Contemporary Issues in Sustainability Reporting Symposium 2025

Welcome

The Market Value of Pay Gaps: Evidence from EEO-1 Disclosures

Presenter: Crystal Shi, HEC Paris 

Discussant: Emma Wang, Cornell University 

Moderator: Daniel Kim

Keynote: Zacharias Sautner, University of Zurich and Swiss Finance Institute

Moderator: Amar Mahmoud

Investor Coalitions as Information Intermediaries: Evidence from Nature Action 100

Presenter: Amar Mahmoud, University of Waterloo  

Discussant: Xi Li, LSE 

Moderator: Muhammad Arim

Climate Disclosure in Financial Statements

Presenter: Thorsten Sellhorn, Ludwig-Maximilians-University 

Discussant: Muhammad Azim, University of Waterloo 

Moderator: Joyce Tian

Panel: The Recognition of Climate Risks in Financial Statements

Panelists: Thorsten Sellhorn, Alison Joutsi, Brian Minns and Jessica Carradine

Moderator: Liz Demers

Skill Mismatch Over The Technology Lifecycle

Presenter: Daniel Kim, University of Waterloo 

Discussant: Peter Haslag, Vanderbilt University

Moderator: Mingyue Zhang

Keynote: Khrystyna Bochkay, University of Miami

Moderator: Majid Mirza

Update from the ISSB: Khrystyna Bochkay, ISSB

U.S. States’ Financial Vulnerability to Extreme Weather Disasters: The Role of States’ Support for Climate Action

Presenter: Sandra Vera-Muñoz, University of Notre Dame

Discussant: Jurian Hendrikse, IÉSEG

Moderator: Liz Demers

Human Capital Disclosure and Workforce Turnover

Presenter: Peter Haslag, Vanderbilt University

Discussant: Anthony Le, University of Chicago

Moderator: Daniel Kim

Khrystyna Bochkay is an Associate Professor of Accounting at the University of Miami (UM) and serves as an academic advisor to the technical staff at the International Sustainability Standards Board within the IFRS Foundation.

Her research interests include financial and sustainability reporting, capital markets, forecasting, investor behavior, textual analysis, and artificial intelligence. Recently, she has studied companies' voluntary adoption of sustainability standards and the evolving landscape of sustainability reporting.

Her work has been published in leading academic journals, including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Review of Accounting Studies, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance, and Foundations and Trends in Accounting. Her research has also been presented at different accounting conferences and workshops in the US and worldwide and featured in media articles and podcasts.

Zacharias Sautner is Professor of Sustainable Finance at the Department of Banking and Finance of the University of Zurich (UZH) and a senior chair at the Swiss Finance Institute (SFI). Through his research on ESG topics such as climate change or biodiversity, he provides insights on how finance can contribute to a more sustainable future. He enjoys spreading his sustainable finance views in keynote speeches around the world. 

His research was published in leading international journals, and he was ranked #23 globally across 12,000 business authors in a ranking based on SSRN research paper downloads (January 2023, calculated over the past 12 months,). His research has been cited more than 6,000 times according to Google Scholar and his expertise is referenced in newspapers such as Wall Street Journal, New York Times, or Financial Times, and in reports by the IMF, ECB, or European Commission as well as in speeches by central bankers.

Sautner acts as Associate Editor at the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Banking & Finance, Financial Management, and Journal of Corporate Finance. He is also a Regular Research Visitor at the ECB and advises institutional investors on ESG issues.

He is the proud father of three daughters (born 2017, 2019, 2021), making him intrinsically motivated to work hard for a sustainable future.

Amar is a fourth-year Ph.D. student at the University of Waterloo's School of Accounting and Finance. He obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Accounting from the Schulich School of Business. He received his CPA designation while working at EY's audit practice. Amar's current research interests are in non-GAAP disclosures, investor relations, and shareholder coalitions.

Crystal Shi, Ph.D., CPA, CMA, is an Assistant Professor in the Accounting and Management Control Department at HEC Paris. Her research bridges corporate governance and labor economics, examining how board structures, labor practices, and corporate disclosures affect both shareholders and stakeholders. She has published in leading academic journals, with work featured by media outlets and professional forums. At HEC Paris, she teaches across MBA, EMBA, and Grande École programs and voluntarily mentors MBA students on leadership and navigating workplace bias.

