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Mark Finn
Mark Finn

ACCOUNTING INFORMATION & MANAGEMENT; INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS & MARKETS
Clinical Professor of Accounting Information & Mgmt
Director, Global Initiatives in Mmgt. Program

Print Overview
Mark Finn is a Clinical Associate Professor of Accounting and International Business at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He is also Director of Kellogg's Global Initiatives in Management program. Prior to coming to Kellogg, Prof. Finn served on the faculty of the University of Chicago. He received PhD, MS, and MBA degrees from Cornell University and an AB from Stanford University.

Prof. Finn teaches core financial accounting and international accounting. Kellogg awarded him the Chairs' Core Teaching Award in 1999. His primary research interests are related to the quality and credibility of financial disclosures, especially in non-US settings. His research articles include "Market Rewards for Increasing Earnings Patterns" published in the Journal of Accounting Research and "Disclosure Quality and the Probability of Informed Trade," a recent working paper. Prof. Finn has also served as a consultant in the areas of portfolio management and securities litigation. He is fluent in Japanese and prior to his university career worked in accounting and bank management for both US and Japanese corporations.



Areas of Expertise
Emerging Markets
Financial Accounting
Financial Disclosure/Statements
Financial Reporting
International Accounting
International Finance (Exchange Rates, Current Account)
International Trade
Pension Funds
Risk Management
Print Vita
Education
MS, 1995, Management, Cornell University
MBA, 1988, Accounting, Finance, Cornell University
BA, 1982, Economics, Standford University, Honors

 
Print Research
Research Interests
Financial reporting and corporate control outside the United States, particularly in Japan and emerging markets. Accounting for foreign operations and risk management activities. Theoretical topics in auditing, financial reporting, and managerial accounting

Articles
Brown, Stephen, Mark Finn and Ole-Kristian Hope. 2000. Acquisition-Related Provision-Taking and Post-Acquisition Performance in the UK Prior to FRS 7. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting. 27(9-10): 1233-1265.
Finn, Mark. 1999. Market Rewards for Increasing Earnings Patterns. Journal of Accounting Research. 37(2): 191-208.
Working Papers
Finn, Mark and Mark Penno. 2000. Real Time Disclosure Games with Varying Levels of Commitment.
Finn, Mark. 2000. The Structure of Accounting Based Equity Valuation Models.
Book Chapters
Dye, Ronald A. and Mark Finn. 2007. "Equilibrium Voluntary Disclosures When Firms Possess Random Multidimensional Private Information." In Essays on Accounting Theory in Honor of Joel S. Demski, edited by Rick Antle; Pierre Jinghong Liang, Frøystein Gjesdal, New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
Books
Finn, Mark. 2007. Global Corporate Citizenship. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

 
Print Teaching
Teaching Interests
Financial reporting and corporate control outside the United States, particularly in Japan and emerging markets; accounting for foreign operations and risk management activities; theoretical topics in auditing, financial reporting, and managerial accounting
Full-Time / Part-Time MBA
Accounting For Decision Making (ACCT-430-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Accounting.

This course acquaints students with the process used to construct and understand the financial reports of organizations. The objective is to understand the decisions that must be made in the financial reporting process and to develop the ability to evaluate and use accounting data. Emphasis is placed on understanding the breadth of accounting measurement practices and on being able to make the adjustments necessary for careful analysis. The course highlights the linkages between accounting information and management planning, and decision making and control.

Financial Reporting and Analysis II (ACCT-452-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Accounting, International Business, Managerial Economics

This course covers a series of financial reporting topics that have received considerable attention from the financial community in recent years. These include accounting for share-based compensation, pensions and other post-retirement benefits, market value accounting, business combinations, intangible assets, foreign operations, and off-balance sheet structures such as special purpose entities. Each of these topics entails important international dimensions, and students will gain familiarity with several of the most important differences between U.S. and non-U.S. accounting. ACCT-451 is not a prerequisite for this class; however, some of the material is comparatively technical, and students will need a firm understanding of basic financial accounting.

Global Initiatives in Management (GIM) (INTL-473-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Biotechnology Management, International Business

This course offers students an opportunity to learn about non-U.S. business environments within an innovative and flexible framework that combines traditional classroom-based learning with structured in-country field research. From its inception in 1989 as one class of 34 students covering the Soviet Union, the program has grown to become a cornerstone of the Kellogg experience for many students. The school currently sponsors 13 GIM courses composed of approximately 400 students traveling to 15 countries. Evanston full-time students gain admission to GIM classes through the bidding process in the fall quarter. Classroom instruction is held during the winter quarter, followed by two weeks of field research abroad and seminar presentations of written student reports during the spring quarter. (TMP and EMP GIM classes sometimes follow different schedules.) GIM courses are organized by student leaders under the guidance of a faculty adviser. If you would like to become a GIM student leader, please contact the IBMP office for more information.

Executive MBA
Global Initiatives in Management (China) (INTLX-473-0)
Global Initiatives in Management combines classroom study with a 12-day research trip abroad to observe overseas business operations firsthand and to meet with industry executives and political leaders.