A Review of the Use of LinkedIn in Accounting Studies

LinkedIn has emerged as a valuable data source for researchers in the accounting and financial fields. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of studies that utilize LinkedIn data to investigate various aspects related to accounting and financial analysis. It summarizes the key findings of each study and discusses improvements that LinkedIn data has brought to these research endeavors. The review covers research on the use of LinkedIn profile photos (Li et al., 2020; Peng et al., 2022), connections (Li et al., 2023), individual characteristics, such as educational background, work experience, gender, and competency (e.g., Lang et al., 2024; Lee et al., 2022; Renschler et al., 2023), survey recruitment for accounting studies (Eulerich et al., 2022; Libby & Rennekamp, 2016), and other usage (Belnap, 2023; Chen et al., 2021). The insights provided by this review underscore the importance of LinkedIn as a valuable data source in the accounting domain, promising further advancements and illuminating key phenomena within the industry.