Accounting

The accounting programme provides rigorous training to PhD students for the investigation of issues relating to auditing, financial accounting, and managerial accounting.

Our faculty members have a solid reputation for quality work, and have published in major accounting journals including the Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting, Organisations and Society, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, and Journal of Business, Finance & Accounting. Several of them also sit on the editorial boards and/or serve as reviewers of major accounting journals.

Doctoral students are well guided through this programme. Close interaction with faculty members results in joint publications presented at top international conferences and published in major journals. World-renowned professors are brought to the school through the Centre for Accounting and Auditing Research (CAAR) to provide an extra intellectual arena for learning. CAAR also co-hosts the annual International Symposium on Audit Research, which brings in the best auditing researchers together. This is a great opportunity for PhD students to interact with leaders in their field.

In the accounting doctoral programme, key research issues focus on accounting information (its production, role, and impact), and the users of accounting information. Current faculty interests include how accounting information is produced and disclosed strategically, the use of accounting information in investing and management decision making, and the impact of accounting information on securities, valuation, and corporate governance. Studies of users such as auditors and financial analysts, and the determinants of their performance are also conducted. These research questions can be examined from an economics and/or psychological perspective, and using a variety of methods, including empirical-archival approaches, laboratory and field experiments, and field studies.

Depending on their area of interest, candidates select courses in economics, finance, and the social sciences (including psychology). The breadth and depth of these courses ensure that students have the requisite foundational knowledge in their areas of research. Methodology courses in mathematics, probability and statistics are prescribed in order to hone analytical skills.

ACCOUNTING FACULTY & THEIR RESEARCH INTERESTS

ASHEQ, Razaur Rahman
PhD (University of Sydney)
Mandatory and voluntary accounting policy choice, international comparative financial accounting and accounting education.

CHOO, Teck Min
PhD (University of Pittsburgh)
Behavioural accounting and accounting education.

CHUNG, Lai Hong
PhD (University of Pittsburgh)
Management planning and control issues in multinationals, and strategic management accounting.

COURTENAY, Stephen M.
PhD (University of Arkansas)
Economic consequences and capital market effects of financial reporting, taxation and pending legislation/regulation.

DEBRECENY, Roger
PhD (Southern Cross University)
Accounting information systems, database accounting systems, semantic modelling of accounting systems, IS and continuous auditing, electronic commerce, Internet financial reporting, hypermedia, educational technologies.

KOH, Hian Chye
PhD (Virginia Tech University)
Statistical applications in accounting, behavioural research in managerial accounting, and empirical research in accounting.

LANDRY, Raymond M.
PhD (University of Arkansas)
Behavioural implications of systems designs, interactions of computer systems and potential users, learning aspects of teaching methods using computer based systems, and the impact of technology implementation in the workplace.

HOSSAIN, Mahmud
PhD (Massey University)
Corporate disclosure, corporate governance, and the investment opportunity set.

TAN, Pearl
PhD (University of Queensland)
Examination of the economic determinants of accounting choice and corporate governance.

TAN, Hun Tong
PhD (University of Michigan)
Judgement and decision making issues relating to auditor performance and analyst forecasts, including determinants of professional expertise, accountability effects, and tacit knowledge.

TAN, Patricia
PhD (University of British Columbia)
Use of accounting numbers (both financial and non-financial) in incentive contracts, disclosure and impact on valuation, and corporate governance issues.

TAY, Joanne
PhD (University of Exeter)
Accounting education, audits quality, and audit sampling.

TEO, Susan
PhD (University of Wisconsin)
International accounting and entreprenuership- family business in particular.

WILLIAMS, John J.
PhD (Penn State University)
Design of efficient budgetary and control systems using LISREL and multivariate programming, international business, and optimal strategic planning.

YEO, Gillian
PhD (University of Illinois)
Accounting policy choice, disclosures and market valuations, corporate policies, valuation and firm performance, corporate governance issues and agency problems.

FUNCTIONAL COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Students in the accounting specialisation must choose at least two of the following courses as part of their coursework component.

Seminar in Capital Market Research in Accounting	The objectives of this seminar are to examine the roles of accounting information in the capital market, analyse the research methods and strategies adopted in research, and critically evaluate and apply these methods and strategies. Topics covered include valuation models, measurement and information perspectives of accounting, positive accounting theory, disclosure research, corporate restructuring, earnings forecasts, and issues in standard setting.
Seminar in Behavioural Research in Accounting	This seminar provides an overview of accounting research that employs a human information processing perspective. Contemporary issues will be reviewed and include those using a variety of methods (e.g. laboratory experiments and field studies) and across domains (e.g., auditing, financial accounting, and managerial accounting). A major theme relates to understanding how accounting professionals (e.g., accountants, auditors and financial analysts) make decisions, and how accounting information influences professional judgement. Topics covered include the determinants of professional judgement, the role of memory and knowledge, the effects of motivation and incentives, and environmental features in professional settings and their impact on judgement.
Contemporary Issues in Accounting Research	This seminar builds upon the Seminar in Capital Market Research and/or the Seminar in Behavioural Research in Accounting, and provides an in-depth discussion of selected topics in accounting. Potential topics include principal-agent models in accounting and experimental economics applications in accounting.

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