Welcome to Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Our goal is to make a positive impact on society by developing future leaders through our suite of undergraduate, MBA, and PhD degree programs, and our tailored non-degree courses; and by creating and disseminating impactful knowledge and insights.

Emory University, Goizueta Business School

Ilia Dichev joined the Goizueta faculty in 2009. Dichev’s previous appointment was at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, where he taught accounting for thirteen years and directed the PhD program in accounting for three.

Dichev holds a BS in finance from Santa Clara University and a PhD in accounting from the University of Washington.  He has published in numerous journals, including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, The Journal of Finance, Journal of Business, and American Economic Review.

He has received some of the highest research awards in Accounting, including the Notable Contributions to Accounting Literature Award (twice) and the Distinguished Contributions to the Accounting Literature Award.  He has been cited in numerous popular publications, including Forbes, The New York Times, Money, The Wall Street Journal, Smart Money, Handelsblatt, National Public Radio, Harvard Business Review, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, CFO Magazine, Financial Advisor, Investors’ Chronicle, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Economist.

Market Efficiency

Capital Markets

Corporate Financial Reporting

Earnings Management

When doing nothing is the best option

How do hedge funds get away with it

What Wall Street is looking for in this week's earnings calls - Marketplace

University of British Columbia - Investors who try to time the market take on more risk and make less money: study

Silver Is Winning | Investing.com ZA

Stock traders: Timing the market is for losers | Fortune

In a recent article in the Financial Analysts Journal, titled “The Misrepresentation of Earnings,” Ilia Dichev, John Graham, Campbell R. Harvey, and Shiva Rajgopal explore the defining characteristics of earnings quality and the misrepresentation of earnings.

The Misrepresentation of Earnings

The quality of a company’s earnings is determined by controllable factors, such as internal controls and corporate governance, and noncontrollable factors, such as industry and economic conditions. But CFOs also have considerable influence over the communication and presentation of those earnings. In a new research study, Ilia Dichev, Goizueta Foundation Chair, professor of accounting, and coauthors John Graham (Duke U), Campbell R. Harvey (Duke U), and Shiva Rajgopal (Columbia U) note that discretion in accounting methods allows CFOs to misrepresent earnings. CFOs are motivated to misrepresent earnings in order to increase stock price and meet earnings targets, as well as boost their own compensation and career profile. The authors conducted a survey of 375 CFOs to explore their definition of earnings quality and ways to determine earnings misrepresentation. The authors concluded that “in any given period, a remarkable 20% of companies intentionally distort earnings, even while adhering to GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles).” The study found a number of red flags for earnings misrepresentation, including “a lack of correspondence between GAAP earnings and cash flows from operations, and unexplained deviations from peer and industry norms.”

CFOs & earnings misrepresentation

cfos-earnings-misrepresentation

Goizueta Foundation Chair in Financial Reporting, Professor of Accounting, and Director and Associate Dean of PhD Program

The quality of a company’s earnings is determined by controllable factors, such as internal controls and corporate governance, and noncontrollable factors, such as industry and economic conditions. But CFOs also have considerable influence over the communication and presentation of those earnings. In a new research study, Ilia Dichev, Goizueta Foundation Chair, professor of accounting, and coauthors John Graham (Duke U), Campbell R. Harvey (Duke U), and Shiva Rajgopal (Columbia U) note that discretion in accounting methods allows CFOs to misrepresent earnings. CFOs are motivated to misrepresent earnings in order to increase stock price and meet earnings targets, as well as boost their own compensation and career profile. The authors conducted a survey of 375 CFOs to explore their definition of earnings quality and ways to determine earnings misrepresentation. The authors concluded that “in any given period, a remarkable 20% of companies intentionally distort earnings, even while adhering to GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles).” The study found a number of red flags for earnings misrepresentation, including “a lack of correspondence between GAAP earnings and cash flows from operations, and unexplained deviations from peer and industry norms.”

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