Financial reporting and analysis is a core research strength within the Department of Accounting and Finance. Research undertaken in this area is of world-leading quality and provides important theoretical underpinnings for methods used in market-based accounting research.
Research in financial reporting examines the capital market consequences of accounting regulation, the role of financial accounting in debt and equity markets, voluntary corporate disclosures, as well as non-traditional disclosure channels and information intermediaries. Further areas of expertise include topics of particular interest to the banking industry, including:
- accounting for financial instruments,
- fair value accounting, and
- accounting for credit losses.
Research in financial analysis examines how users of financial information—such as investors, analysts, regulators and other stakeholders—interpret and act on corporate disclosures. A growing strand of research applies natural language processing and corpus linguistics methods to the study of narrative disclosures. These research projects explore the properties, determinants and consequences of narrative disclosures, deepening our understanding of how financial communication shapes market outcomes and decision-making.
Faculty members in this research area have published in leading Accounting and Finance academic journals such as: Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Review of Accounting Studies, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Finance, Accounting, Organizations and Society, and Contemporary Accounting Research.
Faculty members not only undertake academic research in financial reporting and analysis but have also been actively involved in proposing new methods and guidelines through their engagement with entities such as the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, EFRAG, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).
