Financial Reporting
The Financial Reporting Group (FRG) conducts academic and policy-related research on financial reporting and auditing, with particular emphasis on the importance and limitations of corporate reporting in informing decisions and influencing behaviour. The group interacts with the accounting profession and with accounting policy-makers to help understand the ways in which accounting information can be used to aid decision making.
Research topics include:
- the use of accounting information in capital markets;
- sustainability accounting and reporting;
- corporate cybersecurity;
- accounting-based valuation methods;
- accounting regulation;
- equity analysts’ forecasts of earnings and stock prices;
- the link between accounting information and executive compensation and retention; and
- corporate audit practices and related aspects of corporate governance. The group also studies developments in financial reporting for government and public sector entities.
The FRG attracts high profile speakers and visitors from academia and from the professional accounting and regulatory communities. It organises seminars and workshops where the academic and professional accounting communities can exchange ideas. Members of the FRG also regularly present papers in other academic institutions around the world and attend leading international conferences to disseminate the results of their research.
Members of the group have published their research in high quality academic journals, such as Accounting and Business Research, Accounting Organizations and Society, Auditing: Journal of Practice and Theory, European Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Science, Journal of Corporate Finance, The Accounting Review, the British Accounting Review, and several other leading journals. The group’s research findings feed into the deliberations of policy makers, professional accounting bodies and accounting regulators.
Members of the FRG serve as editors, editorial board members, and reviewers of leading international academic journals. They are also involved in external bodies, such as the European Accounting Association and ACCA, and serve on scientific committees of international conferences.
Members of the group are committed to high-quality PhD training and are interested in reviewing new applications from candidates with a strong academic background and promising research ideas in the topics listed above.
Contact us
Organisations or individuals interested in working with this research group, please contact:
Professor Mark Clatworthy
Members
Find out more about the Financial Reporting research group members and their latest publications:
- Dr Adriana Korczak
- Dr David Bence
- Professor Giovanna Michelon
- Dr Joe Cho
- Dr Lei Wang
- Dr Mariano Scapin
- Professor Mark Clatworthy
- Dr Nikos Tsileponis
- Dr Richard Zeng
- Dr Ruby Brownen-Trinh
- Mrs Sam Bell
- Dr Trang Nguyen
- Dr Tuan Ho
- Dr Wen Zhang
- Dr Xi Chen
- Dr Xiaochi Ge
- Dr Xiaoyong Wu
- Dr Zilu Shan
PhD students
Does the financial media play a monitoring role around corporate disclosures?
Managers issue press releases to communicate information about their firms to investors and other market participants. They often choose to complement disclosures of quantitative performance with qualitative information; in fact, the use of optimistic or pessimistic language throughout financial disclosures can be a tool for managers to either improve investors’ perceptions of firm fundamentals or misinform them.
The financial media closely follows firms’ disclosures and could play an important role as an information intermediary by broadly disseminating the critical points of the news releases, packaging information together from multiple sources, and producing new information.
Are CSR firms good tax citizens?
Many public firms highlight their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) credentials in corporate communication with investors, analysts and the general public. Sceptics have argued that CSR firms often use Greenwashing strategies whereby their real actions and strategies are not entirely compatible with the “advertised” CSR credentials.
One question that is often raised in this context is whether CSR firms are also good taxpayers, as may be expected of CSR firms. But, perhaps they attempt to deflect attention to less benevolent activities, such as avoiding taxes. In particular, tax authorities may perceive CSR firms as good taxpayers and scrutinise less CSR firms.