Gefen, O., Reeb, D. & Sulaeman, J. (2023) Startups’ demand for accounting expertise: evidence from a randomized field experiment. Review of Accounting Studies, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11142-023-09775-8

This paper examines whether startup companies prefer investors with accounting expertise. To test this, we conducted an experiment with over 13,000 startup companies in the US, sending them emails pretending to be interested investors, some with accounting certifications (CPA) and some without any special credentials. As a result, we found that the startups were more likely to respond to the emails from the investors with CPA certifications. This preference held even when the investors pretended to be different types of investors, such as angel investors or venture capitalists. This shows that startups value accounting expertise in their investors significantly. In a follow-up experiment, we found that startups preferred CPA-certified investors over those with a general business degree (MBA), reinforcing the importance of accounting expertise to them.

Lin, Y., Qin, Y., Sulaeman, J., Yan, J., & Zhang, J. (2023). Expanding footprints: The impact of passenger transportation on corporate locations. Review of Finance, 2023, 27, 1119–1154. https://doi.org/10.1093/rof/rfac049 

Transportation plays a vital role in shaping where businesses thrive and grow. This study explores how making travel more convenient can help businesses expand into new areas and enhance communication between investors and companies. We focus on the effects of improving passenger travel in China through the High-Speed Rail (HSR) system. Using over 1 million firm-to-firm investment observations over the 12-year period, we find that when two cities are directly connected by HSR, the number of investments between them increases significantly by 8%, and the amount of investment grows by 45%. These results hold even when we account for differences between city pairs and local factors that might influence HSR route choices. Our results suggest that improved monitoring and access to information are essential drivers of the HSR’s effects.

Sulaeman, J., & Zhang, W. (2023). Carbon credits: Catalyzing green finance. Bank of Singapore (BOS) and Ernst & Young Global Limited (EY). https://www.bankofsingapore.com/managed-resources/pdf/BOS-EY-ESG%20report%20on%20Carbon%20Credits_2023.pdf

Agarwal, S., Sing, T. F., & Yang, Y. (2020). The impact of transboundary haze pollution on household utilities consumption. Energy Economics, 85(104591), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2019.104591

This paper investigates how air pollution impacts household water and electricity consumption in Singapore, using transboundary haze pollution from Indonesian forest fires as an external factor. Our findings reveal that heightened levels of haze pollutants in the air result in significant increases in water and electricity usage. This happens because, during severe haze periods, households tend to stay indoors, curtail outdoor activities to minimize health risks, and intensify efforts to mitigate these risks when necessary. Our analysis of social media data, particularly Twitter tweets, indicates that higher water and electricity consumption is associated with more negative emotions and perceptions of air pollution. The effects on utility consumption are also linked to the duration of air pollution, with short-term effects returning to normal quickly. However, longer periods of air pollution lead to sustained higher utility consumption for up to two months, reflecting increased spending on water and electricity due to air pollution events.

Lam, S. S., Zhang, W., & Chien, C. Y. K. (2018). Can corporate social responsibility fill institutional voids. In P.S Hoffmann (Ed.), Firm Value-Theory and Empirical Evidence (2nd ed.). IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76164

Our study responds to the need for a deeper comprehension of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)’s underlying mechanisms, especially at the institutional level. Using 134,823 observations of 2542 firms across 44 countries from 2009 to 2014, we observed that CSR has a more significant positive impact on firm value in markets where there are significant institutional gaps (e.g., absence of financial reportage or monitoring systems). In strong institutional frameworks, however, the results were mixed; for these results, we recommend firms pursue CSR initiatives that are likely to enhance value and align well with their existing core competencies.

Agarwal, S., Rengarajan, S., Sing, T. F., & Yang, Y. (2017). Nudges from school children and electricity conservation: Evidence from the “Project Carbon Zero” campaign in Singapore. Energy Economics, 61, 29-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2016.10.014

In our study, we explore the effectiveness of children in influencing their parents’ energy consumption behavior. Utilizing the “Project Carbon Zero” campaign in Singapore as a quasi-experiment, we investigate the impact of schoolchildren’s nudges on conveying electricity conservation messages to homes. Our results, based on a 2km home–school distance identification, show that families within 2km of participating schools (treatment group) used 1.8% less electricity during the contest compared to those outside this zone (control group). Additionally, the electricity savings persisted, with an estimated marginal reduction of 1.6% in the post-campaign months. These findings suggest that, as an alternative to monetary interventions, we, as policymakers and energy conservation advocates, can effectively employ schoolchildren’s nudges in public campaigns to drive behavioral changes in electricity conservation among families.