Accounting

The accounting area is preeminent in research and teaching related to the dissemination and use of information in markets and within firms.

Faculty affiliated with the area are worldwide leaders in scholarship and in their contributions to accounting pedagogy. They also help shape accounting practices in the United States and elsewhere as a result of their influence in the standard-setting process.

Research by the accounting faculty draws on economics, finance, and statistics and employs analytical and empirical methodologies to study issues such as:

  • The pricing of securities in capital markets, with a focus on the role of financial reporting and information intermediaries.
  • The design of performance measurement and incentive systems.
  • Best practices in corporate governance and executive compensation.

Faculty in the area teach in the MBA, Stanford MSx, Executive Education, and PhD programs, with courses focusing on two broad areas: financial reporting and management control. Beyond the core MBA classes, a wide variety of electives cover topics in global financial reporting, financial statement analysis, and accounting-based valuation techniques.

Recent Publications in Accounting

Marc Badia, Mary E. Barth, Miguel Duro, Gaizka Ormazabal
Accounting Review. January
2020, Vol. 95, Issue 1, Pages 1-29

The question we address is whether mandated disclosure about dispersion of nonfinancial asset values can provide information relevant to assessing firm risk. Using a sample of Canadian oil and gas...

John D. Kepler, David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan, Daniel J. Taylor
Stanford Closer Look Series. January
2020

Corporate executives receive a considerable portion of their compensation in the form of equity and, from time to time, sell a portion of their holdings in the open market. Executives...

David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan
Core Concepts Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative, January
2020

A roadmap to understanding the fundamental concepts of corporate governance based on theory, empirical research, and data. This guide takes an in-depth look at the Principles of Corporate Governance.

David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan
CGRI Survey Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative, Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance, November
2019

In October 2019, the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University conducted a nationwide survey of 3,062 individuals — representative by age, race, political affiliation, household income, and state...

David F. Larcker, Brian Tayan
Stanford Closer Look Series. Corporate Governance Research Initiative, November
2019

Among the controversies in corporate governance, perhaps none is more heated or widely debated across society than that of CEO pay. The views that American citizens have on CEO pay...