Rebecca Hann Directory Page
Rebecca Hann
Associate Dean of Research and Doctoral Programs
Dean’s Professor of Accounting
KPMG Term Professor
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Rebecca Hann is the Dean’s Professor of Accounting at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and currently serves as the Associate Dean of Research and Doctoral Programs. Her research examines how information transparency affects decision-making and resource allocation in capital and labor markets, with a specific focus on how information frictions can lead to inefficiencies at both the firm and macroeconomic levels. Her recent work examines the role of human capital in the accounting labor market, particularly examining how advancements in technology affect skill development and talent acquisition. Her research has been published in leading accounting and finance journals, including The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Finance, Management Science, and Review of Accounting Studies. She serves on the editorial board of The Accounting Review.
An award-winning teacher, Hann has taught across the Smith School’s undergraduate, MBA, EMBA, and PhD programs. She is a recipient of several teaching awards, including the Distinguished Teaching Award, the Most Effective Core Professor Award, and the Krowe Award for Teaching Excellence. Hann has mentored over a dozen doctoral students, who hold faculty positions at universities worldwide, including the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Notre Dame, Singapore Management University, and the University of Michigan. She has been recognized with the American Accounting Association’s Best Dissertation Supervision Award and the Smith PhD Program Faculty Mentor of the Year Award. She earned her PhD from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Awards & Honors
- 2022: Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, University of Maryland
- 2022: Outstanding Paper, IAS Mid-year Meeting, American Accounting Association
- 2021, 2020: Excellence in Refereeing Award, Journal of Accounting Research
- 2021, 2019, 2014: The Most Effective Core Professor Award, voted for by the full-time MBA students, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
- 2020, 2014: The Allen J. Krowe Award for Teaching Excellence, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
- 2020, 2019, 2018: Distinguished Teaching Award (Top 10% of MBA Core Courses), Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
- 2017: The Smith PhD Program Faculty Mentor of the Year Award, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
- 2015: The Best Dissertation Supervision Award from the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section (FARS) of the American Accounting Association, for supervising Lindsey Gallo’s dissertation
- 2015: Outstanding Service Recognition by the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section (FARS) of the AAA for serving as the Research Program Chair for the 2015 FARS Midyear Meeting.
- 2013: The Best Discussant Award at the Review of Accounting Studies Conference, voted for by the RAST Conference participants
Selected Research
“The Price of an Accountant Shortage: Evidence from Job Vacancy Duration and Internal Control Weaknesses” with Jingwen Yang and Yue Zheng, 2024.
“Disclosing Work-From-Home Flexibility to Compete for Talent? Evidence from Job Postings” with Charles (Chad) Ham, Wenfeng Wang, and Jingwen Yang, 2024.
“Talking the Climate Change Talk: Evidence from the Paris Agreement” with Juan Castillo, Heedong Kim, and Huihao Yan, 2024.
“Does Firm-specific Disclosure Help Resolve Uncertainty around Macroeconomic Announcements?” with Jin Kyung Choi, Lindsey Gallo and Heedong Kim, 2024.
“Corporate Financing Activities and Business Cycle Fluctuations” with Congcong Li, Laurel Mazur, and Hanna Lee 2024.
“Auditor Skill Demands and Audit Quality: Evidence from Job Postings” with Charles (Chad) Ham, MaryJane Rabier, and Wenfeng Wang, Forthcoming at Management Science.
“Another Look at the Macroeconomic Information Content of Aggregate Earnings: Evidence from the Labor Market,” with Congcong Li and Maria Ogneva, The Accounting Review, Vol. 96, No. 2, May 2021.
“An Empirical Analysis of Analysts' Capital Expenditure Forecasts: Evidence from Corporate Investment Efficiency?” with Jin Kyung Choi, Musa Subasi, and Yue Zheng, Contemporary Accounting Research, Vol. 37, No. 4, Winter 2020.
“Information Frictions and Productivity Dispersion: The Role of Accounting Information,” with Heedong Kim, Wenfeng Wang, and Yue Zheng, forthcoming at The Accounting Review, Vol. 95, No. 3, May 2020.
“Intra-industry Information Transfers: Evidence from Changes in Implied Volatilities around Earnings Announcements” with Heedong Kim and Yue Zheng, Review of Accounting Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3, September 2019.
“Aggregate Earnings Surprises, Monetary Policy, and Stock Returns” with Lindsey Gallo and Congcong Li, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 62, No. 1, August 2016.
“A Discussion of 'Inter-Industry Network Structure and the Cross-Predictability of Earnings and Stock Returns',” Review of Accounting Studies, Vol. 19, No. 3, September 2014. (Received the Best Discussant Award at the 2013 Review of Accounting Studies Conference)
“Corporate Diversification and the Cost of Capital,” with Maria Ogneva and Oguzhan Ozbas, Journal of Finance, Vol. 68, No. 5, October 2013.
“Segment Profitability and the Proprietary and Agency Costs of Disclosure” with Phil Berger, The Accounting Review, Vol. 82, No. 4, July 2007.
News
Applications are open for the new Doctor of Business Administration Program at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of…
Since arriving at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business in 2008, Rebecca Hann has remained steadfast in her…
Research
How Earnings Predict Job Gains and Layoffs
What can capital expenditure predictions tell us about our investments?
Insights
Smith Researchers Find Peer Pressure Among Companies Determines Firms’ Work-From-Home Strategy
Academic Publications
“Auditor Skill Demands and Audit Quality: Evidence from Job Postings,” forthcoming in Management Science
In the paper, we exploit a novel dataset of online job postings to examine the skills that accounting firms are demanding from their auditors, and whether these skills relate to audit quality. We document substantial variation in the demand for auditors’ cognitive and social skills both across and within accounting firms, suggesting that audit offices are not homogeneous in their demand for such skills. We find that the demand for auditors’ cognitive and social skills increased over our sample period of 2010-2019 and is positively associated with audit quality. This association is stronger for audit engagements that are more complex or require greater coordination, suggesting that cognitive and social skills are particularly important in engagements where effective communication and knowledge transfer, as well as sound professional judgment and skepticism, are needed. The association is also stronger for audit offices with greater investments in new technology, consistent with the complementary relation between cognitive and social skills and the use of technology.
*This research was featured in Smith Brain Trust: Will Robots Replace Accounting Jobs?
Chad Ham (Smith PhD grad now at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University); Rebecca N. Hann (Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland); MaryJane Rabier (Smith PhD grad now at Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis); Wenfeng Wang (Smith PhD grad now at Southern University of Science and Technology)