PhD Program

The ESSEC PhD program in Accounting and Auditing (A&A) is devoted to training doctoral candidates to conduct research at the highest level on questions dealing with the role of accounting information in an ever-changing economic environment.

It is aimed at providing the necessary intellectual equipment to conduct scholarly research on a variety of accounting and auditing issues.

 

Research in accounting and auditing addresses a large spectrum of questions, including:

• the impact of accounting information on financial market participants and other users;

• the issues related to information asymmetries between managers and outsiders and the effects of managerial discretion;

• the structure of incentive and monitoring systems;

• the challenges in reporting on increasingly complex financial transactions and instruments and their valuation effects;

• the convergence of national financial reporting systems towards an international standard of reference and its impact on capital markets;

• the role(s) of auditing and the economic effects of regulation of accounting information;

• the role(s) of accounting and accountants in organizations and society, etc.

 

Accounting and auditing PhD students can choose to follow either a quantitative or qualitative research track.

 

• Students following the quantitative track are required to undertake training in accounting, finance, microeconomics, statistics, econometrics, and quantitative research methods, etc.

 

• Students following the qualitative track are required to undertake training in accounting, microeconomics, statistics, management, and qualitative research methods, etc.

 

In addition, all students can take elective courses they find useful for their research.

 

Students can specialize in one of the following subfields:

• Auditing and regulation
• Corporate finance and governance
• Empirical financial accounting and reporting
• Financial statement analysis
• International financial reporting
• Organizational and social aspects of accounting
• Social and environmental accounting

 

The Accounting and Management Control Department enjoys worldwide recognition for the excellence of its research.

 

Its faculty members publish on a regular basis in top accounting and business journals, such as Accounting, Organizations and Society, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Contemporary Accounting Research, European Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of International Business Studies, Management Science, and Strategic Management Journal, etc.

 

ESSEC professors have strong connections with the academic community, serving as editors, associate editors and editorial board members of major journals, organizing high-level international conferences, and routinely presenting their research in workshops and conferences held by leading academic institutions and premier academic journals.

 

The Department also holds annually a research seminar series, featuring research presentations by high-profile, world-renowned scholars.

• Ionela Andreicovici - Frankfurt School of Finance and Management (Germany)
• Lisa Baudot - University of Central Florida (USA)
• Nava Cohen - New Jersey City University (USA)
• Alessandro Ghio - Monash University (Australia) / Current: Laval University (Canada)
• Dmitry Golubkov - Industry
• Thi Hong Nhung Hoang - SKEMA Business School (France)
• Zhongwei Huang - Cass Business School (UK) / Current: Fudan University (China)
• Jin Jiang - Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (China)
• Like Jiang - University of Melbourne (Australia)
• Damien Lambert - Monash University (Australia)
• Junqi Liu – Xiamen University (China)
• Rucsandra Moldovan - Concordia University (Canada)
• Joanne Sopt - San Francisco State University (USA)

 

The ESSEC PhD program in Economics provides doctoral students with a solid grounding in economic theory, as well as the analytical and statistical tools needed to conduct high-quality theoretical and empirical research.

 

This program is run jointly with the Economic department at CY Cergy Paris Université, one of the leading French universities in Economics.

 

It aims to develop multiple skills, notably the mastering of  the concepts of economic theory and analysis ; the methodology of model building at the highest scientific level ; and data analysis using advanced econometric methods and tools.

 

Common and compulsory courses across subfields: Preliminary courses (September of Year 1):

• Mathematics for Economics

• Introduction to Microeconomics

• Advanced courses/seminars (first quarter of Year 1)

• Microeconomics

• Macroeconomics

• Econometrics

• Applied Statistics

 

Advanced courses/seminars (Year 1 and 2):

• Advanced Microeconomics

• Advanced Macroeconomics

• Game Theory

• Micro-Econometrics

• Time Series Analysis

• Research Seminar 1 : Professors Seminar

• Research Seminar 2 : Student Seminar

• Reading Seminars on Specialized Subjects

 

In this concentration, students can specialize in any of the following main areas:

• Industrial Organization ;

• International Economics (with micro or macro emphasis) ;

• Public Economics.

