Seminar (Dept. of Accounting)

Title：Friends and Machines: The Value of Management Access in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Speaker: Mengqiao Du, Assistant Professor, the National University of Singapore

Time：10:00-11:30, June 6th, 2025 (Friday)

Venue：Room 1007, Mingde Business Building

Language：Chinese & English

ABSTRACT:

As Generative AI significantly enhances access to and processing of public information, it remains unclear whether private communication through management access continues to offer informational value. We examine this question by leveraging the public release of ChatGPT as an exogenous shock to AI availability for Wall Street analysts during the immediate post-earnings period, when timely information processing is critical to issuing next-quarter forecasts. Analysts with executive connections through school ties issue more accurate earnings forecasts after AI adoption compared to their unconnected counterparts. This effect disappears during unexpected ChatGPT outages and is stronger among analysts more inclined to use AI. Further analyses suggest that AI helps connected analysts better utilize direct communication with executives and mitigate limited attention during concurrent earnings announcements. Our findings highlight the nuanced interplay between men and machines, showing that private communication remains a valuable and increasingly complementary information channel in the age of advanced AI.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY:

Dr. Mengqiao Du is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the National University of Singapore. Her research examines how social dynamics and behavioral factors influence decision-making in capital markets, with a particular focus on gender and institutional investors. She has published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of Accounting & Economics, Review of Finance, and Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. Her work has been featured in media outlets including Institutional Investor and Yahoo Finance, and has been presented at major academic conferences such as the American Finance Association Annual Meeting, SFS Cavalcade, and the Hawaii Accounting Research Conference. She also actively contributes to the field through conference discussions and referee service for journals such as Contemporary Accounting Research and Management Science.