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  • EAA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEIC) Event on Ableism in Accounting Academy

    The EAA DEIC Event on Ableism in Accounting Academy – Research and Practice, offered the first sign language virtual EAA event, creating a breakthrough for equitable access. The conversation on Ableism offered a comprehensive exploration of the ways in which societal systems, attitudes, and policies perpetuate discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Speakers highlighted ableism as a deeply ingrained structural issue that intersects with other forms of oppression, such as racism, sexism, and classism. The discussions emphasised shifting societal attitudes from viewing disability through the lens of pity or charity to adopting a rights-based framework that prioritizes empowerment and inclusion.

    Key themes included the historical development of ableist norms, the intersectionality of disability with other marginalized identities, and the critical need for systemic reform. The seminar also provided actionable recommendations for creating inclusive environments in schools, workplaces, and communities.

    Introduction by Partha Mohapatra

    • Welcome and Context: The event is held just after World Disabilities Day, focusing on ableism in accounting academia and practice.
    • Panelists Introduction:
      • Professor Emilia Chukuma: Dean of Faculty Accounting at Gallaudet University, researcher on disability issues in accounting.
      • Dr. Leah Greer: Associate Professor at California State University, Sacramento, specializing in ASL and Deaf Studies.
      • Chandrika Sridhar: Partner at Deloitte Haskins and Sells in India, with extensive experience in audit and assurance services.

    Key Takeaways per Speaker

    Professor Emilia Chukuma

    • Key Points:
      • Lack of Awareness: Disability issues are often overlooked due to insufficient knowledge and awareness.
      • Publications and Representation: There is a lack of publications by and about disabled individuals in academia.
      • Systemic Barriers: Disabled individuals face systemic barriers and are often seen as inferior.
      • Leadership and Decision-Making: Disabled people need to be leaders in decisions about disabled folks.
    • Key Questions and Answers:
      • Why are disability issues overlooked?: Due to lack of awareness and insufficient knowledge.
      • How can we improve inclusivity?: By increasing awareness, training, and ensuring disabled voices are heard.

    Dr. Leah Greer

    • Key Points:
      • Imposterism: Disabled individuals often face imposterism due to systemic barriers and discrimination.
      • Equity in Academia: Disabled faculty members face additional burdens in securing accessibility services.
      • Capitalism and Productivity: The capitalist model devalues disabled individuals who may have different productivity levels.
    • Key Questions and Answers:
      • How does imposterism affect disabled academics?: It leads to burnout and feelings of devaluation.
      • What support systems helped you succeed?: Critical mass of disabled individuals, supportive administration, and hiring staff interpreters.

    Chandrika Sridhar

    • Key Points:
      • Value of Disabled Employees: They bring unique perspectives, resilience, and problem-solving abilities.
      • Inclusivity Efforts: Deloitte focuses on accessibility audits, training, and creating an inclusive culture.
      • Challenges in Accounting: Accessibility barriers, physical and technological obstacles, and the need for tailored support.
    • Key Questions and Answers:
      • What is the value of having disabled employees?: They enhance empathy, bring unique perspectives, and contribute to a culture of inclusivity.
      • How does Deloitte ensure inclusivity?: Through accessibility audits, training, and fostering an inclusive culture.

    General Discussion

    • Challenges and Barriers: Disabled individuals face numerous challenges, including lack of awareness, systemic barriers, and insufficient support.
    • Legislative Support: Various countries have different levels of legislative support for disabled individuals, but implementation is often lacking.
    • Leadership Development: Accounting programs need to engage disabled students in leadership development and extracurricular activities.

    Conclusion

    • Call to Action: The discussion emphasises the need for increased awareness, training, and systemic changes to support disabled individuals in academia and professional practice.

