In December 2021, the paper "International Board of Directors and Corporate Environmental Performance" written by bachlor-straight-to-doctorate student Zhang Ying (third author), supervisor Professor Du Xingqiang (first author) and two other collaborators was published in Accounting Research.

This paper studies the influence of international board of directors on corporate environmental performance, and examines the moderating effect of regional green development level. Based on the data of Chinese listed companies from 2008 to 2016, this paper finds that the international board of directors is significantly positively correlated with corporate environmental performance, and reveals that the international board of directors strengthens the moral motivation and strategic motivation of enterprises to assume environmental responsibility, thus improving corporate environmental performance. Furthermore, the level of regional green development weakens the positive relationship between international boards and corporate environmental performance. After a series of sensitivity tests and controlling for endogeneity between international boards and corporate environmental performance, this conclusion holds.

Zhang Ying is a 2017 PhD candidate in the Department of Accounting, School of Management, Xiamen University. Her supervisor is Professor Du Xingqiang. Her research interests include capital market accounting and auditing. She has published papers in Chinese and English academic journals such as Journal of Management & Organization, China Journal of Accounting Studies, Financial Research, Accounting Research, etc. She has participated in the research of major projects of National Social Science Foundation and National Natural Science Foundation, and participated in the compilation of a book. In 2022, she won the honor of "Ge Jiashu Scholarship".