In a study titled "Audit Partner Tenure and Accounting Estimate Quality” Andy Imdieke and his co-authors examined 6,277 audited financial statements issued by banks between 2010 and 2019. Through a confidential source, the researchers obtained the name of the audit partner who led the audit and the number of years the partner served on the engagement. The focus of the study was the length of time in which the audit partner worked on the bank’s audit and the loan loss reserve that is estimated each year by the bank and evaluated by their auditor. The study is authored by Yadav Gopalan of Indiana University and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Andrew Imdieke from the University of Notre Dame, Joseph Schroeder of Indiana University, and Sarah Stuber from Texas A&M University.
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Please join me in congratulating Jeff Burks, whose Journal of Accounting and Public Policy (2021) article, "Opaque auditor dismissal disclosures: What does timing reveal that disclosures do not?," co-authored with our colleague and friend of the Department, Jennifer Sustersic Stevens (Ohio University), is featured in the Wall Street Journal at https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-companies-fire-their-auditors-timing-is-clue-to-future-trouble-11639391581…

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Accountancy's Sandra Vera-Muñoz was honored as part of the 2021 Notre Dame All-Faculty Team during the ND-Cincinnati halftime. Provost Marie Lynn Miranda recognized Sandra for excellence in research and teaching, and service to the University. Congratulations, Sandra! Learn more about the award…

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Please join me in congratulating Jeff Burks, whose paper, “Opaque Auditor Dismissal Disclosures: What Does Timing Reveal that Disclosures Do Not?,” co-authored with our former colleague and friend of the Department, Jennifer Stevens, has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy…

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Please join me in congratulating John Donovan and Stephannie Larocque for their recent scholarly achievements:

John’s paper, "Private lenders’ use of analyst earnings forecasts when establishing debt covenant thresholds," coauthored with Jared Jennings (Washington University) and Andy Call (Arizona State University) has been accepted for publication at The Accounting Review…

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The end of the 2020-2021 academic year saw us saying farewell to Asis Martinez-Jerez. Asis has joined the faculty of The Cornell School of Hotel Administration. Sam Ranzilla has joined the James Benjamin Department of Accounting – Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School.

We want to welcome Tim Morrison…

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Please join me in congratulating Hal White, whose paper, “Private Disclosure and Myopia: Evidence from the JOBS Act” (coauthored with Kimball Chapman and Badryah Alhusaini) has been accepted for publication in the Review of Accounting Studies. Here is the abstract:

 In this paper, we examine whether a regulatory shift allowing more private firm disclosure leads to less myopia. The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act of 2012 permits a subset of firms to meet privately with potential investors in the months before an IPO, allowing them to provide information without proprietary cost concerns, leading to more complete disclosure. Consistent with a reduction in myopia, we find that these firms are less likely to manage earnings to beat short-term benchmarks, are punished less harshly by the market (via stock price declines) when they do miss the earnings benchmark, and provide fewer short-horizon forecasts. We also find that firm disclosures are less short-term focused, investors have longer holding periods than do those same investors in non-JOBS Act IPO firms and that these firms attract more long-term investors. Our results hold (i) across the subsample of firms for which other JOBS Act provisions were already present, and (ii) after controlling for those other provisions, consistent with private discussions acting as the primary mechanism. Our results are also strongest for firms with higher proprietary costs, consistent with private disclosure reducing myopia by reducing proprietary cost concerns. Collectively, this evidence suggests that when firms are able to privately disclose information to investors, both firms and investors become less myopic. …

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Please join me in congratulating Ken Milani and Professor Emeritus Juan Rivera for being recognized with a Certificate of Merit by the Institute of Management Accountants for their article series, "Budgeting for International Operations," published in Strategic Finance, November 2020 through January 2021. Please see the citation in the attached bulletin. Congratulations, Ken and Juan!…

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Please join me in congratulating Fred Mittelstaedt on his appointment as the KPMG Collegiate Professor of Accountancy. Below is an excerpt from Dean Martijn Cremers' appointment letter:

“A collegiate term chair honors a faculty member on the basis of his or her contribution to research and scholarship, teaching and learning, or service to the discipline and University.…

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Congratulations to Brian Levey for being selected as the 2021 recipient of the James Dincolo Outstanding Undergraduate Professor Award, and Keith Urtel for being selected as the 2021 recipient of the MSA Outstanding Professor Award. Congratulations Brian and Keith for these well-deserved recognitions!…

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Congratulations to Erik Beardsley, whose paper, “What’s my target? Individual analyst forecasts and last-chance earnings management," co-authored with John Robinson (Texas A&M University) and Paul Wong (UC-Davis) has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Accounting and Economics. The paper is tentatively scheduled to be published in Volume 72, Number 1, August 2021. …

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The AICPA announced the 89 winners of the 2020 Elijah Watt Sells Award. To qualify for the award, CPA candidates must obtain a cumulative average score above 95.50 across all four sections of the CPA Examination, pass all four sections on their first attempt, and have completed testing in 2020. Below are the citations for Notre Dame’s award recipients:…

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Accountancy's Jamie O'Brien was recognized by students as the Club Advisor of the Year. He is the faculty advisor for the College Republicans and the student chapter of Turning Point USA at Notre Dame. According to Jamie, he has been the faculty advisor for the College Republicans ever since Abe Lincoln was elected as the first Republican president (actually for 9 years) and for Turning Point for 1 year (it is a new club). There are over 450 Notre Dame student clubs.…

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A paper by Accountancy's Hal White titled "Investor Relations, Engagement, and Shareholder Activism" was accepted by The Accounting Review.…

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A paper by Accountancy's  F. Asis Martinez-Jerez titled "Leader Effects in Competition Among Teams: Evidence from a Field Intervention" was accepted by The Accounting Review.…

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Fred Mittelstaedt and Tom Frecka's paper, “Career Paths and Compensation for Accounting Graduates,” co-authored with former Accountancy colleague Jennifer Sustersic Stevens, has been accepted for publication at Accounting Horizons. Here is the abstract:…

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Hal White, Vincent and Rose Lizzadro Professor of Accountancy, has been selected by the senior editors of the Journal of Accounting Research (JAR) to receive a “2020 Excellence in Refereeing Award.” This honor was presented to 15% - 20% of individuals who completed refereeing work for JAR over the past calendar year. Hal’s name and school affiliation will be listed in the June 2021 JAR…

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Accountancy's Sam Ranzilla participated in a live broadcast hosted by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Historical Society on March 2, “Standing up the PCAOB: A Discussion with PCAOB’s Founding Board Members and Audit Profession." Sam presented as part of Panel II: Public Company Audit Firm Representatives.…

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