Wharton Theory Boot Camp

Wharton Theory Boot Camp for Empiricists

June 3, 2019 – June 5, 2019

The goal of this three-day program is to teach empirical PhD students how to extract meaningful insights from theoretical papers in the accounting literature and incorporate those insights into empirical projects. The camp will provide an introduction to some common theoretical models in the literature, with an emphasis on how those models can be used to frame empirical projects.

Topics covered include classical models of voluntary disclosure (taught by Prof. Verrecchia), earnings management (taught by Prof. Fischer) and agency theory (taught by Prof. Lambert). For 2019, our guest lecturer is Prof Qi Chen, who will discuss theory and empirical work on feedback between prices and real decisions.

The camp has a unique format designed to foster the integration of theory and empirical work. In morning sessions, theory faculty will provide a high-level overview of classic models on a particular topic. After lunch, there will be a session lead by empirical faculty (co-taught by Profs Armstrong, Heinle, and Taylor), which will feature small breakout groups and a discussion of how the models can be used to frame a variety of empirical projects. Emphasis in these sessions will be on tying empirical work back to specific economic forces in the theory models.

Camp will begin with breakfast on 6/3 and conclude with a group dinner 6/5.

The camp is designed for empirical PhD students who have passed qualifying exams. The camp will not provide coverage of technical issues in theory papers, will not discuss structural estimation, and will not provide a balanced coverage of the theory literature. It is not a substitute for rigorous theory training and is not intended for students interested in pursuing theoretical research.

For students interested in learning more about frontiers of theory and structural estimation, we recommend events hosted by Duke and the Accounting and Economics Society (https://www.accountingtheory.org).

ORGANIZER: Daniel Taylor

LOGISTICS: At this point, we have limited funding and attendance is by invitation only. More information on logistics will be available closer to the program date.