CURRICULUM VITAE
William R. Scott
Education
Academic Degrees
Institution
Year
Ph.D.
University of Chicago
Thesis title: "A Bayesian Approach to the
Accounting Problems of Asset Valuation
and Audit Size."
1973
M.B.A.
University of Chicago
1968
B. Comm.
Carleton University
1953
Year
Professional Designations
C.A.
I.C.A.O.
1956
F.C.A.
I.C.A.O.
1985
Employment History
Years
Position/Rank
1996 to date
Adjunct Professor, School of Business
Queen's University
1996 to date
Distinguished Emeritus Professor
University of Waterloo
1991-1996
Ontario Chartered Accountants' Chair
in Accounting
University of Waterloo
1984-1996
Professor, School of Accountancy
University of Waterloo
1983
Visiting Professor
University of Waterloo
1982, 1983
Adjunct Research Professor
Concordia University
1978-1983
Professor, School of Business
Queen's University
1970-1978
Associate Professor
Queen's University
1970, 1972 (summer)
Sessional Lecturer
University of Chicago
Employer
Employment History cont'd
-21969-1970
Associate Professor
Carleton University
1961-1968
Assistant Professor
Carleton University
1956-1961
Accountant, then Treasurer
Doran Construction
Co. Ltd., Ottawa, Ontario
1953-1956
Student-in-Accounts
McDonald, Currie & Co.
(Now Pricewaterhouse
Coopers), Ottawa, Ontario
Academic Awards and Distinctions
Year
Ontario Chartered Accountants' Chair in Accounting
School of Accountancy, University of Waterloo.
1991- 1996
Winner of the CAAA Award for Distinguished Contribution
to Accounting Thought.
1988
Clarkson Gordon Professor of Accounting, Queen's University.
1980-1983
Grants and Research Funding
SSHRC Strategic Grant, 1982. To support a Consortium for Canadian Ph.D. Students in Accounting -$10,000
SSHRCC Research Grant, 1983. To support Accounting Educators' Symposium -- $15,000
CAAA/CGAAC Research Award, 1988. For monograph on "The Social Role of Auditing" --
$20,000
SSHRCC, 1990, 1991. Conference grants to support Contemporary Accounting Research
Conference, University of Waterloo, November, 1990 -- $5,500, November, 1991 -- $6,500.
SSHRCC, 1994-1996. Research Grant, "Valuation of Executive Stock Options in the Presence
of Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection," with P. Boyle, $48,000.
Memberships
Canadian Academic Accounting Association
American Accounting Association
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario
University Activities
-3a)
teaching - undergraduate
- financial accounting theory, research methodology.
teaching - graduate (over the last several years)
- ACC 782 - Ph.D. Seminar for incoming Ph.D. Students, University of Waterloo, Winter,
1995 (with A. Atkinson), Winter, 1996 (with K. Klassen), Winter, 1997, Winter, 1998.
- BUS 810 - School of Business, Queen’s University, Winter, 1998, Fall, 1998.
- ACC 601 - Research Methodology, Master of Accounting (MACC) program, University of
Waterloo, various years.
- Ph.D. Seminar in Auditing, University of Waterloo, Winter, 1989; Spring, 1996.
- Ph.D. Seminar in Financial Accounting Theory, University of Waterloo, Fall, 1991
(with L. Eckel and G. Richardson); Fall, 1995.
- Ph.D. Seminar in Financial Accounting Theory, Concordia University, Fall, 1993.
b)
administrative
Chairman, Graduate Studies Committee, School of Accountancy, University of Waterloo, 19841989. Responsible for preparation and submission of proposal for Ph.D. program in Accounting,
Fall, 1985. Graduate Officer, School of Accountancy, 1987-1989 and 1995-1996. Member of
various other committees.
Various university and departmental committees at Queen's University
c)
graduate student supervision
- Chairperson for 3 Ph.D. theses completed in 1994, School of Accountancy, University of
Waterloo (Robert Mathieu, Suzanne Paquette, Ping Zhang).
- Masters: Thesis chairman for 5 students. Supervisor of M.Acc. research project (ACC
698)
for several students at University of Waterloo.
- Ph.D.: Thesis committee member for 3 students.
- Supervised Deloitte, Haskins & Sells graduate research
assistantship for 1 Ph.D. student, Queen's University.
- supervised summer research workshops for 5 Ph.D. students, Queen's University.
- external examiner for several Ph.D. theses.
