The Department of Accounting & Financial Management explores how money flows through organisations, the economy, and society. Our approach embraces a wide range of perspectives, including sociology, economics, political science, and economic geography.
Accounting and corporate governance
Our current research in this area looks at the links between executive pay, board composition and firm performance. We also explore the dynamics of pension accounting from the perspective of both the organisation and its employees. Another key area is the role of institutional investors in corporate governance.
Commensurability and accountability
We challenge how realistic it is for accounting to remain objective and we we look at how people try to account for non-financial things like the construction and dissolution of nations, access to medicine, or the preservation of public spaces.
Part of our work involves exploring the various meanings of 'audit quality'. We also explore how organisations mediate relationships with stakeholders, through financial reporting or other types of accounting, like Corporate Social Responsibility reporting.
Financial management and investments
In this area of our research, we look at:
We explore corporate finance from both an economic and social science angle. For example, from a social science perspective, we investigate how financial actors (from equity analysts to fund managers) behave in different empirical settings. Our research looks at how investment decisions are made – and how they’re increasingly mediated by technology.
Valuation and financial reporting
We’ve been charting the ways financial reporting helps capital markets to function. This involves research into equity valuation, accounting standards, and the production and use of fundamental analysis. We assess the quality of financial reports and how users react to them