About the subject group
The Accounting group focuses on the creation, dissemination, attestation, interpretation, use, and governance of financial information. The group focuses on how business managers utilise information to make strategic decisions and how public companies report financial information to key stakeholders.
Key research and teaching areas include:
- financial reporting standard setting
- international financial reporting
- strategic management decisions
- performance management
- target setting
- management control
- corporate governance
- executive compensation and incentives
- insider trading
- audit and earnings quality
- sell side analysts
- early stage entity accounting
- accounting for financial institutions
- fair value accounting
Faculty
- Boisseau-Sierra, Marion
Assistant Professor in Accounting - Chu, Jenny
Associate Professor in Accounting, Academic Director of the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre (WLC), Deputy Director of the Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability (CFRA) - Jagolinzer, Alan
Professor of Financial Accounting, Head of the Accounting Subject Group, Co-Director of the Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability (CFRA) - Kim, Hwa Young
Assistant Professor in Accounting - Kroechert, Sarah
Assistant Professor in Accounting - Rogo, Rafael
Professor of Accounting, Co-Director of the Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability (CFRA) - Willis, Michael
Management Practice Associate Professor, Director of the Executive Master of Accounting Programme
Research & teaching staff
- Whittington, Geoffrey
Fellow, Emeritus Professor
PhD students
- Zou, Yuxia (Sarine)
PhD Candidate
Honorary appointments
- Armstrong, Christopher
Research Fellow - Barth, Mary
Research Fellow - Beatty, Annette
Research Fellow - Beyer, Anne
Research Fellow - Bouwens, Jan
Research Fellow - Burston, Richard
Associate - Chen, Hui
Research Fellow - Dechow, Patricia
Research Fellow - Larcker, David
Research Fellow - Lawson, Robert
Fellow - Platt, Russell C
Fellow - Rajgopal, Shivaram
Research Fellow - Rogers, Greg
Fellow - Waldfogel, Asher
Associate
Publishing output
Accounting faculty have served on the Editorial Boards of The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, the Journal of International Accounting Research, Accounting Horizons, Journal of Management Accounting Research, and Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics.
They have served as peer reviewers for studies submitted to the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Accounting and Economics, The Financial Review, Management Science, the Review of Accounting Studies, Managerial Finance, Contemporary Accounting Research, the Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance, the European Accounting Review, Foundations and Trends in Accounting, Accounting, Organizations and Society, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Accounting and Business Research, and annual and sub-association meetings for the American Accounting Association.
2022
Chu, J., Florou, A. and Pope, P. (2022) “Auditor university education: does it matter?” European Accounting Review (DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2020.1866633) (published online Jan 2021)
2021
Chu, J., Florou, A. and Pope, P. (2021) “Auditor university education: does it matter?” European Accounting Review (DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2020.1866633) (published online Jan 2021)
Chu, J., Gupta, A. and Livne, G. (2021) “Pay regulation – is more better?” Accounting and Business Research, 51(1): 1-35 (DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2020.1815515)
2020
Hrazdil, K., Novak, J., Rogo, R., Wiedman, C. and Zhang, R. (2020) “Measuring executive personality using machine-learning algorithms: a new approach and audit fee-based validation tests.” Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 47(3-4): 519-544 (DOI: 10.1111/jbfa.12406)
Jagolinzer, A.D., Larcker, D.F., Ormazabal, G. and Taylor, D.J. (2020) “Political connections and the informativeness of insider trades.” Journal of Finance, 75(4): 1833-1876 (DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2836053)
Lundholm, R. and Rogo, R. (2020) “Do excessively volatile forecasts impact investors?” Review of Accounting Studies, 25(2): 636-671 (DOI: 10.1007/s11142-019-09522-y)
2019
Chu, J. (2019) “Accruals, growth, and future firm performance.” Abacus, 55(4): 783-809 (DOI: 10.1111/abac.12177) (also available online via the SSRN)
Chu, J., Dechow, P.M., Hui, K.W. and Wang, A.Y. (2019) “Maintaining a reputation for consistently beating earnings expectations and the slippery slope to earnings manipulation.” Contemporary Accounting Research, 36(4): 1966-1998 (DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.12492) (also available online via the SSRN)
Lundholm, R., Rahman, N. and Rogo, R. (2018) “The foreign investor bias and its linguistic origins.” Management Science, 64(9): 4433-4450 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2812)
Naughton, J.P., Rogo, R., Sunder, J. and Zhang, R. (2018) “SEC monitoring of foreign firms’ disclosures in the presence of foreign regulators.” Review of Accounting Studies, 23(4): 1355-1388 (DOI: 10.1007/s11142-018-9467-x)
2018
