Data Privacy Risk
The School of Economics and Finance invites you to a seminar presented by Associate Professor Zheyao Pan from Macquarie University.
Authors: Daxuan Cheng, Ding Ding, Yin Liao, and Zheyao Pan
Abstract
Firms’ increasing reliance on personal data exposes them to an intangible risk: data privacy risk. We construct a firm-level measure, DPRisk, using textual analysis of earnings call transcripts. Unlike cybersecurity risk arising from external attacks, DPRisk captures internal corporate data governance concerns. The measure is higher in data-intensive industries, among regulation-exposed firms, and rises around major regulatory events and privacy incidents. Validation confirms DPRisk’s conceptual distinctiveness from existing measures. Economically, firms with elevated DPRisk earn lower abnormal announcement returns and face higher bank loan spreads. These findings establish data privacy risk as a priced and persistent dimension of corporate risk.
About Speaker
Dr. Zheyao (Terry) Pan is an Associate Professor of Finance at Macquarie University. His research has been published in the Review of Financial Studies, Research Policy, Journal of Corporate Finance, Financial Management, Journal of Financial Markets, and Journal of Banking & Finance, among other leading journals. Dr. Pan has received more than 10 competitive research awards and serves as an Associate Editor of Accounting & Finance and the Pacific-Basin Finance Journal. His research has also been featured in the Harvard Business Review and other media outlets.