediately implemented it. He wants to see the best for his students and it was shown through his teachings and interactions with his students.”
  “He was very organized and presented the information multiple times so every student could succeed.”
  “He seemed very knowledgeable in what he was teaching.”
  “He gets to the point in a timely manner.”
  “Sent out daily reminders and always responded to emails in a timely manner.”
  “Professor Ju was consistently prepared for classes… and he made sure to post announcements before each lecture that explained exactly what was going to be discussed. He also posted plenty of review material before exams.”
  “If you were confused or needed help, he was always there… everything he taught made sense.”
  “Professor Zeyang Ju was extremely nice and respectful to students and I loved that about him. He was also really understanding which was amazing!”
  “Course announcements were informative. They helped me understand the concepts to be covered in the lectures and upcoming assignments.”
  “He had homeworks and quizzes reflect what we learned in lecture which made studying for exams and quizzes a lot easier.”