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
AI and jobs: 4 takeaways from Google’s chief economist
Google’s Fabien Curto Millet examined how AI is reshaping job roles, workflows, and employee training in an address at the MIT Stone Center on Inequality and Shaping the Future of Work.
Politicians and the Fed: A Complex Relationship
A new analysis of politicians’ and Federal Reserve officials’ personal calendars reveals that the relationship between politicians and the Fed has long been complicated—but also multifaceted.
5 things to know about how companies can create value from AI
As AI tools become more widely available, competitive advantage will depend on the trust, data, expertise, operating capabilities, and work redesign companies build around them.
Synthesis Capital Co-Founder on the Fundamental Learnings of MIT
Robert Wickham, SB ’93, SM ’95, past president of the MIT Alumni Association, talks about the lessons he learned from MIT that have greatly impacted his life and career.
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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Zoe Yuxin Han (2026)
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David Sunghyo Kim (2025)
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Yuting Wang (2025)
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Cindy Zhang (2025)
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Gabriel Voelcker (2024)