  • PCAOB Management Science Registered Reports Conference

    Shiva Rajgopal, Ranjani Krishnan, and Jan Bouwens, as editors of the accounting section of Management Science, would like to draw attention to the upcoming 2025 Public Companies Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) Management Science conference, to be held in Washington DC on September 26-27.  
    The conference, which is focused on registered report proposals relating to audit-related topics, aims to facilitate collaboration among academics, practitioners, and regulators to address emerging challenges in the audit landscape by stimulating academic interest in areas of significance to the PCAOB’s mission. Interestingly, researchers may submit proposals that would require access to specific PCAOB data to perform the necessary analyses.
    The deadline for submissions is May 15 2025.

    Example Research Topics of Interest include:

    1. Labor trends in accounting markets, including demand and supply of talent, wage dynamics, job assignments, teamwork, turnover, and incentives.
    2. The impact of audit regulation on capital flows and public companies’ cost of capital, including how audits and audit standards influence investor trust in reported financial data.
    3. Changes in the funding sources and ownership of audit firms and implications for their incentives, independence, workforce dynamics, and technology adoption.
    4. The role of information efficiency and disclosures (auditor or issuer) in shaping growth, entrepreneurship, financial stability, and stock returns.
    5. The consequences of mergers and acquisitions on the industrial organization of the audit profession, including implications for competition, service quality, pricing, firm efficiency, and staffing models.
    6. Board of Directors governance and oversight, including audit monitoring mechanisms, and their implications for audit quality.
    7. Accounting scandals and the influence of auditor independence, economic dependence, professional skepticism, and conflicts of interest on audit outcomes.
    Further information on the conference is available at the following link:

  • Target Difficulty, Psychological Capital, and Work Engagement

    This study explores the intersection of target difficulty, psychological capital (PsyCap), and work engagement, contributing to management accounting research with a psychological lens. Psychological capital, comprising efficacy, optimism, hope, and resiliency, is identified as a crucial moderator in the relationship between challenging work targets and employee engagement levels. Grounded in goal-setting theory, the research hypothesizes and demonstrates that employees with higher PsyCap experience increased engagement when facing challenging targets, a finding supported by data from 1,404 employees of a Japanese firm.

    The study also examines the role of long-term employment by analyzing two groups of employees based on tenure. The results show that for employees with shorter tenure, the interaction between target difficulty and PsyCap has a stronger positive association with work engagement. For long-tenured employees, however, PsyCap remains positively associated with work engagement, but the interaction with target difficulty is less pronounced. This indicates that the effects of target difficulty and PsyCap on engagement may vary depending on an employee’s organizational experience.

    By integrating psychological insights into management accounting, this research provides practical implications for managers. Considering target difficulty with employees’ PsyCap and investing in PsyCap development can enhance engagement and performance. Furthermore, recognizing tenure-related variations in the dynamics between target difficulty and PsyCap can help organizations design more effective motivational strategies tailored to their workforce.

    This paper  is forthcoming at the European Accoutnign Review, and can be found here:

    Full article: Target Difficulty, Psychological Capital, and Work Engagement

     

  • Exciting Times Ahead: BAFA Accounting Education SIG Annual Conference 2025!

    Delighted to share that the much-anticipated BAFA Accounting Education SIG Annual Conference is set to take place from 21st to 23rd May 2025. This year, the conference will be hosted by the prestigious Dublin City University at their beautiful St Patrick’s Campus.

    Why Attend?

    This conference is a premier event for academics, researchers, and professionals in the field of accounting education. It offers a unique platform to:

    • Share Research: Present your latest findings and gain valuable feedback from peers.
    • Network: Connect with fellow educators, researchers, and industry professionals.
    • Learn: Attend insightful sessions and workshops led by experts in the field.
    • Collaborate: Explore opportunities for future research collaborations and projects.