 

The ESSEC Economics department is affiliated with THEMA (Center for Research in Applied Economics). THEMA is one of the best research centers in economics from the French National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) and it is based in Cergy-Pontoise, between the CY Cergy Paris Université and ESSEC.

 

The ESSEC economic faculty regularly publishes articles in the highest level international academic reviews as well as books , chapters and economic reports (a total of 150 publications between 2008 and 2013).

 

ESSEC professors work in different areas: applied microeconomics ; industrial organisation ; game theory ; experimental economics ; monetary economics ; macroeconomics ; international trade and finance ; international institutional economics ; and health economics.

 

ESSEC professors are connected with the academic community by doing research with colleagues from all over the world, regularly participating in academic conferences and being board members of international journals.

 

• Trinity College Dublin (Ireland),
• University College Dublin (Ireland),
• European Central Bank (Germany),
• University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg),
• National Bank of Korea (South Korea),
• Shandong University (China),
• Zhongnan University (China),
• Korea Development Institute,
• Seoul (South Korea),
• CBN Research Institute,
• Shanghai (China),
• The Bank of Israel (Israel).

 

ESSEC's PhD program in Management applies social science disciplines and research methods to management problems.
It prepares students for an academic career of research and teaching by providing solid training in research skills and deep knowledge in major developments and debates in the field.

 

The program encourages students to gain research experience by working closely with faculty on a variety of projects.

 

Over time students are ready to design, collect data, and write a dissertation that will reflect their curiosity and skills, and that will represent a significant contribution to management knowledge. 

 

Common courses across subfields:

• Disciplinary foundations of management 1: Classics of the Social Sciences

• Disciplinary foundations of management 2: Classics of Administration and Management Theory

• Corporate and Business Strategy

• Organizational Behaviour

• Research Design

• Epistemology and Philosophy of Sciences

• Qualitative Research Methods in Management

• Quantitative Research Methods in Management 1: SEM/Survey

• Quantitative Research Methods in Management 2: Archival

• Introduction to Econometrics

 

Elective courses and seminars:

• Identity Processes in Individuals, Groups and Organizations

• International Business

• Business History, Ethics and Organizational Governance

• Creativity and Innovation Management

• Network Analysis

• Entrepreneurship

• Human Resources Strategies and Organizational Performance

• Decision Theory

• Industrial Organization and Economics

• Evaluation of IS Applications

• Data Warehousing and Decision Support

• Modeling and Designing IT Applications

• Elective Course in Management Control

• Social and Psychological Approaches in Management Accounting Research

 

Students in the Management concentrations can also take electives in any other concentration of the PhD Program after consultation with their PhD mentor.

 

In this concentration, students can specialize in one of the following subfields:

• Organizational Behavior
• Entrepreneurship
• Strategy
• Management Control
• Digitalization and Information Systems

 

 

Strategy / Organizational Behavior / Entrepreneurship

 

Students pursuing one of the three sub-fields will be working under the supervision of the faculty from the Management Department.

The department’s faculty has a broad range of interests ranging from the behavior of individuals and groups to organizational strategy and to the articulation of business and society.

Our faculty enjoys worldwide recognition for the excellence of its research.

 

They serve as editors in major journals and publish regularly in these outlets:

• Administrative Science Quarterly,
• Strategic Management Journal,
• Organization Science,
• American Sociological Review,
• Academy of Management Journal,
• Academy of Management Review,
• Journal of International Business Studies,
• Journal of Business Ethics,
• Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
• Journal of Organizational Behavior,
• Organization Studies.

 

The department holds a regular research seminar series in which world-renowned scholars present their work.

