Scandinavian Accounting Research Conference and Doctoral Consortium 2024

The Scandinavian Accounting Research Conference and Doctoral Consortium brings together international and Scandinavian researchers within the accounting domain. The conference spans two days and kicks off with a Doctoral Consortium. The Doctoral Consortium is dedicated to nurturing the academic growth of PhD candidates and early-stage researchers by offering in-depth feedback on their research proposals. The main conference features six insightful presentations accompanied by discussions led by esteemed international and Scandinavian scholars. The conference aims to foster a collegial and welcoming environment, encouraging lively discussions and meaningful connections among participants. The Conference held in August 2024 showcased presentations from academics affiliated with HEC Paris, London Business School, Rotman School of Management, ESSEC Business School, BI Norwegian Business School, and Erasmus University. These presentations were discussed by experts from Oregon State University & BI Norwegian Business School, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics, and the London School of Economics. Additionally, the conference featured a keynote address on "Tax Research - An Opportunity for Accounting Researchers" by Martin Jacbo, a distinguished professor from IESE Business School.

The conference attracted many high-quality researchers from Scandinavia and abroad. The keynote speaker was an editor of one of the top-three accounting journals. The doctoral colloquium was attended by 15 PhD students who received feedback on their proposals from faculty members. We are very pleased to report that increased visibility through the conference and investments made by BI has enabled BI to hire two professors, one associate professor, and five assistant professors the last six years. Simultaneously, this increase in the accounting research faculty has also led to the launch of a specialization in accounting in the PhD program. The sixth SARC 2024 coincided with the start of the first cohort of accounting PhD students at BI.

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.