Scholarly and Professional Activities
- Athabasca University, Course coordinator, ACC 453 (Financial Accounting Theory), 2001 to
2004
- Faculty member, CARMIP (Contemporary Accounting Research Methodologies Intensive
Program), organized by Department of Accounting, Guanghua Management School,
-4Peking University, Beijing, and Department of Accountancy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University, Hong Kong. Beijing, June, 1999
- Distinguished Visiting Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, May, 1997
- Editor, Contemporary Accounting Research, 1989-1991
- Member, Editorial Board, Contemporary Accounting Research, 1984-to date
- Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Accounting Research, 1978-1989
- Member, Editorial Board, The Accounting Review, 1978-1981
- Member, Editorial Board, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, 1987-1990
- Chair, CAAA Journal Review Committee, 2003-4
- Chair, CAAA Research Committee, 1981-1986
- Member, CAAA Research Committee, 1979-1980, 1995
- Member, AAA Research Advisory Committee, 1979-1980
- Member, AAA Doctoral Consortium Committee, 1983
- Organizer, Symposium for Canadian Ph.D. Students in Accounting, Queen's University, 1982
- Organizer, CAAA Accounting Educators' Symposium, Queen's University (with J.C.
Moore), 1983
- Program Chairman, CAAA Annual Conference, Guelph, Ontario, 1984
- Book Review Editor, C.A. Magazine, 1974-1975
- Member, Professional Schools of Accounting Assessment Committee, Institute of
Chartered Accountants of Ontario, 1991
- Member, Audit Research Agenda Committee, Audit Section, American Accounting
Association,1986-1990
- Treasurer, Childrens' Aid Society of Kingston and Islands, 1982-1983
- Board Member, Childrens' Aid Society of Kingston and Islands, 1981-1983
- Member, Audit Committee, Multiple Organ Retrieval and Exchange Program of Ontario
(MORE), 1990-1995
- Board member, Brockville-Leeds-Grenville Branch, Victorian Order of Nurses, 2004--Papers Presented at Conferences and Seminars
Papers Presented
"A Statistical Decision Theory Approach to Asset Valuation by Accountants", American Accounting
Association (Canadian Region), June 3, 1972.
"Loss Functions Implicit in Consumption-Investment Models", 5th Annual Research Forum, Ontario
Schools of Business, McMaster University, Hamilton, 17 April 1974.
"Bayesian Loss Functions and Audit Size Calculations", joint meeting ORSA/TIMS, San Juan, Puerto
Rico, 17 October 1974.
"Auditors Loss Functions Implicit in Consumption-Investment Models", Conference on Statistical
Methodology in Auditing, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, 2 May 1975.
"An Audit and Reporting Procedure when User's Decision Models are Unknown", American
Accounting Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, 25 August 1976.
"Dimensions and Evaluation of Current Research in Auditing Using Information Economics", American
-5Accounting Association Annual Meeting, Portland, 24 August 1977.
"Linear Incentive Contracts and a Production Effect of Auditing", Stanford Summer Workshop in
Accounting, Stanford University, Palo Alto, 31 July - 4 August 1978.
"A Model of Standard-Setting in Auditing," refereed paper, Contemporary Accounting Research
Research Conference, Accounting Standards and Information; McMaster University, 12-13 May,
1985 (with George Blazenko).
"A Model of Managerial Decision-Making Under Asymmetric Information and Auditing," refereed
paper, Contemporary Accounting Research Research Conference, McMaster University, 24-25
August, 1986.
“A Model of the Valuation and Intensity of Executive Stock Options,” with P. Boyle, P. Zhang. Paper
presented at joint Buffalo-Waterloo Accounting Conference, SUNY Buffalo, 19 May, 1995 and
Faculty of Management, University of Manitoba, 26 May, 1995.
Invited Seminars and Related Activities
"Scoring Rules for Probabilistic Reporting", Invited Seminar, Faculty of Commerce and Business
Administration, University of British Columbia, 26-27 April 1977.
"Group Preference Orderings for Audit and Valuation Alternatives", Invited Seminar, Graduate School
of Business Administration, University of Washington, Seattle, 28-29 April 1977.
Symposium on Auditing Research III, University of Illinois, 25-27 October 1978. Discussant of the
paper "Audit Tests for Internal Control Reliance" by W.L. Felix, Jr., and J. L. Goodfellow.
"A Cost-benefit Analysis of Auditing," Invited Lecture in the Touche-Ross Lecture Series in
Accounting and Auditing, Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, 18 December
1978.
"Auditor/Auditee Relationship," Invited Seminar, College of Commerce University of Saskatchewan,
Saskatoon, 9 February 1979.
"A Programming Approach to Depreciation Cost Allocation," Invited Seminar, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, 8 March 1979.
