UC Davis experts: Accounting and tax issues

The following University of California, Davis, faculty are available to comment on accounting and tax issues. If you need assistance on other business topics, please contact Julia Ann Easley at (530) 752-8248, jaeasley@ucdavis.edu.

• Accounting fraud, auditor independence, security markets, financial valuation
• Managerial accounting, corporate crime and ethics
• Taxes, financial accounting, non-profits
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance
• Regulation, financial accounting and reporting
• U.S. and international financial accounting, financial statements
• Pension taxation

Accounting fraud, auditor independence, security markets, financial valuation

Paul Griffin, professor of management and associate dean of academic affairs for the Graduate School of Management, is an internationally recognized specialist in the areas of accounting, financial valuation and the role of information in security markets. He has published extensively in leading accounting and finance journals, and has written research monographs for the Financial Accounting Standards Board and case books on corporate financial reporting. His most recent publications examine the effects of securities fraud litigation on investors and creditors in securities markets. He can also offer insight on how the investments and liability of accounting firms can help them maintain auditor independence. Contact: Paul, Griffin, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-7372, pagriffin@ucdavis.edu.

Managerial accounting, corporate crime and ethics

Professor Michael Maher of the Graduate School of Management is a recognized expert on managerial accounting and corporate crime including fraud, bribery and antitrust activities. He develops profiles of companies and managers who commit corporate misconduct, and studies and lectures on corporate ethics and the responsibilities of business and auditors to stakeholders. Maher focuses his research on the efficiency of recent developments in managerial accounting, including activity based costing, benchmarking and theory constraints. He has authored more than 10 books on the principles and essentials of managerial accounting and written or edited chapters in more than 20 other publications. Maher has also conducted research on anti-trust issues related to the airline industry, the cost effectiveness of online education and health-care costs. He consults for government and many different industries, including computer software, automobile, defense, health-care and pharmaceutical industries. Contact: Michael Maher, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-7034, mwmaher@ucdavis.edu.

Taxes, financial accounting, non-profits

Robert Yetman, assistant professor in the Graduate School of Management, can offer expert insight on corporate tax, financial accounting, income tax, U.S. and international financial accounting, and non-profit accounting and tax issues. Yetman concentrates his research on the effect of taxes on business decisions and the response of non-profit organizations to economic incentives. He has examined why some tax-exempt charities choose to be taxed on their unrelated business income, and how such charities’ behavior is not always driven by the desire to maximize profits. He teaches a course on business taxation and has lectured on cost accounting at executive education programs for wine industry professionals. Contact: Robert Yetman, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-3571, rjyetman@ucdavis.edu.

Mergers and acquisitions

Richard Castanias, associate professor and associate dean of academic affairs for the Graduate School of Management, is an expert in international finance and trade. His research interests span many areas, including corporate financial theory; resource economics; industrial organization; economics and financing of small firms; small business bankruptcy; small business valuation; informal capital markets; economics of executive compensation and succession; financing of cooperative organizations; economics of information; and monetary economics. Castanias has published more than 20 major articles in leading academic journals and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for some 20 academic journals. He has led student study trips to Chile, Brazil and Mexico and is an authority on the economics of the countries. Richard Castanias, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-8064, rpcastanias@ucdavis.edu.

Mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance

Professor Donald Palmer of the Graduate School of Management focuses his research on corporate governance, the interlocking nature of corporate directorships, and the role of power and politics in executive succession. He is an expert on corporate and white-collar crime, corporate ethics and social responsibility. As a specialist in organizational behavior, Palmer examines basic psychological and social psychological processes shaping human behavior and applies knowledge of these processes to the problem of working with and managing others in organizations. He also has extensive knowledge of mergers and acquisitions, regional economic growth and the health-care industry. Contact: Donald Palmer, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-8566, dapalmer@ucdavis.edu.

Regulation, financial accounting and reporting

Benjamin Segal, assistant professor of management in the Graduate School of Management, concentrates his research on financial accounting and reporting, specifically the effects of regulation, intangibles and goodwill as well as the value of accounting information. In his dissertation, Segal examined the impact of a landmark ruling by the Financial Accounting Standards Board in 2001 that altered the way public companies must account for goodwill and other intangible assets gained in an acquisition. The new standard gives analysts and investors more useful information for assessing investments. Segal, who also has a law degree, teaches a course that analyzes the latest issues in corporate financial reporting and the implications of those issues for managers, investors, independent accountants and policy-makers. Contact: Benjamin Segal, Graduate School of Management, (530) 754-5960, bsegal@ucdavis.edu.

U.S. and international financial accounting, financial statements

Assistant Professor Michelle Yetman of the Graduate School of Management is an expert on U.S. and international financial accounting, interpreting financial statements and the valuation of assets and claims. Her current research is focused on capital markets, specifically the reaction of individuals such as stock market investors to financial statements and other information signals from companies and markets. Contact: Michelle Yetman, Graduate School of Management, (530) 754-7808, mhyetman@ucdavis.edu.

Pension taxation

Increasing the caps on tax-deferred contributions to pension plans, 401(k) plans, and IRAs would be expensive and create little new savings, particularly by low- or moderate-income workers. Pension tax breaks already cost the federal government about $100 billion a year in lost revenues, according to Professor Bruce Wolk of the UC Davis School of Law. A specialist in pension and employee benefit law, he says that rather than increasing this cost further, the revenue could be put to better use paying down the debt or funding social programs. Wolk, who is co-author of "Pension and Employee Benefit Law," teaches courses on federal income taxation and pension law. Contact: Bruce Wolk, School of Law, (530) 752-3343, bawolk@ucdavis.edu.

Media contact:

• Claudia Morain, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9841, .

  Top of page

  ---

  Last updated June 23, 2004