Advancing Accounting

Friday, June 15, 2018

The Krannert School of Management presented the fourth annual Purdue Accounting Theory Conference in May with a program that included distinguished guest speakers from across the country as well as rising scholars in the field. 

Accounting professors Mark Bagnoli, the Olson Chair in Management, and Susan Watts, the Emanuel T. Weiler Chair in Management, served as coordinators of the conference along with Associate Professor Lin Nan. BKD LLP provided financial support for the event, which has grown in attendance each year it has been held.

“The goal of the conference is to provide accounting theorists, especially younger scholars, with an opportunity to learn what other theorists are working on and to network and develop long-lasting working relationships with other researchers,” Bagnoli says.

More 50 faculty members and doctoral students attended the conference, including scholars from New York University, UC San Diego, Columbia, Baruch College, George Washington University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Alberta, University of Minnesota, University of Chicago, Willamette University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Texas at Austin, University of Houston, University of Iowa, UCLA, Texas Christian University, University of Texas at Arlington, Yale University, University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Texas A&M University, University of Oregon, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the City University of Hong Kong.

Sri Sridharan of Northwestern examined “The Economic Consequences of the Choice of Sequencing of Accounting and Real Earnings Management,” while Chandra Kanodia of the University of Minnesota explained “How to Recognize or Not to Recognize Assets when Future Benefits are Uncertain.”

Hao Xue of New York University discussed “Word of Mouth, Noise-driven Volatility, and Public Disclosure,” and Duke University’s Xu Jiang addressed “The Economic Consequences of Discrete Recognition and Continuous Measurement.” The conference concluded with Purdue University’s Rahul Menon, assistant professor of management, who presented his paper on “Activist Short-termism vs. Managerial Myopia: Effect on Investment and Disclosure.”

“This year's conference provided us with many useful and relevant insights into different accounting issues,” Menon says. “In addition to giving researchers an opportunity to present their work and gather feedback, it also served as a platform for doctoral students to meet and network with faculty in an informal environment to discuss their research ideas and potentially collaborate.”

To learn more about the Purdue Accounting Theory Conference and download PDFs of the papers presented, visit http://www.krannert.purdue.edu/academics/Accounting/purdue-accounting-theory-conference/home.php.