To promote academic exchanges between teachers and students and expand students' knowledge, our department launched the 65th "Seminar Series for Accounting Teachers and Graduate Students of Xiamen University". On the afternoon of November 26, 2019, Professor Guoqing Zhang, deputy dean of our department and doctoral supervisor, presided over this seminar and introduced us to the lecturer-PhD student Zeyue Huang, and commented on her thesis "Are private entrepreneurs more conservative and stable in the ‘Year of fate’”.

At the beginning, Dr. Zeyue Huang introduced the research background of this article. Starting from the realistic background like "offend the God of Taisui in one’s year of fate" and "Mercury's retrograde", she elicited perceptions and expectations of risks, combined with a certain theoretical background, and focused on R&D investment of private enterprise, with the belief that private entrepreneurs are more conservative and stable in the year of fate.

Next, Dr. Zeyue Huang put forward two main logical hypotheses in this article. Based on the high risk of failure and uncertainty of investment returns in R&D investment, as well as the fact that he who in his year of fate tended to be less lucky, Dr. Zeyue Huang proposed the hypothesis that under the same conditions, private entrepreneurs will conduct business in the year of fate. Fewer R&D investment activities. Hypothesis 2 is based on the agency cost hypothesis and the risk diversification hypothesis. It is believed that the higher the share of private entrepreneurs, the stronger the inhibitory effect of the year of fate on R&D investment.

Dr. Zeyue Huang elaborated on her research design, and showed the results of descriptive statistics, Tobit regression model and further analysis. The regression results conformed the logical assumptions put forward in this article.

     Finally, Dr. Zeyue Huang gave the conclusions and enlightenment of the article. The saying that the year of fate is full of disasters has no scientific basis, so the stronger risk perception of private entrepreneurs in the year of fate is largely due to self-suggestion, which is irrational whether being right or wrong. As a result, the relevant research conclusions of this article can help private entrepreneurs break away the psychological barriers to business decision-making in the year of fate and avoid missing opportunities for enterprise development.

Afterwards, Dr. Chen Wenchuan commented on this article. First, he affirmed the value of this article in terms of fun and localization. Then, he put forward some debatable points on the choice of dependent variables, independent variables, and control variables.

     The research topic of this article triggered active discussions among the teachers and students present. They exchanged opinions with Dr. Zeyue Huang on the selection of sample data and whether social donations can be added to enrich the content of the article. Professor Guoqing Zhang also suggested strengthening the theoretical foundation, etc..

The report lasted for about an hour. The students present expressed their opinions on their own ideas. Teachers and students actively exchanged views on the issue. The academic atmosphere was strong. Finally, the meeting ended with warm applause.