    Research Development Workshops

    We are excited to offer a series of Research Development Workshops designed to enhance your research skills and knowledge. These workshops will cover a range of topics, including:

    Support for PhD Students

    We are committed to supporting the next generation of researchers. PhD students attending the conference will benefit from:

    • Dedicated Sessions: Special sessions tailored to the needs and interests of PhD students.
    • Mentorship Opportunities: Connect with experienced researchers and receive guidance on your research projects.
    • Networking Events: Meet and network with fellow PhD students and established academics.

    Call for Papers

    The Call for Papers is now open! We invite you to submit your abstracts and contribute to the vibrant discussions that will shape the future of accounting education. The deadline for abstract submissions is 31st March 2025. Don’t miss this chance to showcase your work and engage with a community of like-minded professionals.

    How to Participate

    For more information on the conference, including submission guidelines and registration details, please visit the BAFA Accounting Education SIG website. You can also scan the QR code provided in the conference materials for quick access.

    Contact Information

    If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out to the conference organizers: Barbara Flood and Anna Vysotskaya.

    Join Us in Dublin!

    We look forward to welcoming you to Dublin for an inspiring and enriching experience. Whether you are presenting your research, attending sessions, or simply networking with peers, the BAFA Accounting Education SIG Annual Conference 2025 promises to be an event to remember.

    Stay tuned for more updates, and start preparing your abstracts today. See you in Dublin!

     

  • Report on Visiting Research Stay at Bayes Business School

    My name is Nils Gimpl, and I am a PhD student in finance and accounting at Saarland University and a
    research assistant at Frankfurt School’s Centre for Performance Management for Controlling. I am
    writing this report to summarize my activities and achievements during my 8-week visiting research stay
    at Bayes Business School, funded by the EAA ARC International PhD Visit Scheme.
    During my stay, I engaged in various academic activities that significantly contributed to my doctoral
    research and professional development. I attended several research seminars in Finance and
    Accounting, both at Bayes Business School and the London School of Economics. These seminars
    provided exposure to leading-edge research and methodologies, which broadened my knowledge and
    enhanced my academic skills. Furthermore, I participated in Financial Engineering Workshops and
    attended key academic events such as the Accounting PhD Conference and the Early Career
    Researchers Conference, both hosted at Bayes Business School. These events were invaluable for
    networking with peers and gaining insights into diverse research perspectives.
    A key highlight of my stay was completing a PhD-level course in asset pricing at Bayes Business School.
    This course deepened my understanding of theoretical frameworks and empirical applications in asset
    pricing, which are directly relevant to my dissertation. In addition to attending academic events, I actively
    contributed to the intellectual environment at Bayes. I engaged in discussions with fellow PhD students
    in Finance, where we exchanged feedback to improve each other’s research. I also had the privilege of
    receiving detailed feedback on my ongoing research from the faculty at Bayes Business School. Their
    input was instrumental in refining my dissertation, particularly the final draft of my last dissertation paper,
    which I successfully completed during my stay.
    I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Pawel Bilinski for hosting me during my visit.
    His support, guidance, and valuable insights significantly enriched my research and made my stay at
    Bayes Business School a highly rewarding experience.
    This visiting research stay has been a pivotal milestone in my academic journey. The rich and stimulating
    academic environment at Bayes Business School, coupled with the support and mentorship I received,
    significantly enhanced the rigor and quality of my research. I am deeply grateful to the European
    Accounting Association for providing me with the opportunity to undertake this research visit through the
    EAA ARC International PhD Visit Scheme.

  • 2025 Anthony G. Hopwood Award for Academic Leadership

    The EAA is delighted to announce the recipient of the 2025 Anthony G. Hopwood Award for Academic Leadership

