Dr. Rong Zhao

Positions

Associate Professor

Haskayne School of Business, Accounting [ACCT]

Editorial Board Member

Contemporary Accounting Research

Contact information

rozhao@ucalgary.ca
rong.zhao@haskayne.ucalgary.ca

Web presence

Google Scholar

SSRN

Phone number

Office: +1 (403) 220-2568

Background

Educational Background

PhD Accounting (minor: Finance), University of Iowa,

M.S. Accounting, University of Texas at Dallas,

B.S. Accounting, Peking University,

Biography

Rong Zhao is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Haskayne School of Business.

Her research has been published in leading academic journals and top practitioner outlets, including The Accounting Review, Management Science, Contemporary Accounting Research, Harvard Business Review, and California Management Review. She won the prestigious Deloitte Foundation Dissertation Fellowship for her PhD thesis and is a recipient of SSHRC Insight Grant and several CPA Alberta research grants. She is currently a member of the editorial board at Contemporary Accounting Research.

She teaches financial accounting both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Since joining Haskayne, she has been nominated several times by students for teaching awards and received the MBA Society Outstanding Teaching and Learning Award in 2019. Prior to her academic career, she was a CPA licensed in Texas and worked as a tax accountant and business systems analyst at the RIA division of Thomson Reuters.

Research

Areas of Research

limitations of financial reporting; intangibles; new economy firms; analyst and management forecasts; and supply chain information.

Courses

Course number	Course title	Semester
ACCT 341 LEC 01 01	Intermediate Financial Acct I	2020
ACCT 341 LEC 02 02	Intermediate Financial Acct I	2020
ACCT 341 LEC 03 03	Intermediate Financial Acct I	2021
ACCT 641 LEC 01 01	Intermediate Fnce ACCT I	2021
ACCT 641 LEC 02 02	Intermediate Fnce ACCT I	2020
ACCT 641 LEC 03 03	Intermediate Fnce ACCT I	2021

Projects

Internal Rate of Return (IRR) Data

Description and Download Link

Awards

Dean's Research Scholar , Haskayne School of Business. 2023
SSHRC Insight Grants "Do Digital Technology Firms Generate Excess Profits?", Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. 2022
MBA Society Outstanding Teaching and Learning Award, Haskayne School of Business. 2019

Publications

Cost Uniqueness and Information Uncertainty. Anderson, M., R. Mashruwala, Y. Wang, and R. Zhao. Contemporary Accounting Research. (2023)
A Better Estimate of Internally Generated Intangible Capital. Igbal, A., S. Rajgopal, A. Srivastava, and R. Zhao. Management Science (forthcoming).
Do Digital Technology Firms Earn Excess Profits? Alternative Perspectives. Rajgopal, S., A. Srivastava, and R. Zhao. The Accounting Review. 2023.
Profitability and Risk-return Comparison across Health Care Industries, Evidence from Publicly Traded Companies 2010–2019. G. Bai, S. Rajgopal, A. Srivastava, and R. Zhao. PLOS ONE. (2022)
Mind the GAAP? . Govindarajan V., A. Srivastava, and R. Zhao. Harvard Business Review. (2021)
Selective Disclosure and the Role of Form 8-K in the Post-Reg FD Era.. Gleason, C., Z. Ling, and R. Zhao. Journal of Business Finance and Accounting. (2020)
Do Digital Technology Firms Earn Excess Profits?. Rajgopal, S., A. Srivastava, and R. Zhao. California Management Review. (2020)
Management Sales Forecasts and Firm Market Power. Acito, A., D. Folsom, and R. Zhao. Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance. (2021)
Supply Chain Relational Capital and the Bullwhip Effect: An Empirical Analysis Using Financial Disclosures. Zhao, R., R. Mashruwala, S. Pandit, and J. Balakrishnan. International Journal of Operations & Production Management. (2019)
Are Corporate Risk-Taking Practices Indicative of Aggressive Reporting Practices?. Frank, M. M, L. Lynch, S. Rego, and R. Zhao. Journal of the American Taxation Association. (2018)
Director Tenure and Corporate Social Responsibility: The Tradeoff between Experience and Independence. Patro, S., L. Zhang, and R. Zhao. Journal of Business Research. (2018)
Revenue Benchmark Beating and the Sector-Level Investor Pricing of Revenue and Earnings. R. Zhao. Accounting Horizons. (2017)
Contrarian Share Price Reactions to Earnings Surprises. Johnson, B.J., and R. Zhao. Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance. (2012)

In the News

The conundrum of biopharma investing: low rewards and high risks — but a big social benefit. Stat (health-oriented news website). (2022)
Do Political Anti-ESG Sanctions Have Any Economic Substance?. Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog.