PhD
Accounting
Students in MIT Sloan’s Accounting research group are encouraged to transcend traditional accounting boundaries by integrating comprehensive knowledge of economics and finance into their studies on contemporary financial reporting, disclosure, and contractual issues. The group’s rigorous curriculum, which includes seminars in accounting and finance, equips students with the economic acumen akin to that of MIT Sloan’s Finance PhD candidates. Leveraging the expertise of distinguished faculty members like Michelle Hanlon, whose research focuses on taxation and its intersection with financial accounting, S.P. Kothari, known for his contributions to finance and accounting, and Andrew Sutherland, who explores regulatory impacts on audit markets, students engage with cutting-edge research that is highly relevant to academics, practitioners, and standard setters.
Research from Accounting Faculty
10 levers for shaping generative AI that improves worker performance
A report from the MIT Working Group on Generative AI & the Work of the Future identifies three principles and seven outcomes that ensure that jobs are better, not just faster, with AI.
AI boosts productivity — but does that translate to final outputs?
A new study found that developers using AI tools can write much more code than those working without AI, but they don’t release as much new software.
What personality pairings most improve human–AI collaboration?
New research from the MIT Sloan School of Management identifies the most effective ways businesses can use and benefit from AI personalization
Judgment-free AI appeals to embarrassed clients
Professional service advisers are seen as more capable than AI — but that advantage fades when clients feel ashamed. An MIT Sloan study shows when people prefer AI’s nonjudgmental assistance.
Select Accounting Faculty
Full-Time Faculty
Paul Asquith
Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance
Paul Asquith is the Gordon Y Billard Professor of Finance and a Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Asquith is a specialist in corporate finance and a media source for the field of corporate finance and control, including…
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John E. Core
Nanyang Technological University Professor of Accounting
John E. Core is the Nanyang Technological University Professor and a Professor of Accounting at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Core has broad research interests in executive compensation and executive stock and option incentives, corporate…
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Michelle Hanlon
Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research
Michelle Hanlon is the Howard W. Johnson Professor, a Professor of Accounting, and Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research at the MIT Sloan School of Management Hanlon’s primary teaching at Sloan is the Taxes and Business Strategy class. She has won…
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S.P. Kothari
Gordon Y Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance, Emeritus
S.P. Kothari is Gordon Y Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Professor Kothari has senior executive experience in government, academia, and industry with expertise in strategic and policy issues,…
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Example PhD Thesis Topics
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Yuting Wang (2025)
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Gabriel Voelcker (2024)
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Rachel Yoon (2023)
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Samuel Anderson (2022)
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Brian Baik (2022)