Conference on Auditing - Selections from the "Research Opportunities in Auditing" Program, Graduate
School of Business, University of Chicago, Chicago, 3-4 May 1979. Discussant of the paper
"Materiality Allocation in Audit Planning: A Feasibility Study", by R.E. Cushing, D.G. Searfoss
and R.H. Randall.
Visiting Faculty Member, 1980 AAA Doctoral Consortium, Cambridge, Mass., 6-9 August 1980.
Presented Paper, "A Model of the Social Value of Audited Financial Statement Information."
Economic Council of Canada, Financial Markets Group Workshop, 9 October 1980. Discussant of
"Canadian Corporations as Seen Through Their Balance Sheets," by J.M. Gagnon and B.
-6Papillon.
The Social Value of Audited Financial Statement Information," Invited Seminar, College of Business
Administration, The University of Minnesota, 23 January 1981, and College of Business
Administration, University of Iowa, 16 April, 1981.
"The Nature and Role of Research to Support Standard-Setting in Financial Accounting in Canada," a
symposium sponsored by the Clarkson Gordon Foundation, 19-21 May, 1981, Dalhousie
University, Halifax. Discussant of paper "Agency Theory Research and Financial Accounting
Standards," by A.A. Atkinson and G.A. Feltham.
"Academic Research in Auditing," invited presentation to plenary session, CAAA Annual Meeting,
Halifax, 22 May, 1981.
"Maintenance of Capital; Financial Versus Physical," a symposium sponsored by the Clarkson Gordon
Foundation under the auspices of the Faculty of Business Administration and Commerce, The
University of Alberta, 17-19 August, 1981. Discussant.
"The Social Value of Audited Financial Statement Information," Invited Seminar, University of Calgary,
Calgary, 24 November 1982.
The Sixth Illinois Auditing Research Symposium, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, 9-10
November, 1984. Discussant of "On the Fundamental Nature of Professional Opinions: The
Traditional, Bayesian and Epistemic Methods of Attestation."
University of Waterloo, Auditing Research Symposium, Waterloo, 6-7 November, 1987. Discussant of
"The Auditor's Off-Equilibrium Behaviors."
CAR Conference, McMaster University, 7-8 August, 1988.
Divisional Performance Measurement."
Discussion of "Accounting Based
"A Framework for Classification of Analytical Research Models in Auditing," Invited Seminar,
University of Calgary, 19 April, 1991.
1991 Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting, SUNY Buffalo, September, 1991.
Discussant of "Determinants of the Production of Information," by Neil D. Pearson.
"Accounting Research: From Practice or Academe," Invited Seminar, Samson Bélair/Deloitte Touche
Seminar Series, UQAM, Montreal, 22 November, 1991 (with Peter D. Chant).
CAR Conference, Banff, Alberta, 28 April - 1 May, 1995. Discussion of “Two Models of AuditorClient Interaction,” by S. C. Hansen and J. S. Watts.
“Auditor Liability and Current Investors’ Welfare,” with P. Zhang. Invited Seminar, Faculty of
Administration, University of Ottawa, 23 February, 1996.
"A Model of the Intensity and Valuation of Executive Stock Options," with A. Douglas, P. Boyle, and
Ping Zhang. Research Seminar, School of Business, Queen's University, 17 April, 1998.
-7Publications
Books
Scott, W.R., Financial Accounting Theory, (Upper Saddle River, NJ and Toronto, Ontario: Prentice
Hall Inc. and Prentice Hall Canada Inc., 1997). Published simultaneously in U.S. and Canadian
versions. Third edition of Canadian version published by Prentice Hall Canada, 2003. Fourth
edition currently in preparation. Chinese edition translated by Prof. Chen Hanwen, Xiamen
University and published by China Machine Press, 2000.
Chapters in Books
Scott, W.R., Certain Accounting Aspects of Telecommunications Regulation, In H.E. English, ed.,
Telecommunications for Canada (Toronto: Methuen, 1973), pp. 315-338.
Scott, W.R., Comments on "Agency Theory Research and Financial Accounting Standards," In S. Basu
and J.A. Milburn, Eds., Research to Support Standard Setting in Financial Accounting: A
Canadian Perspective, Proceedings of the 1981 Clarkson Gordon Foundation Research
Symposium. Toronto, Clarkson Gordon Foundation, (1981) pp. 294-298.
Scott, W.R., Discussion of Papers Presenting and Evaluating the Canadian, United Kingdom, Australian
and United States Proposals On Accounting for Changing Prices, Chapter 10, In R. Sterling and
K. Lemke, Eds., Maintenance of Capital: Financial Versus Physical, Scholars Book Co. (1982)
pp. 259-266.
