Mr Pengfei Gao

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

• Corporate Governance
• Behavioural Corporate Finance
• Sustainable Finance
• Corporate Innovation
• Financial Technology
• Textual Analysis

Supervisors

Professor Arman Eshraghi; Dr Izidin El Kalak; Professor Jason Zezhong Xiao.

Working papers

• [01] Financial Technophilia: Markets and Corporate Disclosure of Emerging Technologies
  
  • (with Arman Eshraghi, lzidin El Kalak, and Jason Zezhong Xiao)
    • 2022 2nd WPGRC
    • 2022 WDNA-ATI Workshop
    • 2022 2023 Tri-University Annual Conference, Newcastle University, Xiamen University
    • 2023 University of Birmingham Research Seminar
    • 2023 16th BFWG Annual Conference
    • 2023 2nd CINSC (FFEA)
    • 2023 University of Bath Research Seminar
• [02] The Disclosure of Emerging Technologies and Stock Price Crash Risk
  
  • (with Arman Eshraghi, lzidin El Kalak, and Jason Zezhong Xiao)
    • 2023 BAFA Northern Area Group (NAG) Annual Conference
    • 2023 45th EAA Annual Congress
    • 2023 2nd International FinTech Conference
• [03] CSR Report Capture of Government Policy Orientation Leads to Investment Efficiency
  • (with Huiqun Feng and Jason Zezhong Xiao)
• [04] Green trees are good for shade: CSR reporting and Corporate Risk
  • (with Huiqun Feng, Mengjia Li and Zaixin Chen)
• [05] Administrative Monopoly and State-owned Enterprise Innovation: Evidence from the Fair Competition Review System in China
  • (with Xingquan Yang, Kexin Zhang and Guanming Liao)
  • R&R, International Review of Financial and Analysis
• [06] Will a Company Cherish Its Feathers? Empirical Evidence From the Administrative Sanction of an Audit Firm
  • (with Kexin Zhang and Danglun Luo) 
    • 2019 CAAA Annual Meeting

 

Thesis

Market Reaction to Corporate Disclosures

The literature identifies that investor overreact to the corporate disclosure of Blockchain during the Blockchain mania. However, emerging technologies (hereafter ETs) are not always monolithic. Assuming that investors are all Fintech fans and ignoring the blossoming of other ETs fails to capture the true investor reaction to firms making disclosures related to ETs. Thus, this thesis examines investor reactions to corporate disclosure of a broad range of ETs using the Gartner Hype Cycle, which is a collection of ETs updated annually. Focusing on all US firms’ initial 8-K filing each year during 2010 to 2019, this research uses textual analysis to find firms disclosing ETs.

First, I use an event study method to investigate the short-term and long-term reaction of investors to the disclosure of ETs. While the short-term reaction of investors is positive, this will be reversed shortly. Further, the Gartner Hype Cycle categorises ETs into five different phases according to the level of market hype, which provides the conditions for this research to compare the differences in market reactions to a firm’s disclosure of ETs at different phases.

Second, this research illustrates that the reason for the reversal of the long-term investor reaction to ETs disclosures is insider selling and further validate the robustness of the results when other events are excluded. The research also suggests that investors react negatively in the short-term to the intensity and frequency of ETs’ disclosure. Regarding the different phases of market hype, investors’ positive reaction in the short-term can only be observed for the disclosure of ETs at the ‘innovation trigger’ and the ‘peak of inflated’ phases while investors’ negative reaction in the short-term can only be observed for the disclosure of ETs at the ‘peak of inflated’ phase.

Third, this research demonstrates that the disclosure of ETs increases stock price crash risk. Although according to signalling theory investors would see the disclosure as a possibility for the firm to actively participate in the technological wave for growth, the increased level of information asymmetry due to hidden potential risks and uncertainties leads to an increased risk of a share price crash. The relationship is made more pronounced by investors’ short-term fervour for such disclosures and CEOs’ overconfidence. However, this situation was reversed when the firm chose to disclose ETs at the phase of ‘plateau of productivity’.

Teaching

• BST153 Research Methods (EViews and STATA Workshop) (MSc Accounting and Finance) (2019/20, 2020/21)
• BS1501 Applied Stats and Maths in ECON and Business (Tutorial) (Undergraduate, year1) (2020/21)
• BST950 Accounting and Finance in Context (Tutorial) (MSc Accounting and Finance) (2021/22)
• Financial Reporting, The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)

Biography

Education

• PhD in Finance, Cardiff University, 2023
• MSc in Social Science Research Methods, Cardiff University, 2019
• MSc in Accounting and Finance, Cardiff University, 2018
• BSc in Financial Management, Shandong Technology and Business University, 2016

Professional memberships

• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA)
• Member of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA)
• Member of the Behavioural Finance Working Group (BFWG), Queen Mary University of London
• Member of the Financial Management Association International (FMA)
• Member of the European Accounting Association (EAA)
• Postgraduate student of the Cardiff Corporate Governance Research Group (CCGRG), Cardiff Fintech Research Group, and Centre for China Business Research (CCBR).

Speaking engagements

*c indicates co-author presentation

• Cardiff-Newcastle-Xiamen Conference and Centre for China Business Research Symposium, Cardiff Business School, 2019
• China Accounting Association Annual Conference, 2019, c
• Cardiff Business School Accounting and Finance Reading Group, 2021
• Welsh Postgraduate Research Conference (WPGRC), Cardiff Business School, 2022
• WDNA-ATI Introductory Workshop for the Economy and Finance, Cardiff Business School, 2022, c
• Tri-University Annual Conference: Recovery and Rebalancing, Newcastle, 2022, c
• BAFA Northern Area Group (NAG) Annual Conference, Nottingham, 2023
• Research Seminar, University of Birmingham, 2023, c
• The 45th Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association (EAA), Finland, 2023
• Behavioural Finance Working Group 16th Annual Conference, London, 2023
• 2nd Conference on INternational Finance: Sustainable and Climate Finance and Growth, 2023, c
• Research Seminar, University of Bath, 2023, c
• Cardiff-Newcastle-Xiamen Conference, Xiamen University, 2023, c
• 2nd Cardiff Fintech Conference, 2023

Committees and reviewing

• Reviewer, International Review of Financial Analysis

Supervisors