    Alfred Wagenhofer, University of Graz

    Alfred Wagenhofer is one of the most productive and influential European accounting researchers. His work covers a broad area of topics ranging from financial reporting and standard setting over auditing and enforcement to managerial accounting topics such as transfer pricing and incentive contracting. He is one of the world’s leading accounting theorists, and widely respected for his seminal papers on strategic disclosure (Wagenhofer, JAE 1990), earnings management (Ewert and Wagenhofer, TAR 2005) and impairment (Göx and Wagenhofer, JAE 2009), as well as for his more recent work on audit quality (Ewert and Wagenhofer, JAR 2019) and enforcement (Schantl and Wagenhofer, JAE 2020). In addition to his outstanding track record as an analytical researcher, Alfred has published some empirical research papers in leading accounting journals (Perotti and Wagenhofer, JBFA 2014; Gross, Windisch and Wagenhofer, TAR 2024). He has also written many articles on current accounting issues and standard setting to facilitate the dialogue and knowledge transfer between academia and the accounting profession. Finally, he has authored and co-authored a number of books and textbooks on financial and management accounting.

    Throughout his academic career, Alfred has contributed in many ways and in several different roles to the EAA community. He served as president of the EAA (1997-1998), member of the Executive Committee (1993-2003) and of the Publications Committee (1999-2011). In 1997, he organized the 20th EAA Annual Congress in Graz, Austria. He helped to shape and support the careers of many young European accounting researchers as a core faculty member of the EAA Doctoral Colloquium in Accounting (1996-2008) and as co-organizer and faculty of the EDEN course in Analytical Accounting Research (1996-2010). He is also a long-standing Editorial Board member of the European Accounting Review (EAR) and Accounting in Europe (AinE). Last but not least, Alfred Wagenhofer served as a member on the Financial Reporting Standards Committee (2004-2011), demonstrating his enduring engagement for intensifying the ties between the academic accounting community and the accounting profession.

    Beyond the EAA, Alfred has worked extensively to develop the accounting community, holding many important official functions in professional bodies and associations. Among others, he serves as a member and currently vice-president of the Austrian Financial Reporting Advisory Committee (AFRAC), as a member of the EFRAG Academic Panel, and as a board member of the Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft. He also held various functions at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM). He was president of the Verband der Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaft (VHB), vice-president of the International Association for Accounting Education and Research (IAAER) and of the American Accounting Association (AAA), and member of the Research Advisory Board, The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

    Last but not least, Alfred has devoted a large part of his career to training and developing young accounting researchers and assisting them in their exchange with more advanced accounting researchers from various backgrounds at international conferences in order to promote academic dialogue. He successfully established the Doctoral program in Accounting, Reporting and Taxation (DART) at the University of Graz. And he co-founded the EIASM Workshop on Accounting and Economics and established it as a leading European platform for analytical accounting research and successfully co-organized this Workshop for three decades.

    The Hopwood Award for Academic Leadership was established in 2005 and renamed to honour Professor Anthony G. Hopwood, who played a prominent role in the creation and development of the EAA. Previous recipients of the Award are Stephen Zeff, Sten Jönsson, Michael Shields, Willem Buijink, John Christensen, Peter Walton, Kari Lukka, David Cooper, Salvador Carmona, Peter Pope and Martin Walker. The Award recognises academic excellence, academic leadership, and contribution to the EAA.

    We have outlined here only a few of Alfred’s achievements. We are looking forward to hearing more at the 2025 EAA Annual Congress in Rome, where the Anthony G. Hopwood Award will be formally received

  • EFFAS Gasperini Awards 2025

    In memory of Andrea Gasperini, a cherished member of the EFFAS community, who dedicated his life to championing Sustainable Finance with commitment and leadership. A Chartered Accountant and Auditor, Andrea became the Head of Sustainability at AIAF (Italian National Member Society) and a Member of the EFFAS Commission on ESG. He was a pioneer in ESG, contributing to the ESG Certification Programmes and European legislation on ESG. An author of numerous publications on sustainable finance, his voice resonated in universities and at global conferences. With this award, EFFAS aims to honour Andrea Gasperini’s legacy and continue his mission of championing Sustainable Finance for years to come.