Further information on the subfields and the Management department

 

 

Management Control

 

Students in Management Control will be supervised by faculty from the Management Control (MC) group, which is part of the Accounting and Management Control (A&MC) department.

Management control tools such as budgets, key performance indicators and timesheets, practices such as performance assessment, promotion, and remuneration, and culture represent key organizational control mechanisms.

 

Our group is committed to the creation of knowledge through original, high-quality and interdisciplinary research, which tackles many of today’s societal challenges.

Our team conducts interdisciplinary research, publishing in prestigious journals in Accounting as well as Management:

• Academy of Management Journal,
• Organization Science,
• Organization Studies,
• Human Relations,
• Journal of Management,
• Journal of Business Ethics,
• Critical Perspectives on Accounting,
• Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal etc.

 

In today’s world where phenomena are very complex, being able to draw on interdisciplinary perspectives to build a research project and to publish it, it is a strong asset. Thus, our team has also been successful in attracting external funding for its projects from the European Union (Marie-Curie IEF Fellowship, Eutopia); Eutopia CY, as well the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR).

 

Because we care about research with impact, our research is published or featured in practitioner-oriented or wider public outlets such as:

• Harvard Business Review,
• The Economist,
• Psychology Today,
• Le Monde.

More information on the MC group and its faculty members

 

 

Digitalization and Information Systems

 

Students focusing on Digitalization and Information Systems will be supervised by faculty from ESSEC's Information Systems (IS) group, which is part of the Information Systems, Decision Sciences and Statistics (IDS) department.

 

Faculty in the IS group conduct research on timely phenomena that are of high relevance for organizations, individuals, and societies, such as artificial intelligence, digital platforms and ecosystems, and blockchain.

 

Our faculty members publish in or serve on the editorial boards of the most renowned journals in the field, including MIS Quarterly, and Information Systems research.
The IS group holds a regular research seminar where renowned IS researchers present their work.
More information on the IS group and its faculty members

 

• Pace University NYC (USA),
• HEC Paris (France),
• St Mary's University Halifax (Canada),
• American University of Beirut (Lebanon),
• Neoma Business School (France),
• Montpellier Business School (France),
• King’s College London (United Kingdom),
• Iqra University Karachy (Pakistan),
• Leeds Business School (United Kingdom),
• IESEG (France),
• HEC Montreal (Canada),
• Concordia University (Canada),
• Warwick University (United Kingdom).

 

Operations Management & Operations Research (OM/OR) is an interdisciplinary concentration of ESSEC Business School PhD Program.

It provides students a structured education in quantitative research methods and complex tools for management science.

It focuses on theoretical, empirical and methodological research of managerial decisions that drive all disciplines interested in the process of formulating, evaluating and executing high quality decision making, possibly applied to economics, management, marketing, digital business, finance, risk management, operations, supply chain management.

 

The period of courses lasts for 1,5 year, with Research Apprenticeship Modules (RAMs) that start in the first year (under the supervision of a Professor) and aim at producing a first research paper before the Dissertation Proposal, which takes place at the end of the second year.

 

Each applicant has to choose a single specialization in the application file BEFORE entering the program, explaining her/his specific motivation for the selected specialization. There are open positions in both specializations each year.

 

Operations Management not only concerns the traditional creation, production, and delivery of products and services, but it takes a broader view that comprises several areas such as supply chain management, logistics, purchasing management, project management, and new product development. All these fields have a strong operational focus and a potential impact on the successful management of operations.

This subfield is hosted by the OMOR cluster and the OM department.

 

Recent research interests of our faculty include:

• Environmental management and monitoring
• Humanitarian logistics and relief operations
• Supply Chain Management and coordination
• New product development
• Digital operations

 

Operations Research concerns both the application of quantitative methods to optimally solve planning decision problems. Our faculty performs research on the development of new methods and applications in Operations and Supply Chain management (production planning, transportation and routing, facility location, network design, sustainable operations).

