Accounting

At Simon Business School, accounting is not viewed as a separate academic discipline, but rather as an integral part of applied economics. By studying accounting and accounting phenomena from the perspective of an applied financial economist, an accounting researcher can provide evidence that potentially affects such diverse areas as the theory of the firm, corporate finance, the economics of regulation, capital markets and capital market efficiency.

Faculty and  Research Interests

• Glenn Huels: His interests are in corporate tax and accounting functions regarding global cash flow strategies, external reporting requirements, and minimizing FX exposures and risks.
• Sudarshan Jayaraman: His research interests focus on the interaction between financial reporting and informed trading and tradeoffs between internal and external monitoring mechanisms.
• Bryce Shonberger: His research interests lie in financial accounting with specific interest in asset impairments, option markets, and earnings quality.
• Heidi Tribunella:  She is interested in accounting and auditing research.
• Charles E. Wasley: His teaching interest is the financial reporting area. His research interests encompass the role of accounting information in capital markets.
• Kurt Wojdat: His interests include internal auditing, cost accounting, financial analysis, and treasury activities.
• Joanna Wu: Her teaching interest is in the area of financial reporting. Her research interests are in the areas of international financial reporting, the behavior of financial analysts, management compensation, and mutual fund performance.
• Jason Xiao: His research interests are in corporate governance, executive compensation and incentives, and disclosure.
• Jerold L. Zimmerman: His research and teaching interests involve financial and managerial accounting.  

Recent Research in Accounting

Accountants Add Value to Mobile Apps

Heidi Tribunella and Thomas Tribunella

From Quickbooks to Xero, small-business owners looking for mobile accounting apps face a head-spinning array of options—a situation rich with opportunity for small-practice CPAs. Heidi Tribunella, clinical associate professor of accounting, and her husband, Thomas Tribunella, professor of accounting at SUNY Oswego, wrote “Twenty Questions on the Sharing Economy and Mobile Accounting Apps,” for The CPA Journal, published by the New York State Society of CPAs. In it, they urge CPAs who advise small businesses to become experts on accounting apps. Read more about Twenty Questions on the Sharing Economy and Mobile Accounting Apps.

Is Mark-to-Market Accounting Really Transparent?

Jaewoo Kim, Charles E. Wasley, Joanna Shuang Wu

In recent years, a growing number of public firms have voluntarily adopted mark-to-market pension accounting, which requires companies to report gains or losses associated with their defined benefit pension plans in their income statements. It is a counterintuitive move; experts expect an increase in earnings volatility because of the unpredictable effect of future uncontrollable market factors on a firm’s pension expense. Read more about Economic Determinants of the Decision to Voluntarily Adopt Mark-to-Market Accounting for Pension Gains and Losses.

Industry and Banking on a Two-Way Street

Sudarshan Jayaraman

New research by Simon professor Sudarshan Jayaraman and S.P. Kothari of Massachusetts Institute of Technology explores the impact of greater cross-border financing on domestic banks and their relationship with manufacturers. Economists have long understood the banking sector’s impact on manufacturing firms. Read more about Industry and Banking.

Understanding Market Predictions

Bryce Schonberger, K. R. Subramanyam, and Hyun Hong

Do option prices anticipate predictable patterns in future stock returns? A new paper by Simon professor Bryce Schonberger and two co-authors suggests they do not. The authors found that option markets mechanically incorporate the current stock price rather than correct for it—even in instances where a stock price appears to be incorrect. Read more about Do Options Price Predictable Patterns in Future Stock Returns?

Equity Sparks Bank Monitoring

Sudarshan Jayaraman

In the highly leveraged world of banking, what spurs banks to monitor their borrowers: bank debt or equity? Read more about “Who Monitors the Monitor? Bank Capital Structure and Borrower Monitoring”.

Banks and Short-Term Borrowing

Joanna Shuang Wu and Edward L. Owens

Simon School professors Joanna Shuang Wu, associate professor of accounting, and Edward L. Owens, assistant professor of accounting, set out to investigate for themselves whether a large sample of bank-holding companies were indeed window-dressing leverage numbers to mask fluctuations during the quarter. They also wanted to see if the market knew—and if it cared. Read more on "Banks and Short-Term Borrowing."