Business PhD Spotlight: Xin Yang

Xin Yang is a researcher and PhD candidate in accounting at the University of Alberta’s School of Business whose work explores how corporate disclosures and firm actions directly shape real-world human behavior. Yang’s intellectual path bridges rigorous empirical methodology with hands-on capital markets experience across China, Europe and North America.

Yang’s journey began by earning a Bachelor of Arts in Financial Management from Donghua University in Shanghai, China.

“My interest in data-driven inquiry began during undergraduate research assistantships that put me in direct contact with data collection, sample construction, and empirical testing,” says Yang.

Following graduation, Yang spent time in Shanghai working at Deloitte as an Audit Associate before moving into the private equity sector as an Associate. These two roles provided contrasting perspectives on corporate reporting: audit focused on whether a firm's disclosures were supported by verifiable evidence, while private equity examined what those reports meant for firm valuation and stakeholder reaction. Realizing that these competing perspectives could be rigorously tested with data rather than merely argued over, Yang resolved to pursue a career in academic research.

Yang moved to France to complete a two-year thesis-based master’s at the Toulouse School of Economics, with a first-year concentration in economics and a second-year concentration in finance, culminating in a finance thesis. In 2022, he joined the doctoral program at the Alberta School of Business, drawn by its faculty’s strength in archival, data-heavy accounting research, the vibrant city of Edmonton, and a generous scholarship covering tuition and living expenses.

Supervised by associate professor Ke Wang, Yang’s dissertation investigates how corporate disclosure and events affect everyday stakeholders. Recognizing that stock market movements and surveys are often a step removed from direct human action, he matched securities class action lawsuits filed between 2018 and 2024 with monthly foot traffic at retail stores using mobile phone location data.

“My initial findings reveal that foot traffic drops significantly following lawsuits that eventually settle for real money, whereas lawsuits that are thrown out generate no change in customer visits,” says Yang.

An active participant in top academic forums — including the CAR (Contemporary Accounting Research) Doctoral Consortium and the CAAA (Canadian Academic Accounting Association) Craft Workshop — Yang is completing a doctorate with plans to enter academia, continuing his empirical research into corporate transparency and market behavior.

Xin Yang joined the Alberta School of Business in 2022 as a PhD student in Accounting and is supervised by associate professor Ke Wang.