Desmond Tsang

PhD, Real Estate and Accounting, University of California, Berkeley, USA
MSc, Business Administration, University of California, Berkeley, USA
MA, Financial Economics, University of Toronto, Canada
BCom, Accounting and Finance, University of Toronto, Canada
Professor Tsang is an Associate Professor in Accounting. He began his career in the auditing department at Deloitte and Touche in Hong Kong and later worked as an economist at the Ontario Ministry of Finance in Canada. Subsequently he pursued his PhD studies at the University of California at Berkeley, majoring in real estate and accounting. His research in the area of real estate specializes in Real Estate Investment Trusts and International Real Estate. His research interests in accounting include Earnings Management, Financial Fraud & Firm Location. Professor Tsang has published in real estate and accounting journals, including top journals such as Review of Accounting Studies, Real Estate Economics, Journal of Real Estate Research and Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics. He has presented his research findings at various conferences and has received best paper awards. In 2015, he received the Aareal Award of Excellence in Real Estate Research.
Professor Tsang is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the US and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). His teaching interests include Intermediate Financial Accounting at the undergraduate level & Financial Statement & Financial Reporting at the graduate level. He was nominated for the Principal's Prize for Excellence in Teaching at the university level twice in 2009 and 2013. He was chosen by students of the Management Undergraduate Society as the Professor of the Year 2012 for implications in students’ lives. Recently, he received the Desautels Distinguished Teaching Award for undergraduate teaching for the second time in 2018, after having won the Award back in 2010. In 2019, he received the first MMF Teaching Award, for excellence in teaching in the Masters of Management in Finance program.
Papers in Peer-Reviewed Journals
Gao, Y., J.-B. Kim, D. Tsang and H. Wu, "Go Before the Whistle Blows: An Empirical Analysis of Director Turnover and Financial Fraud," Review of Accounting Studies, 22, 1, 320-360, 2017
Devos, E., S. Rahman and D. Tsang, "Debt Covenants and the Speed of Capital Structure Adjustment," Journal of Corporate Finance, 45, 1-18, 2017
Ben-Shahar, D., E. Solganik and D. Tsang, "Does IFRS 10 on Consolidated Financial Statements Abandon Accepted Economic Principles?" Australian Accounting Review, 26, 4, 341-345, 2016
Chen, W., Y. Gao, M. Kaul, C. Leung and D. Tsang, "The Role of External Management and Sponsor on the Capital Structure of Asian-Pacific REITs: The Case of Australia, Japan, and Singapore," International Real Estate Review, 19, 2, 197-221, 2016
Deng, Y., E. Devos, S. Rahman and D. Tsang, "The Role of Debt Covenants in Investment Grade Bond Market - The REIT Experiment," Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 52, 4, 428-448, 2016
Cheung, W.M.Y., J. Lei and D. Tsang, "Does Property Transaction Matter in the Price Discovery of Real Estate Markets?" International Real Estate Review, 19, 1, 27-49, 2016
Lu, C., Chiou, M.-H. and D. Tsang, "The Impact of Property Luxury Tax on Related Publicly-Traded Company: The Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Real Estate (in Chinese), 2, 1, 2015
Devos, E., A. Spieler and D. Tsang, “Elective Stock Dividends and REITs: Evidence from the Financial Crisis,” Real Estate Economics, 42, 1, 33-70, 2014
Anglin, P., R. Edelstein, Y. Gao and D. Tsang, “What is the Relationship between REIT Governance and Earnings Management?” Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 47, 3, 538-568, 2013
Devos, E., S.E. Ong, A. Spieler and D. Tsang, “REIT Institutional Ownership Dynamics and the Financial Crisis,” Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 47, 2, 266-288, 2013
Edelstein, R., S. Fortin and D. Tsang, “An International Exploration of Financial Reporting Practices in the Real Estate Industry,” International Real Estate Review, 15, 3, 347-372, 2012
Ben-Shahar, D., E. Solganik and D. Tsang, “Funds from Operations versus Net Income: Examining the Dividend-Relevance of REIT Performance Measures,” Journal of Real Estate Research, 33, 3, 415-442, 2011
Edelstein, R., W. Qian and D. Tsang, “How Do Institutional Factors Affect International Real Estate Returns?” Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 43, 1-2, 130-151, 2011
Anglin, P., R. Edelstein, Y. Gao and D. Tsang, “How Does Corporate Governance Affect the Quality of Investor Information? The Curious Case of REITs,” Journal of Real Estate Research, 33, 1, 1-24, 2011
Ge, W., D. Drury, S. Fortin, F. Liu and D. Tsang, “Value Relevance of Disclosed Related Party Transactions,” Advances in Accounting, 26, 134-141, 2010
Bardhan, A. D., R. Edelstein and D. Tsang, “Global Economic and Financial Integration and Real Estate Security Returns,” Real Estate Economics, 36, 2, 285- 311, 2008
Edelstein, R. and D. Tsang, “Dynamic Residential Housing Cycles Analysis,” Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 35, 3, 295-313, 2007
Books and Edited Volumes
Contributor: Lo & Fisher, "Intermediate Accounting," 2nd Edition, 2013
Awards
Research
2017: Best Paper Award on Innovations Out of the Box, American Real Estate Society (ARES) Meeting
2015: Aareal Award of Excellence in Real Estate Research
2015: Homer Hoyt/ Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics Post-Doctoral Honoree
2013: Best Paper Award on Real Estate Investment Trusts, American Real Estate Society (ARES) Meeting
2011: Best Paper Award, Global Chinese Real Estate Congress (GCREC) Conference
2010: Best Paper Award, Asian Real Estate Society (AsRES) Annual Meeting
2010: Best Paper Award, Global Chinese Real Estate Congress (GCREC) Conference
2009: Best Research Paper Award on REIT Analysis, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts/ Baruch College
2007: Best Paper Award by a New Faculty, American Accounting Association (AAA) Northeast Regional Meeting
Teaching
2019: MMF Teaching Award, McGill University
2018: Desautels Faculty of Management Distinguished Teaching Award, McGill University
2014-2016: Richter Teaching Fellow, McGill University
2013: Nominee, Principal's Prize for Excellence in Teaching - Associate Professor (University-Level), McGill University
2012: Management Undergraduate Society’s Professor of the Year Award, McGill University
2010: Desautels Faculty of Management Distinguished Teaching Award, McGill University
2009: Nominee, Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching - Assistant Professor (University-Level), McGill University
Grants
2012-2014: CICA/CAAA Research Grant
2010-2013: FQRSC Research Grant
2008: McGill SSHRC Internal Grant
2006: Real Property Association of Canada (RealPac) Research Grant
2006-2009: McGill Faculty Research Grant