    1. Purpose of the Gasperini Awards
    • Promote innovative and outstanding research in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) topics.
    • Foster relationships with institutions, researchers, and professionals shaping sustainable finance.
    • Recognize and reward exceptional contributions to ESG research through academic papers, essays, and articles.

    The awards provide a platform to showcase expertise and encourage thought leadership in ESG, addressing critical topics such as sustainable finance, climate change, corporate social responsibility, and ethical investment (see https://effas.com/professional-certificates/gasperini-awards-2025/).

    2. Award Details
    • Winners will gain recognition and visibility through EFFAS’s extensive European network, which includes national member societies, international partners, and European institutions.
    • An awards ceremony will take place in September/October 2025, where attendance by the winner or a team representative will be required.
    • Gain Recognition: Showcase research to a European and international audience.
    • Engage with the ESG Community: Connect with leading academics, professionals, and industry experts.
    • Receive Monetary Rewards: First Prize of €7,500 and Second Prize of €2,500.
    • Enhance Visibility: Potential to publish winning work across EFFAS’s network and platforms.

     

    3. The Gasperini Awards process is structured as follows

    Call Open – 15 November 2024
    Call Closes – 15 April 2025
    Stage 1 & 2: Preselection – 17 April – 29 May 2025
    Stage 3: Jury Review & Selection – 2 June – 23 June 2025
    Jury Meeting & Deliberation Call – 26 June 2025
    Winners Communicated – 24 July 2025
    Website Publication – 24 July 2025
    Award Ceremony – September/October 2025

    The papers must be submitted to EFFAS by 15 April 2025 through this ad hoc platform:
    https://form.jotform.com/EFFASHeadOffice/gasperini-awards-2025-form

    The awards ceremony will be held in September/October 2025 (exact date to be determined). This event will bring together winners, jury members, EFFAS representatives, and key stakeholders in the ESG and financial sectors to celebrate excellence in ESG research.

     

    4. Target Audience

    The Gasperini Awards 2025 is aimed at professionals and academics from the finance, sustainability, and investment sectors, including but not limited to:
    • Financial analysts
    • Investment professionals
    • Corporate sustainability leaders
    • Policy makers involved in ESG legislation
    • Academia focused on sustainable finance and ESG topics
    • Representatives from organizations and institutions promoting sustainable practices in business and finance

  • Comment lettters – Public Sector Accounting Committee

    We would like to share with you that the EAA PSAC, as part of its mission, has started participating in public consultation processes that are relevant to public sector accounting standard setting. In this realm, PSAC has drafted and submitted two research-based comment letters to the IPSASB’s (International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board) public consultation process. The two letters refer respectively to “Exposure Draft 90:  Amendments to IPSAS as a result of the application of IPSAS 46 – Measurement” and “Exposure Draft 91: Limited-scope Updates to First-time Adoption of Accrual Basis International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) (Amendments to IPSAS 33)”. We are grateful to Marco Bisogno (Department of Management & Innovation Systems, University of Salerno, Italy) and Josette Caruana (Faculty of Economics, Management & Accountancy, University of Malta, Malta) for their contributions in developing the comment letter to ED 90.

    The comment letters will be available on the IPSASB website and can be also accessed from the Public Sector Accounting Abstracts Research (PSAAR) portal at https://psaar.net/eaa-psac.

    The documents issued by the EAA PSAC reflect only the views of their signatories, not the collective perspective of the wider research community nor of the institutions affiliated with its members or the European Accounting Association.

    ED 90 comments_2024-11-29_FINAL

    EAA_PSAC_ED 91_10122024_FINAL

  • Meet the Editors – European Accounting Review

    The recording is available here.

    Dear EAA members,

    we are please to announce our next “Meet the Editors” event.  The event is conceived to support PhD students and junior faculty in navigating the increasingly high expectations set on the quality of research work and to provide early career scholars with an opportunity to learn and discuss how to successfully manage the competitive process of paper publication.

