Accounting & Management
Accounting scholars study how information affects resource allocation with and across firms, the behavior of shareholders, regulators, customers, and suppliers, and the process by which information is disclosed. Accounting research uses statistical and econometric methods and theoretical economic modeling, and often draws from frameworks developed in information and financial economics.
The doctoral program in Accounting and Management focuses on understanding the role of information and measurement systems for:
Allocating resources among firms in the economy and between departments or divisions of individual firms.
Understanding the profitability of suppliers, products, customers, distribution channels, and business units.
Rewarding and monitoring the performance of managers.
Managing franchise risk.
Prospective students will apply to the PhD in Business Administration and select Accounting as their area of study. Students work closely with faculty in the Accounting and Management Unit.
Curriculum & Coursework
Our programs are full-time degree programs which officially begin in August. Students are expected to complete their program in five years. Typically, the first two years are spent on coursework, at the end of which students take a field exam, and then another three years on dissertation research and writing.
Program RequirementsResearch & Dissertation
Students in Accounting and Management begin research in the summer preceding their first year by working with an HBS faculty member. Over the first two years in the program, students are encouraged to explore their research interests as they complete relevant coursework. By third year, students are working on dissertation research, and by fourth year, students are launched into a solid research and publication stream, typically developing three publishable papers by the end of the program.
Recent questions students have explored include:
the role of accounting information in entrepreneurial success;
the effect of disclosure regulation on companies’ stock repurchases and investment decisions;
the impact of consumer internet of things (IoT) devices in improving corporate compliance with greenhouse gas emissions regulations;
the implications of management control systems and employee-organizational alignment; and
the implications of cultural misalignment between top management and rank-and-file employees on performance.
I’m constantly inspired to look into new research angles by the brilliant people I run into on campus every day.
PhD, Accounting & Management, 2021
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