Title: Invisible Threats, Visible Losses: LLMs-Analysed Supply Chain Cybersecurity Risk and Corporate Product Market Power

Speaker: Liu Jia, Fellow of the British Academy of Management, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Accounting and Finance Association, PhD in Economics from University of Birmingham, Professor of Accounting and Finance and Director of the Centre for Innovation and Sustainable Finance at University of Portsmouth. She previously worked at University of Leeds and University of Sheffield. Her research spans corporate finance, behavioral finance, fintech, big data, accounting disclosure and sustainability. She has published over 80 papers in top international journals including 16 ABS 4 / FT50 publications and authored monographs on corporate governance and decision-making. She serves as Chair of the British Accounting and Finance Association and Executive Committee Member of the British Academy of Management, and acts as a consultant for the UK Co-Op Bank and Sino-EU public administration projects. She holds editorial roles for numerous SSCI journals and has organized more than 50 international conferences.

Abstract: We examine how supply chain cybersecurity risk (SCCR) affects firms’ competitive performance in product markets. Using large language models (LLMs) and text analysis of Chinese media reports from 2011–2024, we construct a novel firm–level measure of SCCR. Building on incomplete contract theory, we find that higher SCCR creates contractual frictions and financing constraints that impair firm’s competitive positioning and strategic market outcomes. Mechanism analyses indicate that SCCR primarily operates through two channels: disrupting product quality management and constraining commercial trade credit financing. The adverse effects are more pronounced among firms with greater supply chain bargaining power, higher consumer exposure, downstream positions in industrial chains, and weaker regional supply chain infrastructure. Digital strategic alliances with suppliers and stronger digital risk governance attenuate these effects, whereas alliances with customers amplify them. Overall, our findings reveal how cybersecurity vulnerabilities embedded in supply chains translate into tangible product market losses, offering new insights into digital risk management and competitive dynamics in the digital economy.

Date & time: 09 June 2026, 14:00 - 16:00

Venue: B321, Zhixin Building, Central Campus, SDU