203.432.5977

Williams Brothers Professor of Accounting and Finance

Professor Thomas focuses on the relation between accounting information and stock prices. Insights recently developed in this area that suggest fundamental links between accounting numbers and value form the basis of much of his recent teaching and research. He was actively involved in developing the core curriculum and has written cases and other teaching material for the courses he teaches on equity valuation and financial management. Differences between stock prices and fundamental value provide the basis for his examination of various stock trading strategies. Before joining the faculty at the Yale School of Management, he was the Ernst & Young Professor of Accounting and Finance at Columbia Business School.

Achievements and Awards
Rackham Centennial Distinguished Alumni Speaker, 2012
Chazen International Research Prize, 2002
Finalist, Smith Breeden Prize of the American Finance Association, 2001
First prize, IBES Competition for International Valuation Research, 1999
Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence, 1995
AICPA Notable Contributions to Accounting Literature Award, 1993 Deloitte Haskins and Sells Doctoral Fellow, 1982-1984

Editorships
Associate Editor (current or former):
Accounting Horizons
Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance
The Journal of Accounting and Economics
Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting
Editorial Board:
Accounting Review
Contemporary Accounting Research
Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance
Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting

Selected Articles
"Why Do EPS Forecast Error and Dispersion Not Vary with Scale? Implications for Analyst and Managerial Behavior" (with F.S. Cheong), Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 49, No. 2, 359-401, May, 2011

"Tax Expense Momentum" (with F. Zhang), Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 49, No. 3, 791-821, June, 2011

"More Evidence of Bias in the Differential Timeliness Measure of Conditional Conservatism" (with P. Patatoukas) Accounting Review, Vol. 86, No. 5, September, 2011

"Understanding Two Remarkable Findings about Stock Yields and Growth" (with F. Zhang), Journal of Portfolio Management, Vol. 35, No. 4, 158-67, Summer, 2009

"Overreaction to Intra-Industry Information Transfers" (with F. Zhang), Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 46, No. 4, 909-40, September, 2008

"Cash Flow is King? Comparing Valuations Based on Cash Flow Versus Earnings Multiples" (with J. Liu and D. Nissim), Financial Analysts Journal, Vol. 63, No. 2, 56-68, March/April, 2007

"Accounting for Employee Stock Options" (with R. Mathur and M. Kirschenheiter), Accounting Horizons, Vol. 18, No. 2, 135-56, June, 2004

"Inventory Changes and Future Returns" (with H. Zhang), Review of Accounting Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2-3, 163-87, June-September, 2002

"Valuation Using Multiples" (with J. Liu and D. Nissim) Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 40, No. 1, 137-72, March, 2002

"Equity Premia as Low as Three Percent? Evidence from Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts for Domestic and International Stock Markets" (with J. Claus), Journal of Finance, Vol. 55, No.5, 1629-66, October, 2001

Working Papers
"Valuation of Tax Expense" (with F. Zhang)

"Implications of Scale Invariance in EPS Forecast Errors" (with F.S. Cheong)

"Income Spring-loading when No One Is Looking? Earnings Management by Acquisition Targets Between Takeover Announcement and Completion" (with S. Chen and F. Zhang)

"Comment on ‘On Estimating Conditional Conservatism’ by Ball, Kothari, and Nikolaev" (with P. Patatoukas)

"How Do Managers Suppress Scale Variation in Analysts' EPS Forecast Errors?" (with F.S. Cheong)

"Tax Benefits of Leasing" (with T. Bell)

"Non-Executive Employee Ownership and Corporate Risk-Taking" (with F. Bova, K. Kolev and F. Zhang)

Education
PhD University of Michigan, 1984
MBA ICMS, 1977
B. Tech. IIT, 1974