Theme: From Text Attention to Governance Capability, How Does AI Reshape the Transmission of Accounting Information and Internal Control?

Lecturer: Professor Vernon Richardson, Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, USA

Host: Professor He Li ,School of Accounting, Southwest University of Finance and Economics

Time: 15:00 - 16:00 on Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Venue: Conference Room 650, Chengzheng Building, Liulin Campus

Sponsor: Research Team on Major Basic Theories and Practical Innovations in the Digital Economy, Research Team on the Innovation of Theories and Method Systems of Finance and Accounting with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, School of Accounting, and Scientific Research Office

Biography of the Lecturer: Professor Vernon Richardson is a distinguished professor at the Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, and the head of the accounting department. His research focuses on the intersection of information technology, big data analysis, and accounting. He is one of the most outstanding scholars in the field of accounting information systems in the United States. His research findings have been published in UTD24 journals such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Economics, MIS Quarterly, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Operations Management, as well as FT50 journals such as Contemporary Accounting Research and Journal of Management Information Systems. He once served as the editor-in-chief of  The Accounting Review and currently serves as the editor-in-chief of Accounting Horizons. In terms of teaching, Professor Richardson has published textbooks such as Accounting Information Systems and Data Analytics for Accounting. Among them, the textbook Data Analytics for Accounting is an original textbook in the field of big data accounting and has been widely used at home and abroad.

Content Summary: To encourage in-depth thinking and communication, we also hope that the participating students can select an academic paper related to AI and prepare a brief presentation of about 5 minutes, focusing on the "incremental contribution" of the paper, that is, what new insights it has proposed compared with existing research and what unsolved problems it has addressed. This is a relaxed exchange, not a formal report. The form is not limited, and the content is also not limited, aiming to create an atmosphere of ideological collision and help everyone establish an interdisciplinary academic perspective. Artificial intelligence is gradually intervening in the core areas of accounting. It is no longer just an information extraction tool but has become a key force influencing investors' behavior and the effectiveness of organizational governance. This lecture focuses on two pieces of cutting-edge research to explore how AI can accurately capture the focus of market attention and improve the quality of internal control of enterprises.

Paper 1: Learning Fundamentals from Text

This research proposes an innovative method based on the attention mechanism to identify the content that investors are most concerned about when processing corporate text disclosures. The study finds that compared with traditional models, the attention model has significant advantages in explaining market reactions. The research constructs a detailed annual report topic system and finds that the topics that investors are most concerned about are: segment information, goodwill and intangible assets, revenue and operating profit; while the topics of "sustainability" and "corporate governance" that are highly discussed have extremely low market attention. In addition, enterprises can guide investors' attention by strategically arranging the presentation position of information in the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A), and regulatory intervention can help improve the market relevance of the disclosed text.

Paper 2: AI-accounting capability and internal control effectiveness

This study, with the help of the "dynamic capabilities theory" and the "resource coordination theory", proposes that AI-accounting capability is a dynamically adaptable resource that helps enterprises improve the effectiveness of internal control in financial reports. By analyzing the job requirements for the composite skills of AI and accounting in enterprise recruitment, an AI-accounting capability index is constructed. The results show that enterprises with stronger AI-accounting capabilities have fewer problems with IT control deficiencies and perform more stably, especially in a fluctuating external environment. It is worth noting that this influence is more significant in enterprises with strong "management capabilities", emphasizing the key role of managers in the deployment of AI resources.