*CPE SESSION 4: SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM and
SUNDAY, AUGUST 8, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Ninth Symposium on Ethics Research in Accounting:
Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley:
Can the Accounting Profession Meet Its Ethical Mandate?

Preliminary Program

Description/Objectives:
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act will be fully implemented before the meeting, providing an opportunity to reflect on its implications and to evaluate its initial effects. Rules have changed, but is there evidence that the accounting profession has a strategy for assuming the ethical mandate assigned by society?

The conference will be open to any papers related to ethics in accounting. Based on submissions received, we expect to have three tracks at the conference: a theory track, an empirical/experimental track, and an ethics education/case track. This should lead to a lively interchange of ideas, potentially including time for informal "discussion sessions" with authors to aid them in fleshing out ways to apply ethics theory to the problems confronting the profession. The goal of this conference is to stimulate creativity in the accounting ethics community and to allow networking opportunities.

A prize will be awarded for best overall paper and a separate award will be presented for the best paper authored by a Ph.D. student. Both presentation and forum sessions will be included in the program. All faculty and doctoral students are invited to attend; enrollment fee waivers are available for doctoral students, with registration covered by the Professionalism and Ethics Committee.

Format/Structure:
We especially encourage authors to develop and communicate a theoretical understanding of why the accounting profession continues to struggle through a series of ethical failures. Positive, empirical explanations of "what is" are encouraged as well. We expect to have three conference tracks: a theory track, an empirical/experimental track, and an ethics education/case track. Both presentation and forum sessions will be included in the program. This should lead to a lively interchange of ideas, potentially including time for informal "discussion sessions" with authors to aid them in fleshing out ways to apply ethics theory to the problems confronting the profession.

Intended Audience:
Faculty, Ph.D. students, and practitioners are invited to attend. Enrollment fee waivers are available for Ph.D. students.

Sponsor:
AAA Professionalism and Ethics Committee

* Denotes special requirements or prerequisite