Scott, W.R., Audit Approaches and Techniques, with A.D. Akresh and J.K. Loebbecke, in A.R. Abdelkhalik and I. Solomon, Eds., Research Opportunities in Auditing: The Second Decade, Sarasota,
Florida: American Accounting Association: Auditing Section, 1988, Chap. 2.
Papers in Refereed Journals
Scott, W.R., “A Bayesian Approach to Asset Valuation and Audit Size,” The Journal of Accounting
Research, 11, No. 2 (Autumn, 1973), pp. 304-330.
Scott, W.R., “Auditors Loss Functions Implicit in Consumption - Investment Models,” Studies in
Statistical Methodology in Auditing. Supplement to The Journal of Accounting Research, 13
(1975), pp. 98-117.
Scott, W.R., “Group Preference Orderings for Audit and Valuation Alternatives: The Single-Peakedness
Condition,” The Journal of Accounting Research, 15, No. 1 (Spring 1977), pp. 120-138.
Scott, W.R., “Scoring Rules for Probabilistic Reporting,” The Journal of Accounting Research, 17, No.
1 (Spring, 1979), pp. 156-178.
Scott, W.R., and A.A. Atkinson, "Current Cost Depreciation: A Programming Perspective," Journal of
Business Finance and Accounting, 9, No. 1, (Spring 1982), pp. 19-41.
-8Scott, W.R., "The State-of-the-Art of Academic Research in Auditing," Journal of Accounting
Literature, Vol. 3 (Spring 1984), pp. 153-200.
Scott, W.R., and George Blazenko, "A Model of Standard-Setting in Auditing," Contemporary
Accounting Research, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Fall, 1986), pp. 68-92.
Scott, W.R., "Economic Effects of a Mandated Audit in A Contingent-Claims Production Economy,"
Contemporary Accounting Research, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Spring, 1988), pp. 354-388.
Moore, Giora and W.R. Scott, "Auditors' Legal Liability, Collusion with Management, and Investors'
Loss", Contemporary Accounting Research (Spring 1989), pp. 754-774.
Scott, W.R., and P. Tiessen, "Content and Delivery of Canadian Academic Accounting Courses," in
Contemporary Accounting Research, CAAA Education Research Project issue, January, 1995.
Scott, W. R., “An International Comparison and Evaluation of Financial Accounting Concepts
Statements,” Canadian Accounting Perspectives (Vol. 1, No. 2, 2002).
Refereed Conference Proceedings
Scott, W.R. and A.A. Atkinson, "Linear Incentive Contracts and the Production Effects of Auditing,"
CICA Auditing Research Symposium, Laval University, Quebec City, 17-18 November, 1977.
Scott, W.R. and A.J. Taylor, "A Model of the Social Value of Audited Financial Statement
Information," ASAC Conference, Proceedings, Finance Division, Halifax, May 1981.
Other Papers
Scott, W.R., Response to "Audit Tests for Internal Control Reliance," by Felix and Goodfellow,
Symposium on Auditing Research III, Urbana, Center for Inter-national Education and Research
in Accounting, (1979), pp. 113-117.
Scott, W.R., Comment on "Materiality Allocation in Audit Planning: A Feasibility Study," by Cushing,
Searfoss and Randall, in Studies on Auditing - Selections from the Research Opportunities in
Auditing Program. Supplement to The Journal of Accounting Research, 17 (1979), pp. 231-238.
Scott, W.R., "Report on Demand and Supply Survey of Canadian PhDs in Accounting, 1985." A
report sponsored by the Canadian Academic Accounting Association, 21 February, 1986.
Scott, W.R., "Statistical Models in Auditing," paper prepared for Audit Research Agenda
Committee, Audit Section, American Accounting Association, September, 1987.
Scott, W.R. and P. Zhang, “The Effect of Auditor Liability and Auditing Standards on Audit
Value in a Model with Pre-Trial Negotiation,” Working paper, March 27, 1996.
Technical Reports and Other Publications
Scott, W.R. and A.A. Atkinson, “Statistical Sampling in Auditing,” 18 May 1979. A survey
-9report prepared for Coopers & Lybrand, Toronto.
Scott, W.R., Financial Accounting Theory. A set of 10 lessons, with problem material, prepared
for financial accounting theory course (AT1), Certified General Accountants' Association
of Canada. Second Edition, 2000 (currently under revision, 2003).
Research Interests
- Financial accounting theory and standard setting
- Earnings management.
- Executive compensation.
November 2004