PhD

Accounting

Student work with Joanna Wu

Effective solutions for complex business problems.

The Simon Business School PhD Program in Accounting provides students with the opportunity to make substantive contributions to the literature by taking advantage of the Simon School's strong economics and quantitative training.

At Simon, accounting is not viewed as a separate academic discipline, but 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, and capital market efficiency.

Prepare with Math Camp.

 

Program Outline: Accounting

The First Year

The first year gives students solid training in microeconomics and econometrics and introduces them to basic issues in accounting and finance, including accounting and finance seminars which introduce students to current research topics. Students are required to take courses offered by Simon Business School as well as the University of Rochester's Economics Department. First year students are required to take the preliminary exam, which is given at the end of the spring term, and complete a first year research paper, due by September 15 of the student's second year. The paper will be presented in AEC510 or in an Accounting Workshop in the fall of the student's second year.

The Second Year

In the second year, students are expected to take PhD level courses in accounting and finance. In addition, participation in accounting, finance, and applied economics seminars is required. This training provides the foundation from which to develop research topics/ideas in general, and specifically a thesis topic. Students are required to submit a paper by September 15 of their third year. This paper will be presented in AEC510 or in an Accounting Workshop the fall of the student's third year and serves as the student's accounting qualifying exam.

The Third Year and Beyond

In the third year students move from coursework to active research with the objective of identifying a viable thesis topic. Continued participation in all accounting and applied economics seminars is required.

Thesis and Proposal

Students are expected to submit a Thesis proposal paper along with a faculty advisor and committee that has agreed to serve on the dissertation committee. The dissertation must be an original critical or synthetic treatment of a suitable subject, an original contribution to creative art, or a report on independent research formulated in a manner worthy of publication. The exact form and timing of this proposal is defined by the area requirements.

Advancement to Candidacy

This is achieved after passing the Preliminary and Qualifying Exams. At the conclusion of the qualifying exam, the faculty administering the qualifying exam evaluate the student and through that evaluation make a recommendation to the PhD Faculty Director and Senior Associate Dean of Faculty that the student advance to candidacy.

 

Carol Simon Hall

Required Courses.

The Course Catalog contains degree requirements and course descriptions. Please refer the Simon Registrar's website for the current Course Catalog

PhD Accounting Courses

ACC 501

Seminar in Accounting

ACC 501

1 credit (First-year PhD students are graded on a P/F basis. Second-year and later students receive a letter grade.)

A forum for the presentation, discussion, and critique of current accounting research papers where accounting faculty, PhD students, and outside speakers present working papers on current research topics. Students are expected to actively participate in the discussion and critique of the papers presented. In weeks when accounting workshops/ seminars are scheduled, accounting PhD students will meet as a group with a member of the accounting faculty before the seminar to discuss the paper. Since such meetings are designed to facilitate students’ active participation in the seminars, students are required to circulate a brief set of comments to the other class participants in advance of the meeting. Grading will be based on the quality of students’ contributions to the pre-seminar meetings as well as their contributions and participation in the actual workshops.

ACC 510

Accounting Research I

ACC 510

This course focuses recent developments in capital markets research by exploring topics such as how technology intertwines with the production, dissemination, and consumption of accounting information, the incentives and impact of financial intermediaries, and financial reporting regulation and externalities. In addition to the informational role of accounting information, the course also explores its stewardship role by covering recent papers related to executive compensation and incentive structure. Finally, the course expands beyond the U.S. setting by covering topics related to international accounting. Given the turnover of course topics over time, students are required to enroll in ACC 513 each time the course is offered.

ACC 511

Accounting Research II

ACC 511

3 credits

Content varies from year-to year based on faculty and student’s interests.

Topics selected reflect areas of active interest to accounting researchers/ accounting profession.

Topics covered in recent offerings of the course include:

“Information Acquisition”; “Soft Information in Financial Markets”; “Private Interactions: Broker Conferences, Roadshows, In-House Meetings”; “The Financial Reporting Environment”; “The Role of Accounting in the Municipal Bond Market”; “Textual Analysis/ Information and Financial Markets”; “Rivals, Information Transfer, Spillovers and Investment Decisions”; “Rivals, Information Transfer, Spillovers and Financial Policies and Corporate Governance and Other Decisions; “Rivals, Information Transfer, Spillovers and Proprietary Costs”; “Aggregate Market Relations”; “Patents and Patent Disclosure”; “Return Predictability” and “Anomalies”.

Given the turnover of course topics over time, students are required to enroll in ACC 511 each time the course is offered.

Prerequisite: ACC 510

ACC 512

Advanced Topics in Accounting Research

ACC 512

This course (along with ACC 513) is the next step in the sequence of accounting seminars taken by the Ph.D. students. ACC 512 builds on the “classics” covered in prior seminars by applying the insights to topical areas of research interest.  It focuses on international aspects of accounting research, such as the interaction between country-level institutional features and financial reporting outcomes, cross-border information flows, harmonization of financial reporting standards and its implications for actual outcomes (both reporting and economic). This course alternates with ACC 513. Given the turnover of course topics over time, students are required to enroll in ACC 513 each time the course is offered.

Prerequisites: ACC 510 and ACC 511

ACC 513

Contemporary Topics in Accounting Research

ACC 513

3 credits

In contrast to the international focus of ACC 512, ACC 513 focuses on the U.S. setting, and in particular on new/emerging theories in financial economics. The course seeks to stimulate discussions on the implication of these theories for accounting research. Recent versions of the course focused on the feedback-effect of stock prices, where managers not only impound information into the stock price, but also learn new information from their firms’ stock prices; and on asset-pricing anomalies, and the role of financial accounting information in mitigating or exacerbating the prevalence of these market-pricing “irregularities”.

Given the turnover of course topics over time, students are required to enroll in ACC 513 each time the course is offered.

Prerequisites: ACC 510 and ACC 511
 

AEC 510

PhD Workshop in Applied Economics

AEC 510

3 credits

The workshop provides a forum for the presentation of ongoing and completed research projects by PhD students in the economics core. Third- and fourth-year PhD students are expected to participate actively.

Prerequisite: permission of the instructor