Daniel Kim is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the School of Accounting and Finance, University of Waterloo. He graduated with a Ph.D. in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Daniel’s research interests are in topics related to ESG, empirical corporate finance, and applied econometrics.

Sandra Vera-Muñoz is an Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. She holds appointments as an EY Faculty Fellow and a Faculty Fellow at the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership. She is also the former Deloitte Foundation Department Chair of Accountancy. 

Professor Vera-Muñoz teaches Corporate Sustainability Reporting at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. She received the 2022 Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the 2022 Mendoza Mission Research Award. In 2021, she was named to the 2021 Notre Dame All-Faculty Team.

Her research examines climate-risk disclosures and investor judgment and decision-making. She employs both empirical-archival and empirical-behavioral methodologies. She currently serves on the editorial board of Accountability in a Sustainable World Quarterly and has previously served on the editorial boards of The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, and the Journal of International Accounting Research,among others.

Professor Vera-Muñoz chaired the 2023 AAA/AACSB/RRBM Award Committee for Research Impacting Societal Challenges and currently serves on the AAA/Research and Publications Committee. She has also served on the AAA/Grant Thornton Doctoral Dissertation Award Committee and the New Faculty Consortium Planning Committee.

She received a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Puerto Rico, an MBA from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin. Her dissertation on accounting knowledge and opportunity costs received the AAA/ABO Outstanding Dissertation Award.

Alison is a sustainability professional with significant experience building ESG programs and managing sustainability risks and opportunities for corporate clients. Her diverse background in law, business and communication allows her to build ESG strategies that integrate with existing corporate goals and priorities generating long-term return on investment. She is regularly called upon to present to Boards and speak at various conferences on Sustainability regulation, disclosure, climate risk and is a frequent guest lecturer to students on Sustainability strategy and reporting.

Emma Wang is an assistant professor of accounting at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Her research interests focus on corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, ESG standard setting, and sustainable financing. Her research aims to contribute to the understanding of ESG developments, stipulate discussions, and facilitate policy making. Her work, “Public environmental enforcement and private lender monitoring: Evidence from environmental covenants” has been published at the Journal of Accounting and Economics.

Professor Wang received her degree in accounting at Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Before joining the PhD program, she worked as an associate at a leading economic consulting company, Charles River Associates. Wang earned her B.Comdegree in finance and economics and her MA degree in economics at the University of Toronto. She is also a certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM).

Joshua T. White is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. His research focuses on corporate governance, securities regulation, auditing, and financial markets, and has appeared in leading journals such as the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and The Accounting Review. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on issues related to corporate governance and disclosure regulations, and his work has been cited by policymakers, courts, and major media outlets.

Jurian Hendrikse is an Assistant Professor of Sustainability Reporting in the Accounting Department at IÉSEG School of Management. He received his PhD from Tilburg University. His research focuses on the determinants and consequences of firms’ sustainability reporting and performance. His research has been covered by international news outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and Bloomberg.

Muhammad Azim obtained his PhD from the Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto. Prior to this, he was an auditor with Deloitte. His doctoral thesis investigates the effect of ETFs on executive compensation. Currently, Muhammad has several projects investigating the interlinking relationship between government procurement contracts and supplier ESG performance and news.

Peter Haslag is an Assistant Professor at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, having joined Owen after graduating from Washington University’s Olin School of Business. His research has been published in top journals including the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and Management Science. His research interests include empirical corporate finance, human capital, and financial markets.

Dr. Xi Li is an Associate Professor of Accounting at the London School of Economics. She earned her PhD in Accounting from the London Business School and specializes in financial reporting and disclosure, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and shareholder engagement on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. Her research has been published in leading accounting and finance journals and has received numerous awards, including the First Prize in the Brandes Institute Research Paper Contest, the International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM) Research Award, the Moskowitz Prize for Socially Responsible Investing, and the FIR-PRI Award for Best Published Research Article. Her work has been cited by major media outlets and referenced in regulatory documents. Dr. Li also serves on the Technical Advisory Board Member of the Transition Pathway Initiative Centre and is a research fellow at both the Centre for Endowment Asset Management at the Cambridge Judge Business School and the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI).