The goal of financial accounting theory is to provide a set of principles and framework to explain existing accounting practices, and to predict behaviours of stakeholders who prepare, regulate, or use accounting information. This course focuses on the important accounting research and theory developments over the last four decades. We will illustrate the implications of the existing research for future accounting practices using real business examples and cases.

A mainstream of accounting research investigates the economic, social, and institutional forces that influence management's choice of accounting policies. Understanding how investors use and interpret accounting information is critical to guiding future financial reporting and accounting policies. The overarching objective of this course is to develop a good understanding of accounting research to enable a critical assessment of the problems facing the accounting profession now and in the future.

Finally, financial reporting and accounting practices continue to evolve in response to the emerging of new technologies and the advances in society, governance, and economies. We will explore how new technologies and other emerging economic and social issues may affect future accounting practices in the annual MMPA Conference.