Chu, J., Faasse, J. and Rau, P.R. (2018) “Do compensation consultants enable higher CEO pay? A disclosure rule change as a separating device.” Management Science, 64(10):4915-4935 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2845) (available online via the SSRN)
Hanley, K.W., Jagolinzer, A.D. and Nikolovac, S. (2018) “Strategic estimation of asset fair values.” Journal of Accounting and Economics, 66(1): 25-45 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2018.01.004)
2017
Abernethy, M.A., Bouwens, J. and Kroos, P. (2017) “Organization identity and earnings manipulation.” Accounting, Organizations and Society, 58: 1-14 (DOI: 10.1016/j.aos.2017.04.002)
Chu, J., Faasse, J. and Rau, P.R. (2017) “Do compensation consultants enable higher CEO pay? A disclosure rule change as a separating device.” Management Science (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2845) (published online Oct 2017; forthcoming in print) (available online via the SSRN)
Lo, K., Ramos, F. and Rogo, R. (2017) “Earnings management and annual report readability.” Journal of Accounting and Economics, 63(1): 1-25 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2016.09.002)
2016
Bouwens, J. and Kroos, P. (2016) “The interplay between forward-looking measures and target setting.” Management Science, 63(9): 2868-2884 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2016.2481)
Bouwens, J. and Steens, B. (2016) “Full-cost transfer pricing and cost management.” Journal of Management Accounting Research, 28(3): 63-81 (DOI: 10.2308/jmar-51390)
Lundholm, R.J. and Rogo, R. (2016) “Do analyst forecasts vary too much?” Journal of Financial Reporting, 1(1): 101-123 (DOI: 10.2308/jfir-51332)
2015
Henderson, M.T., Jagolinzer, A.D. and Muller III, K.A. (2015) “Offensive disclosure: how voluntary disclosure can increase returns from insider trading.” Georgetown Law Journal, 103(5): 1275-1306
Armstrong, C.S., Blouin, J.L., Jagolinzer, A.D. and Larcker, D.F. (2015) “Corporate governance, incentives, and tax avoidance.” Journal of Accounting and Economics, 60(1): 1-17 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2015.02.003)
2014
Lundholm, R.J., Rogo, R. and Zhang, J.L. (2014) “Restoring the Tower of Babel: how foreign firms communicate with U.S. investors.” The Accounting Review, 89(4): 1453-1485 (DOI: 10.2308/accr-50725)
2013
Abernethy, M.A., Bouwens, J. and van Lent, L. (2013) “The role of performance measures in the intertemporal decisions of business unit managers.” Contemporary Accounting Research, 30(3): 925-961 (DOI: 10.1111/j.1911-3846.2012.01178.x)
Brochet, F., Jagolinzer, A.D. and Riedl, E.J. (2013) “Mandatory IFRS adoption and financial statement comparability.” Contemporary Accounting Research, 30(4): 1373–1400 (DOI: 10.1111/1911-3846.12002)
2011
Bouwens, J. and Kroos, P. (2011) “Target ratcheting and effort reduction.” Journal of Accounting and Economics, 51(1-2): 171–185 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jacceco.2010.07.002)
Jagolinzer, A.D., Larcker, D.F. and Taylor, D.J. (2011) “Corporate governance and the information content of insider trades.” Journal of Accounting Research, 49(5): 1249-1274 (DOI: 10.1111/J.1475-679X.2011.00424.x)
2010
Abernethy, M.A., Bouwens, J. and van Lent, L. (2010) “Leadership and control system design.” Management Accounting Research, 21(1): 2-16 (DOI: 10.1016/j.mar.2009.10.002)
Armstrong, C.S., Barth, M.E., Jagolinzer, A.D. and Riedl, E.J. (2010) “Market reaction to the adoption of IFRS in Europe.” The Accounting Review, 85(1): 31-61 (DOI: 10.2308/accr.2010.85.1.31)
Armstrong, C.S., Jagolinzer, A.D. and Larcker, D.F. (2010) “Chief executive officer equity incentives and accounting irregularities.” Journal of Accounting Research, 48(2): 225-271 (DOI: 10.1111/J.1475-679X.2009.00361.x)
2009
Jagolinzer, A.D. (2009) “SEC rule 10b5-1 and insiders’ strategic trade.” Management Science, 55(2): 224-239 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.1080.0928)
2007
Bouwens, J. and van Lent, L. (2007) “Assessing the performance of business unit managers.” Journal of Accounting Research, 45(4): 667-697 (DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-679X.2007.00251.x)
Jagolinzer, A.D., Matsunaga, S.R. and Yeung, P.E. (2007) “An analysis of insiders’ use of prepaid variable forward transactions.” Journal of Accounting Research, 45(5): 1055-1079 (DOI: 10.1111/J.1475-679X.2007.00260.x)
Industry engagement
Members of the Accounting group have worked with several businesses and agencies active in the accounting regulation and practice space, such as Ernst & Young, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the Financial Reporting Council, and the Accounting Standards Board (ASB). Examples of their most recent engagements include:
- Professor Alan Jagolinzer, Professor Rafael Rogo and Dr Jenny Chu have contributed, through the Master of Accounting and Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability, to the organisation of yearly conferences engaging multiple practitioners. The conferences were centred around key topics of relevance in accounting, for which standards and agreement still do not exist. Topics of recent conferences include “Global Climate-related Financial Reporting”, which contributed to the IASB’s current momentum towards developing a new sustainability accounting standards board, and “Accounting for Cyber Risk”.
