Academic Events

Unreadable Political Trades

11:30 am - 13:00 pm, April 10, 2026 (Friday)

Room 503, Teaching Complex A Building

Xiaoyun Yu

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Legislators can disclose their stock trading transactions through either typed electronic filings (machine readable) or handwritten/hand-delivered then scanned filings (largely “unreadable”), in the latter of which information is more difficult to disseminate and less readily accessible. Using a novel dataset of congressional trading from 2014 to 2022, we show that compared to trades reported in readable filings, trades from unreadable filings are more profitable, involve a larger number of stocks and greater trading volume, are more likely to be executed through a legislator’s spouse or children, and are filed less promptly. Prior to economically sizable legislative events, trades extracted from any two politicians’ unreadable filings exhibit significant similarity. Individuals with highly “unreadable” political connections are more likely to co sponsor a bill in the near future. Our findings highlight the role of strategic disclosure in legislative trades and identify political networks embedded in unreadable filings that remain undetectable through readable filings or known political connections.

Dr. Xiaoyun Yu is a Chair Professor of Finance and Deputy Dean at Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance (SAIF) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI), and a fellow of the Asian Bureau of Finance and Economic Research (ABFER). Prior to joining SAIF, she was a professor of finance and Arthur M. Weimer Faculty Fellow at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University.

Professor Yu's research interests are in the areas of theoretical and empirical corporate finance, with a focus on information economics, initial public offering, financial institutions and systems, and political economy of finance. She has published over 20 articles in leading academic journals, including Journal of Finance, Journal of Business, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Management Science, and Journal of Accounting and Economics. Professor Yu is the author and co-author of several book chapters for Social Security Reform in China, and Volume of Finance, Frontiers of Western Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

Professor Yu's research has won several awards and has been featured in various media outlets, including the CNBC, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. She has served as the program chair, track chair, committee member of many top academic conferences. She currently serves as co-editor-in-chief of Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, and associate editor of Management Science, Journal of Financial Intermediation, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, and Journal of Empirical Finance. She serves as an Editorial Review Board member of Journal of International Business Studies.

Professor Yu received her Ph.D. in Finance from University of Minnesota.