Compared with research in other business disciplines such as finance, strategy, and marketing, in Norway research in accounting is lagging behind. The situation is fairly similar across the Nordic countries, with a major shortage of qualified people being able to publish in high-quality international journals. The aim of the conference is to stimulate high-quality accounting research in Northern Europe with a particular focus on PhD students and young faculty members affiliated with Scandinavian universities and business schools.
SARC intends to blend outstanding international accounting researchers with PhD students and faculty who recently have started their academic careers. By giving young faculty and PhD students an opportunity to present or discuss papers and research ideas with top international researchers, we believe that both the quantity and quality of accounting scholars will increase over time. The conference will, in addition to presentations and discussions of research, give ample opportunities for networking and informal meetings as collaborations across institutions and borders is key to succeed in academia.
The type of research that our conference encourages produces new knowledge of the functioning of the capital markets, including the role of regulation and (accounting and auditing) standard setting. It increases our understanding of the incentives of various actors in the market (importantly firm managers and external auditors but also financial analysts and large shareholders) as well as explores the informational needs of a variety of stakeholders (not limited to equity and debt investors). The topics for the conference more recently also include exploring sustainability and ethical considerations related to capital markets, such as reporting of climate change-related risks and managers’ earnings-management incentives.