- Researchers from the Group have collaborated with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and the British Antarctic Survey on environmental accounting.
- As academic director of the Wo+Men’s Leadership Centre, Dr Jenny Chu won a research contract to conduct diversity and inclusion research in the investment management industry, sponsored by Invesco.
- Dr Marion Boisseau-Sierra is in conversation with the UK Statistics Authority to discuss building a data quality index.
History
Accounting studies at the University of Cambridge trace date back to the 1930s. Sir Richard Stone, first Professor in Accounting, is the accounting field’s only researcher to have been awarded a Nobel Prize. The Accounting subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School remains dedicated to contributing to the improvement of financial accounting information for the public good.
Accounting in Cambridge has always been seen as a social good, as we believe that constructing sound accounting standards and advocating for proper financial rules and compliance is a public policy initiative, not simply a matter of business and finance. This vision of accounting is deeply rooted in the Accounting group’s history.
Accounting studies in Cambridge trace back to the 1930s and the compilation of economic data for a nation rebuilding itself in the wake of the Great Depression. During the Second World War, Sir Richard Stone, with James Meade (a Cambridge colleague and future Nobel Laureate) developed an economic accounting system for the UK to account for the cost of the conflict. After the war, the new international economic order set up at Bretton Woods with the help of John Maynard Keynes (Richard Stone’s former Professor in Cambridge) required comparable national accounts. Working on this project, Sir Richard Stone conceived balanced accounts and developed them into an economic accounting system to track economic activities. He then championed their adoption worldwide as his work served for the reference for the establishment of the UN System of National Accounts. He is sometimes known as the “father of national income accounting”, and this contribution led to him winning the 1984 Nobel Prize in Economics.
Accounting studies in Cambridge were later extended beyond the study of nations to also include the study of corporations. Professors Geoff Whittington and Geoff Meeks – respectively second and third Professors of Accounting in Cambridge – developed the study of accounting at for-profit and publicly traded organisations, notably by building and using the Cambridge databank of companies’ financial accounts. They also actively engaged with standard setters and practitioners. Whittington, who had Stone as a PhD examiner, was a Member of the pioneering UK Accounting Standards Board from 1990 and then a founder Member of the International Accounting Standards Board in 2001. His contribution to the formulation of accounting standards led him to be honoured (CBE) by the Queen. As for Meeks, he extended Stone’s work, incorporating accounts and models for individual companies in Stone’s national income framework and projections and worked on measuring company performance, especially around M&A and ahead of bankruptcy.
Research currently done within the Accounting group and its associated Centre for Financial Reporting & Accountability (CFRA) examines accounting issues in a wide diversity of entities ranging from publicly traded companies to universities and governments. Recently published studies explore such topics as insider trading and political connections, accounting for European Union pension obligations, the effectiveness of university education for auditors, and how excessively volatile analyst forecasts influence investment performance. Connected to its roots, the Accounting group studies accounting as a public policy matter that is crucial for society as well as business.
For more information regarding the History of Accounting Research in Cambridge, please refer to the paper written in 2017 by Professor Geoff Meeks, “Theories Came and Went, Good Data Endured: Accounting at Cambridge”.
Press coverage
Recent media coverage of research by members of the Accounting group:
Podcasts
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting
Michaelmas 2022
This episode looks at environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting: issues that matter to business operations, and how companies report about them. Of interest are not just issues that affect how companies operate, but also issues that arise, in part, because of companies’ operations. One of those issues was highlighted by the COP27 summit that took place in Egypt while the episode was being recorded: business operations worldwide contribute significantly to the still too-high level of greenhouse gas emissions and thus to climate change.
Episode presented by Dr Sarah Kroechert, Assistant Professor in Accounting at Cambridge Judge Business School.
With guest speaker Ethan Rouen, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, and Cambridge MBA students Mario Parussini, Matilde Luce, Paul Zahary and Priya Saikumar.
Previous seminars
Michaelmas Term 2022
3 October 2022 (13:45-15:00, Seminar Room 2, Cambridge Judge Business School)
Does voluntary non-earnings disclosure substitute for redacted proprietary contract information?
Mary Barth, Professor of Accounting, Stanford University
15 November 2022 (11:30-12:45, Castle Teaching Room, Cambridge Judge Business School)
Human capital disclosures
Ethan Rouen, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Lent Term 2022
22 March 2022 (15:45-17:00, online)
Do financial investment decisions affect individuals’ non-financial decisions?
Dr Sarah Kröchert, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University
23 March 2022 (15:15-16:30, online)
Mandatory reporting frequency, informed trading, and corporate myopia
Ms Hwa Young Kim, Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
25 March 2022 (15:15-16:30, online)
Disclosure distance and earnings announcement returns
Mr Ryan Erhard, University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, Los Angeles (USC)
Contact us
Get in touch with the subject group via our Administrator, Emily Brown: