Zoe-Vonna Palmrose
Professor of Accounting
Hanson Professor in Business Administration
PhD, University of Washington, 1982
MBA, University of Washington, 1978
BS, Oregon State University, 1968
SpecialtiesFinancial accounting, auditing, standard-setting, and audit regulation.
Positions HeldAt the University of Washington since 2011
Accounting Circle Professor Emerita of Accounting, University of Southern
California (since 2011)
Securities and Exchange Commission, Deputy Chief Accountant for Professional
Practice in the Office of the Chief Accountant (2006-2008)
Professor (and Associate Professor), University of Southern California (1989-2011)
Assistant Professor, University of California at Berkeley (1982-1989)
Current ResearchPublic policy issues related to the quality of financial reporting and auditing, including restatements, materiality, audit litigation, the pricing of audit services, and non-audit services.
Honors and AwardsUSC Accounting Circle Professor of Accounting (2010-2011)
National PricewaterhouseCoopers Fellow (2010-2011)
Distinguished Visiting Faculty at American Accounting Association Doctoral Consortium
(1993, 1995, 2003, 2010)
USC Parents Association Teaching and Mentoring Nominee (2009)
American Accounting Association Presidential Scholar (2008)
Named one of Treasury and Risk Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in Finance
(2008)
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Law and Policy Award, Presented to the
Sarbanes-Oxley 404 Team (2007)
Dean’s Award for Research Excellence, USC Marshall School of Business (2006)
Named one of Business Finance Magazine’s Influencers in 2004, 2005, and 2007
American Accounting Association/Deloitte Wildman Medal (2003 and 2006)
American Accounting Association Auditing Section Distinguished Service Award (2003)
PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditing Professor (1998-2006, 2008-2010)
Price Waterhouse Auditing Professor (1996-1998)
Price Waterhouse Faculty Fellow (1990-1996)
California Society of CPAs Accounting Faculty Fellow Award (1988)
American Accounting Association Competitive Manuscript Award (1987)
Academic ServiceCenter for Audit Quality Research Advisory Board (since 2008)
SEC Historical Society Museum Committee (2008-2011)
U.S. Department of the Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession,
SEC Observer (2007-2008)
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Standing Advisory Group,
SEC Observer (2006-2008)
American Accounting Association Executive Committee (2002-2004)
American Accounting Association Vice President—Research (2002-2004)
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Auditing Standards Board Fraud Task
Force that developed and drafted SAS No. 99,
Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit (2000-2002)
Public Oversight Board Panel on Audit Effectiveness (1998-2000)
American Accounting Association Auditing Section, Secretary-Treasurer (1989-1991)
American Accounting Association Auditing Section, Research Director and Chair of the
Research Committee (1989-1991)
Research Consultant to the National Commission on Fraudulent Financial Reporting
(Treadway Commission) (1986)
Editoral Board Member of The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting and Public
Policy, Accounting Horizons, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, and
Issues in Accounting Education (for various terms during 1983-2011)
Selected Publications“CEO Involvement in Selecting Board Members, Audit Committee Effectiveness, and Restatements,” with J. Carcello, T. Neal, and S. Scholz, Contemporary Accounting Research, Volune 28, No. 2 (Summer 2011): 396-430.
“Balancing the Costs and Benefits of Auditing and Financial Reporting Regulation Post-SOX, Perspectives from the Nexus at the SEC,”
Part II: Accounting Horizons, Volume 24, No. 3 (September 2010): 487-507.
Part I: Accounting Horizons, Volume 24, No. 2 (June 2010): 313-326.
“Science, Politics, and Accounting: A View from the Potomac,” The Accounting Review, Volume 84, No. 2 (March 2009): 281-297.
Commentary: “Can Science Help Solve the Economic Crisis?” on Edge: The Third Culture, with Mike Brown, Stuart Kauffman, and Lee Smolin (The Edge Foundation, 2008) John Brockman, editor
at http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/brown08/brown08_index.html
“Maintaining the Value and Viability of Auditors as Gatekeepers Under SOX: An Auditing Master Proposal,” in Financial Gatekeepers: Can They Protect Investors? Yasuyuki Fuchita and Robert E. Litan, eds. (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press and the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research, 2006): 103-135.
“The Effect of Quantitative Materiality Approach on Auditors’ Adjustment Decisions,” with M. Nelson and S. Smith, The Accounting Review, Volume 80, No. 3 (July 2005): 897-920.
Thog’s Guide to Quantum Economics: 50,000 Years of Accounting Basics for the Future, with Mike Brown and illustrations by Warren Miller (2005), distributed by MAC Productions (Duvall, WA), ISBN 0-9764694-0-5.
“Auditor Independence, Non-Audit Services, and Restatements: Was the Government Right?” with W.R. Kinney, Jr. and S. Scholz, Journal of Accounting Research, Volume 42, No. 3 (June 2004): 561-588.
Winner of the AAA/Deloitte 2006 Wildman Award
Among JAR’s 10 most read articles in 2005 according to Blackwell Publishing
“The Accounting Causes and Legal Consequences of Non-GAAP Reporting: Evidence from Restatements,” with S. Scholz, Contemporary Accounting Research, Volume 21, Issue 1 (Spring 2004): 139-180.
“Determinants of Market Reactions to Restatement Announcements,” with V. Richardson and S. Scholz, Journal of Accounting & Economics, Volume 37, Issue 1 (February 2004): 59-89.
“The SEC Pushes Auditor Independence,” with R. Saul, Regulation: The Cato Review of Business and Government (Volume 24, No. 4, 2001): 18-23.
Monograph and Companion Database: Studies in Accounting Research #33: Empirical Research in Auditor Litigation: Considerations and Data (Sarasota, Florida: The American Accounting Association, 1999/2000): 1-90.
Winner of the AAA/Deloitte 2003 Wildman Award
“Fraud Type and Auditor Litigation: An Analysis of SEC Accounting and Auditing Enforcement Releases,” with S. Bonner and S. Young, The Accounting Review (October 1998): 503-532.
“Audit Litigation Research: Do the Merits Matter? An Assessment and Directions for Future Research,” Journal of Accounting and Public Policy (Winter 1997): 355-378.
“An Empirical Investigation of Modified Reporting and Auditor Litigation on Bankrupt Clients,” with J. Carcello, Journal of Accounting Research (1994 Supplement): 1-30.
“The Joint and Several Versus Proportionate Liability Debate: An Empirical Investigation of Audit-Related Litigation,” Stanford Journal of Law, Business & Finance (Fall 1994): 53-72.
"Trials of Legal Disputes Involving Independent Auditors: Some Empirical Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research (1991 Supplement): 149-185.
"An Analysis of Auditor Litigation Disclosures," Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory (1991 Supplement): 54-71.
"The Relation of Contract Type to Audit Fees and Hours," The Accounting Review
(July 1989): 488-499.
"Public Accounting Firms and the Acquisition of Nonaudit Services by Public and Closely-Held Companies," Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory (Fall 1988): 63-71.
"An Analysis of Auditor Litigation and Audit Service Quality," The Accounting Review (January 1988): 55-73.
Winner of a 1987 American Accounting Association Competitive Manuscript Award.
"Litigation and Independent Auditors: The Role of Business Failures and Management Fraud," Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory (Spring 1987): 90-103.
"The Effect of Nonaudit Services on the Pricing of Audit Services: Further Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research (Autumn 1986): 405-411.
"Audit Fees and Auditor Size: Further Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research (Spring 1986): 97-110.
"The Demand for Quality-Differentiated Audit Services in an Agency Cost Setting: An Empirical Investigation," 1984 Auditing Research Symposium, edited by A. Rashad Abdel-khalik and Ira Solomon (Urbana-Champaign: Office of Accounting Research, University of Illinois, 1985): 229-252.