Accounting

The PhD specialization in Accounting focuses on training students to conduct academic research in accounting. The key theme covered in our program can be summarized as ‘the use of accounting information by various market participants (i.e., investors, regulators, and other stakeholders) and the effect of regulations on changes in accounting practice and theory’. These include (1) financial reporting and disclosure, (2) managerial incentives and contracting, (3) corporate taxation, and (4) auditing practices.

Since knowledge on statistics, economics, and finance are essential for successful research output, students acquire these relevant skills through formal coursework during the first and second years of the program. The research orientation lends itself to a variety of research methods, which include empirical and theoretical approaches as well as to field studies. Students may adopt specific approaches depending on their research interests. Integration of accounting with related disciplines such as finance, economics, and management is highly encouraged.


Current Area Research Topics

  • Financial reporting and disclosure practices
  • Financial reporting standards and regulations
  • Financial analysts’ reports and forecasts
  • Debt contracting and accounting information
  • Compensation contracting and managerial incentives
  • Corporate taxation strategy
  • Accounting issues outside North America
  • Accounting for Environment, Sustainability, and Governance
  • Management and board of director characteristics
  • Auditors and Auditing profession

Typical Course Structure

First Year

Fall semester

ACCT 706 Research Design in Accounting
MGSC 706 Management Research Statistics
Elective

Winter semester

ACCT 705 Seminar in Accounting - Data Analytics in Empirical Capital Market Research
FINE 711 Empirical Corporate Finance
Elective

Second Year

Fall semester

FINE 707 Corporate Finance
Elective
Elective

Winter semester

ACCT 705 Seminar in Accounting - Disclosure and Corporate Governance
ECON 742 Empirical Microeconomics
EDPH 689 Teaching and Learning in Higher Education


Electives

ECON 662 Econometrics I
ECON 663 Econometrics II
POLI 666 Casual Inference for Political Science
MPCO 721 ADMI8403 Research Methods in Finance & Accounting
MPCO 722 ADMI 861 Research in Auditing
MPCO 723 ADMI8602 Emerging Topics in Accounting Research
MPCO 724 ADMI860 Management Control & Risk Management
MPQM 760 ADM9802 Séminaire sur la divulgation financière et non financière
MPHE 740 HEC80600A Machine Learning II: Deep Learning
MPHE 742 HEC8074411 Theory Building
MPHE 743 HEC80109A Textual Analysis & Psychophysiological Measures


Typical Support Fields

  • Finance
  • Economics
  • Behavioral Science
  • Decision Theory
  • Information Systems
  • Statistics
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