Two accounting professors from the School of Accountancy traveled to Hong Kong in May. Dr. Tom Omer, professor of accountancy and Delmar Lienemann Sr. Chair of Accounting, and Dr. Marjorie Shelley, associate professor of accountancy, presented papers and consulted with academics on methodology in accounting at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School.

“We were invited to visit Hong Kong after we went to the European Accounting Association (EAA) Conference in Paris, France and met with a former Ph.D. student of mine from Texas A&M. She is on the faculty at the CUHK Business School and spoke with us about attending their Research Seminar for the summer of 2015,” Omer said.

During their time in Hong Kong, Shelley presented her paper “Audit Committee Influence on Audit Firm Selection, Retention, Efficiency and Fees.”

“As researchers, we enjoy workshops where we can collect various comments and questions, find some common themes and then look at the particularly interesting ones that are different to apply to our papers,” Shelley said. “We received thought invoking feedback that came from an entirely new perspective at the Chinese University of Hong Kong that I'm sure will help our papers.”

Omer presented his paper “Do Director Networks Matter for Financial Reporting Quality? Evidence from Restatements.” He also taught a Ph.D. seminar. While there, both Omer and Shelley were able to work and meet with other accounting academics.

“I enjoyed teaching the Ph.D. seminar because it cultivated some great discussions about methodology and having consistency in accounting research. Many of our discussions lead to other potential research and created connections for future papers,” Omer said.

While traveling, Omer and Shelley immersed themselves in Chinese culture. They used trains, ferry boats and cable cars to see the sites.

“We took a cable car across the water and up the hillside of Lantau Island. It was incredibly foggy and windy as we glided over the water, we couldn’t see anything. On the island we saw the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas and the Big Buddha, which is 50 feet tall,” Shelley said.

Omer added, “We had some absolutely fabulous food and some things that were interesting to try, like chicken feet and jelly fish noodles. We also enjoyed visiting the wet fish market, where there were fresh fish and vegetables.” Published: January 8, 2016