Sijia Fan joined Telfer in 2026 as an assistant professor in accounting and management. Her research focuses on how investors and businesses respond to emerging environmental risks, and how these responses shape financial decisions and market outcomes. We interviewed her to learn more about her research interests.
Why did you choose to study accounting and finance? Was there any personal motivation behind your research interests in this area?
Growing up, I was curious about how economic decisions shape the world around us. In college, the BP oil spill inspired my undergraduate thesis on how environmental disasters affect companies and financial markets. I became fascinated by how major shocks can have lasting consequences for businesses and investors. That experience led me to study how firms and investors respond to environmental risks.
How does your PhD training inform your current research?
During my PhD, I became increasingly interested in why the same shock can have very different consequences for different businesses. Across my research, I learned to combine financial data with information on where businesses operate, how they’re insured and what they communicate to investors, including in my work on firms recovering from major floods. This helped shape my research: I try to understand not only what happens in financial markets but also what those changes mean for businesses and communities.
Do you have any new research highlights to share? Are there any interesting publications in the pipeline or new projects that you’re excited about?
One project I’m especially excited about examines how companies disclose biodiversity-related risks to investors. We distinguish between firms that explicitly acknowledge these risks and those who acknowledge the risks more indirectly through their financial statements. We find that investors react more strongly to risk information that appears indirectly in financial statements, as it may provide earlier signals of emerging issues. Companies, however, tend to discuss these risks directly only after they become more apparent. This highlights how both the timing and form of disclosure influence how markets interpret biodiversity risk.
How can your research influence business communities in Canada?
My research can help Canadian businesses better understand and prepare for emerging environmental risks. By studying how firms recover from disasters, communicate environmental risks and respond to investor expectations, I hope to provide useful insights for business leaders, investors and policymakers. These insights can support better decision-making around risk management, disclosure and investment while helping businesses become more resilient as environmental risks play an increasingly important role in financial and operational decisions.