    The EAA “Meet the Editors” virtual session will take place on Zoom on January 27, 2025 at 4.00 pm CET (e.g. Brussels time), featuring Amir Amel-Zadeh and Matias Laine, the Editors of the European Accounting Review (EAR). EAR is one of the house journals of the European Accounting Association, it has international reach and aims to provide a platform for the wider dissemination of high-quality European accounting research. EAR is open to manuscripts adopting a variety of methodological approaches, styles of research and originating in a diversity of geographical locations.

    EAR encourages the work of early academic scholars and Amir and Matias will gladly provide tips and advice on how to submit successfully to the journal.

    We look forward to meeting you and the Editors!

  • Can Analysts Elicit Useful Information by Asking Unique Questions in Earnings Conference Calls?

    Paper forthcoming at European Accoutning Review – https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09638180.2024.2410892

    Kristian D. Alleea*, Chuong Dob, and Huy N. Doc

    aWalton College of Business, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA; bCollege of Business, University of Nevada – Reno, Reno, USA; cCollins College of Business, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, USA

     

    We examine whether analysts can gather useful information based on their public interactions with firm managers. While analysts’ forecasts and price targets are often a “black box,” earnings conference calls offer a unique opportunity to see their information gathering processes through the questions they ask. We design a measure to capture the “uniqueness” of a question by comparing how similar it is to other conference call content or questions. Specifically, we use cosine similarity to compare an individual analyst’s question(s) in a firm’s quarterly earnings conference call against three benchmarks: 1) questions from the other analysts on the same call, 2) the same analyst’s questions on the same firm’s prior calls, and 3) the management-prepared narrative on the same call. The underlying intuition of our method is that the conformity of a question on the call, to one of those three reference points, reveals what information is desired and how the questioner intends to extract the information. Through analyses built around this uniqueness measure, we aim to enhance our understanding of how analysts publicly gather information and the impact of these information gathering activities.

    Our results show that the uniqueness of individual analysts’ questions varies with their individual characteristics, controlling for firm and call characteristics. Analysts with superior private information ask more unique questions on the call. Conversely, more experienced analysts, analysts from larger brokers, and analysts who forecast more frequently ask less unique questions. Turning to the consequences of analysts’ information gathering, the results show that unique questions increase the overall number of topics (as measured by Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling) of analysts’ questions as well as managers’ answers in an earnings call. Thus, analysts’ unique questions can elicit new and different topics of discussion. Furthermore, when analysts ask more unique questions, their likelihood of revising their forecasts after the call and the magnitude of the revision increase with the size of the earnings surprise. Finally, the accuracy of an analyst’s forecast appears to be associated with the uniqueness of their questions on conference calls, again conditioned on the size of the earnings surprise.

    We next examine how the market responds to the uniqueness of analysts’ questions in conference calls. First, using “real-time,” millisecond trading data from conference calls occurring during market hours, we find that the Q&A session on an earnings conference call is more informative in the presence of unique analyst questions. This result suggests that analysts’ information gathering activities on conference calls, as captured through the uniqueness of their questions, yields value relevant information for both analysts and investors. Second, controlling for the size of the revision, investors appear to react more to forecasts made by analysts who ask more unique questions on the preceding conference call. This result supports the idea that analysts’ questions can serve as public signals of their information gathering capabilities to the market, leading to a larger market reaction to their revised forecasts.

    Our study extends the literature on analysts’ behavior by shifting the focus from their forecast and reports to their information gathering behaviors, specifically their (unique) questions on conference calls, as an indication as to whether/if this behavior will then influence their earnings forecast revisions. We also provide insights into analysts’ forecasting behavior based on earnings conference calls and the market’s use of analysts’ information in interpreting earnings information. Our paper documents the significant nuance in the interactions between managers and analysts, as well as within analysts, and there is an association between analysts’ interactions and analysts’ forecasting behavior as well as the market’s reaction. Additionally, our study contributes to the literature that examines earnings conference calls at the conversation level.

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