This subfield is hosted by the OMOR cluster comprising professors of the IDS department and OM department.

 

Recent research interests of our faculty include:

• Advanced Decision Theory
• Continuous-time Dynamic Games
• Optimal control Theory
• Robust optimization
• Selection problems with choice models (application to assortment, facility location)
• Bilevel programming
• Decomposition methods (Column Generation, Branch-and-Price-and-Cut, Benders decomposition)

 

The courses in OM/OR cover the following topics:

• Introductory optimization methods (Linear Programming, duality, graph problems, dynamic programming),
• Advanced optimization methods (decomposition methods, Column Generation, Benders decomposition, cutting plane methods, robust optimization),
• Technology management and new product development,
• Sustainable operations,
• Optimal control,
• Game theory,
• Dynamic games,
• Dynamic methods,
• Advanced decision theory,
• SCM,
• Applied statistics,
• Econometrics,
• Simulation for operations management.

 

Coding skills are important to implement models, methodologies and solving algorithms.

Coding languages and softwares are presented in various courses.

 

Laurent ALFANDARI is Professor in the Department of Information Systems, Decision Science & Statistics and holds a Doctorate in Operations Research from Université Paris IX Dauphine. His research fields are: operations research, discrete optimization and applications to operations management (network design, city logistics, scheduling, production planning, routing problems and facility location).

 

Claudia ARCHETTI is Associate Professor in Operations Research. Prior to joining ESSEC in 2019, she was appointed as Associate Professor at the University of Brescia. Research interests of Claudia Archetti include models and algorithms for vehicle routing problems; mixed integer mathematical programming models for the minimization of the sum of inventory and transportation costs in logistic networks; exact and heuristic algorithms for supply-chain management; reoptimization of combinatorial optimization problems. She is author of more than 60 papers in international journals. She was Area Editor of Computers and Operations Research. She is Associate Editor of Transportation Science and of Networks and member of the Editorial Board of European Journal of Operational Research. She is currently VIP3 of EURO, the Association of European Operational Research Societies, in charge of publications and communication.

 

Philippe-Pierre DORNIER is Professor in the Department of Operations Management and holds a Doctorat en Ingénierie et Gestion from École des Mines de Paris. His research is focused on change management in supply chain and on optimization of the sales point within the supply chain.

 

Fouad El OUARDIGHI is Professor in the Department of Operations Management and holds a doctorate in Business Administration from Université Paris Ouest (Paris 10 Nanterre). His main research interests are in the interface of operations management and marketing, in R&D competition, and in pollution control. He is Associate Editor for International Game Theory Review.

 

Ivana LJUBIC is Professor at the Department of Information Systems, Decision Science & Statistics and holds a Doctorate in Computer Science from the Vienna University of Technology. She serves as Associate Editor for the journal Omega and she is member of Editorial Advisory Board for the journal Computers and Operations Research. She also served as guest-editor of journals: European Journal of Operational Research and Annals of Operations Research and she is currently vice-president of the INFORMS Network Analytics and Telecommunication Section. Her research interests include network design problems, combinatorial optimization, optimization under uncertainty and bilevel optimization.

 

Felix PAPIER is Associate Professor in the Department of Operations Management and holds a Doctorate from the University of Cologne. His research interests include supply chain and inventory management, sustainable operations, rental fleet optimization, and spare parts management.

 

Sara REZAEE VESSAL is Assistant Professor at the Department of Operations Management. She received her Doctorate in Operations and Supply Chain Management from HEC Paris. Her research interests include collaboration in supply chain, new product development and collaboration in highly uncertain projects, value of information in coordinating supply chains, and sustainable supply chain.

• Bocconi University (Italy),
• Mercy College, New York (USA)
• The Lebanese American University (Lebanon),
• Tecnologico de Monterrey (Mexico),
• Curtin Business School, Perth, (Australia).