Recapping the 2019 McGill Accounting Research Conference
The 2019 McGill Accounting Research Conference (MARC), organized by professors Hongping Tan, Dongyoung Lee, and Jingjing Zhang at the Desautels Faculty of Management, elevated the status of McGill as one of the major research hubs in Canada. The event brought together over 80 scholars, students, and practitioners from Canada, the US, Asia, and Europe to have a lively discussion and debate on important accounting issues on May 27 - 28, 2019 at McGill.
Seven renowned accounting researchers presented their current work examining topics on voluntary disclosure, earnings management, financial statement analysis, SEC enforcement, firm practices to handle foreign currency exposure and accounting data use in infringement litigation. These papers use a variety of research methods, ranging from empirical archival studies and theoretical modeling, to surveys and interviews.
The presenters included Professors Michael Welker (Queen’s University), Andrew J. Leone (Northwestern University), Russell J. Lundholm (University of British Columbia), Jennifer Tucker (University of Florida), Gregory S. Miller (University of Michigan), Shivaram Rajgopal (Columbia University), and Mark Bradshaw (Boston College).
To strengthen student training, the conference included a session for PhD students to present their projects and get feedback from their peers, as well as from expert panelists consisting of Cedric Lesage (Concordia University), Patricia O’Brien (University of Waterloo), Zvi Singer (HEC Montreal) and Hongping Tan (McGill University).
Six high-quality papers were selected for the session, with the PhD presenters originating from major universities in Canada and Europe. More than 40 students and faculty members attended the session. The conference also offered a unique opportunity for a number of undergraduate and Master’s level students who are interested in pursuing an academic career to get a firsthand experience in a research-intense environment.
The conference was made possible through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC Connection Grant Program) award and benefited from the support of Ernst & Young, McGill Business & Management Research Center, McGill Graduate Certificate in Professional Accounting, and the administration team at the Desautels Faculty of Management.