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Department of Accounting and Finance

Doctor of Philosophy

The Program

The doctoral program in Accounting and Finance has been successful with graduates going on to academic positions at Australian and international universities.

The Purpose

The purpose of a Doctor of Philosophy in the area of accounting or finance is to assist the student to conduct scholarly research. Graduates must demonstrate the ability to produce significant original research work that adds to prior knowledge of finance or accounting.

Why do a PhD?

A PhD will interest students with strong academic records who are interested in an academic career. A PhD will also interest students who wish to extend their depth of knowledge in a specialised area with a view to a career in finance or accounting. A doctorate is the usual pathway to a research and teaching career in universities, and can be a pathway to positions in the research arms of professional accounting and financial institutions.

Undertaking a PhD is a voyage of discovery that should lead to you becoming an expert in your area of specialisation. In completing a PhD you are undertaking to become one of only a few people in the world who has mastered such a depth of knowledge with respect to a particular issue. Achieving this depth of knowledge involves a very significant commitment on behalf of the student and the supervisor.

There is currently a world-wide shortage of well-trained faculty with doctorates in the areas of finance and accounting.

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Program Structure

In order to meet the needs and develop the talents of individual students, the Macquarie Accounting and Finance doctoral program is designed to be both academically rigorous and flexible. The program comprises

The particular program of each student is tailored to suit individual preferences and needs.

Coursework requirements are specifically agreed to help the student build her or his research skills. The minimum coursework would be a course in econometrics or applied statistics. Significant coursework can be required for study in some highly quantitative areas of finance.

The steps to completion of the thesis are agreed with the supervisor. Candidates can focus on one large project or multiple smaller projects that build to the overall dissertation. Students are required to present their proposed topic and progressive work to colleagues at regular intervals (typically annually) to obtain feedback and to help maintain momentum towards completion. In many ways, the doctoral study is a test of character, as students must be willing to expose their work to critical review and to be prepared to take advice from their supervisors and other faculty members.

Length of Candidature

The doctor of philosophy degree requires completion and examination of a scholarly piece of research that is a significant contribution to knowledge. As such there is not a definite time period to complete a degree. A typical, achievable target is completion of the degree over a four year period. This assumes emphasis on doctoral studies but also some concurrent work on teaching or related research.

Doctoral students are encouraged to feel they are part of the department whether employed by the department or not. They work closely with academic staff in their thesis research, they participate in the Department’s weekly research seminar, and they also may tutor students for the undergraduate program.

As a result of the limited number of students accepted into the doctoral program, each student receives a significant level of individual faculty member time and support. To guide the development and conduct of the thesis, each student is assigned a faculty member as a supervisor.

Students typically commence their program in March.

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Entry Requirements

A very good academic record. A very good academic record in undergraduate or graduate studies is required, preferably in the area of accounting or finance. For a student with a degree from an Australian University, first class honours or second class honours division one is an appropriate guide.

Research coursework. As doctoral studies draw on different skills to those developed at the undergraduate level (or non-research masters degrees), students need to have completed an honours year, or equivalent, including three courses related to research in accounting or finance. (Coursework in economic modelling, econometrics or other disciplines is considered towards the research coursework requirement.)

To fully understand the gap between undergraduate studies and research, potential students in accounting or finance should review articles in leading research journals such as The Accounting Review and The Journal of Finance.

Topic proposal and Supervision. Each student is required to submit a topic proposal and be assigned a supervisor. In practice, our senior faculty work with students to try to identify supervisors with similar interests and to help develop a good research proposal. We also organise a second internal supervisor, and we also aim to have an additional reader on the thesis who may be an international expert in the area of study.

Research Coursework

Students without any prior research coursework are strongly advised to take the Honours program year or the Master of Philosophy degree with selected research coursework.

Completion of The Honours Program including the research coursework and the short thesis greatly helps to develop the research skills necessary to undertake a PhD. The year assists the student to choose a topic area, to develop a good thesis proposal, and to develop contacts with potential supervisors. The Honours Program includes the following research subjects offered in the first semester of each year:

Students select an approved quantitative unit from the offerings of the Faculty of Business and Economics. This unit should provide instruction in the theory and application of relevant quantitative methods for their thesis, and as used in accounting and finance research generally.

ACCG807: Research Seminar

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In consultation with their supervisor, students can select elective units that suit their research interests, and which are relevant to the major investigative work they wish to undertake for the doctoral program. Electives may also be used to acquire specific research skills (for example, in applied statistics or econometrics).

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Thesis

Doctoral candidates will develop an original piece of investigative research. The research may be of a basic or applied nature.

The thesis represents an original contribution to the accounting or finance academic literature and might contribute to the prior literature in the following ways:

  • an original data set to which an established question and methodology could be applied;
  • an original research design to address an empirical or theoretical issue;
  • a development of methodology which could be applied to empirical or theoretical issues;
  • an extension of previous research to a new environment; or
  • a critical analysis of a contemporary accounting, auditing or finance issue.

The thesis is not merely a descriptive study of accounting procedures. It is expected that the research will develop the topic thoroughly, relating it to the existing literature, developing testable hypotheses, conducting empirical analysis as appropriate, and evaluating the results.

There are no strict requirements as to the minimum or maximum length of a doctoral thesis, although normally a thesis would not exceed 100,000 words. It is the quality of the contribution that is at issue and not the length of the document.

Possible Topics and Supervision

The department of accounting and finance has expertise in a range of sub-disciplines. Prospective students should examine the active research areas in the Department of Accounting & Finance and investigate the research interests of staff within the Department.

Recent student research projects and recent Department publications are also valuable areas to visit when evaluating your possible topic and supervision.

Accounting and finance can be approached from numerous perspectives. Each candidate however brings their own expertise. Some of the best projects can arise from discussion of previous research with a view to the opportunities to extend prior knowledge. A doctoral student works under supervision, but the student is expected to demonstrate independence of thought.

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Fees and Financial Support

Doctoral students are liable for the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and for Macquarie University Student Activity Fees. Further information on HECS is available from the Student Centre on campus.

Refer to the Higher Degree Research Unit for further information on both fees and the availability of scholarships: http://www.ro.mq.edu.au/HDRU/

For doctoral study in the Accounting and Finance Department, a limited number of scholarships are available on a competitive basis.

Part-time employment as casual tutors in the undergraduate teaching program in Accounting and Finance may also be available, providing further financial support.

Contract positions at the Associate Lecturer level are also available for qualified applicants, or students making good progress towards their doctorate.

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Enquiries

The Doctoral Program Co-ordinator is Mehdi Sadeghi, who may be contacted for all enquiries concerning the program:

Dr. Mehdi Sadeghi
Faculty of Business and Economics 
Macquarie University NSW 2109 
email: mehdi.sadeghi@mq.edu.au
Phone: (02) 9850 8527
Fax: (02) 9850 8497

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Applications

Applications for admission to the PhD program must be lodged with the Higher Degree Research Unit. Application details can be found at http://www.ro.mq.edu.au/HDRU/. Applications are typically reviewed from October for students starting in the following year.

It is preferable that applications be discussed initially with the doctoral program co-ordinator and potential supervisors.

For further information about the University, its postgraduate courses, applications, admission and enrolment procedures, see the booklet, Macquarie University Postgraduate Study (PDF), available from the Higher Degree Research Unit.

The doctor of philosophy degree is regulated and supervised by the University. The above notes are provided as general guidance. For the full conditions applying to the award of Doctor of Philosophy refer to the Handbook of Postgraduate Studies.

Student Research Projects 

All current Accounting and Finance Department doctoral student research projects can be viewed within this website, while a comprehensive list of all doctoral student research projects across the Faculty is available on the Faculty of Business and Economics website.

Some of the PhD theses in progress

  • Gordon Boyce progressed his thesis entitled “Social and Environmental Accounting in the Context of Globalisation: Hegemony, Mediation, and Resistance”.  Papers from the thesis have been published in 2000, 2002 and 2004. 
  • James Hazelton’s thesis is entitled “Accounting for Sustainability”. During 2005 he published a paper from his thesis work entitled “The Amorality of Public Corporations” and attended the doctoral consortium run by the Journal of Critical Perspectives in Accounting.
  • Alan Kilgore undertook a pilot study for his thesis entitled “The influence of audit team and audit firm factors in assessments of perceived audit quality” and identified the target participants for the survey to be conducted in 2006.
  • Charlene Chen: Accounting for R&D outlays and analysts' forecasts
  • Sterling Huang: Time - varying liquidity pricing
  • Rahat Munir: Changes in performance measurement systems - evidence from the banking sector