Charles Cho

Charles H. Cho is Professor of Accounting and the Erivan K. Haub Chair in Business & Sustainability at the Schulich School of Business, York University. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a PhD in Business Administration (Accounting Track) from the University of Central Florida. He also worked for KPMG LLP and other public accounting firms for several years in auditing and taxation. His research interests include Social and Environmental Accounting; Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); and Accounting and the Public Interest. Professor Cho has published papers in prestigious academic journals such as Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, the European Accounting Review, and the Journal of Business Ethics.

He currently serves as an Editor of Accounting Forum, the Accounting and Business Ethics Section Co-Editor of the Journal of Business Ethics, and is an Editorial Board member of 14 other academic journals. He is regularly invited as plenary keynote speaker at international conferences and is actively involved in the academic community as a Council member of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research and Chair of the International Associates Committee. Recently, he was selected as one of the “Top 50 Academic and Research Support Project” from the Republic of Korea’s Prime Minister and Minister of Education; received the Honorable Knight Award from the University of Central Florida’s Hall of Fame; and was recognized as one of the top 2% of scientists in the world for 2019 in the accounting field.

Recent Publications

1. Beelitz, A., Cho, C.H., Michelon, G. and Patten, D.M. (forthcoming). Measuring CSR Disclosure when Assessing Stock Market Effects. Accounting and the Public Interest.

2. Cho, C.H., Huang, Z., Liu, S. and Yang, D. (forthcoming). Contaminated Heart: Does Air Pollution Harm Business Ethics? Evidence from Earnings Manipulation. Journal of Business Ethics.

3. Albu, N., Albu, C., Apostol, O. and Cho, C.H. (forthcoming). The Past is Never Dead: The Role of Imprints in Shaping Social and Environmental Business Responsibilities in a Post-Socialist Context. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal.

4. Aboelenien, A., Arsel, Z. and Cho, C.H. (forthcoming). Passing the Buck vs. Sharing Responsibility: The Roles of Government, Firms and Consumers in Marketplace Risks during COVID-19. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research.

5. Cho, C.H., Jérôme, T. and Maurice, J. (2021). “Whatever It Takes”: First Budgetary Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in France. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, 33(1), 12-23.

6. Cho, C.H., Kim, A., Rodrigue, M. and Schneider, T. (2020). Towards a Better Understanding of Sustainability Accounting and Management Research and Teaching in North America: A Look at the Community. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 11(6), 985-1007.

7. Cho, C.H., Janin, F., Cooper, C. and Rogerson, M. (2020). Neoliberal Control Devices and Social Discrimination: The Case of Paris Saint-Germain Football Club Fans. Accounting and Management Information Systems, 19(3), 409-442.

8. Cho, C.H. and Kurpierz, J. (2020). Stretching the Public Purse: Budgetary Responses to COVID-19 in Canada. Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, 32(5), 771-783.

9. Cho, C.H. (2020). CSR Accounting ‘New Wave’ Researchers: ‘Step Up to The Plate’… Or ‘Stay Out of The Game’. Journal of Accounting and Management Information Systems, 19(4), 626-650.

10. Rogerson, M., Crane, A. Soundararajan, V., Grosvold, J. and Cho, C.H. (2020). Organisational Responses to Mandatory Modern Slavery Disclosure Legislation: A Failure of Experimentalist Governance? Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 33(7), 1505-1534.

11. Cho, C.H., Bohr, K., Choi, T.J., Partridge, K. Shah, J.M. and Swierszcz, A. (2020). Advancing Sustainability Reporting in Canada: 2019 Report on Progress. Accounting Perspectives, 19(3), 181-204.

12. Da Ponte, M., Foley, M. and Cho, C.H. (2020). Assessing the Degree of Sustainability Integration in Canadian Public Sector Procurement. Sustainability, 12(14), 5550.

13. Blanc, R., Branco, M.C., Cho, C.H. and Sopt, J. (2019). Disclosure Responses to a Corruption Scandal: The Case of Siemens AG. Journal of Business Ethics, 156(2), 545-561.

14. Sun, W., Zhao, C. and Cho, C.H. (2019). Institutional Transitions and the Role of Financial Performance in CSR Reporting. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(2), 367-376.

15. Cho, C.H., Laine, M., Roberts, R.W. and Rodrigue, M. (2018). The Frontstage and Backstage of Corporate Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Bill. Journal of Business Ethics, 152(3), 865-886.

16. Sun, W., Zhao, C., Wang, Y. and Cho, C.H. (2018). Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Catering to Investor Sentiment in China. Management Decision, 56(9), 1917-1935.

17. Rivière-Giordano, G., Giordano-Spring, S. and Cho, C.H. (2018). Does the Level of Assurance Statement on Environmental Disclosure Affect Investor Assessment? An Experimental Study. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 9(3), 336-360.

18. Chung, J. and Cho, C.H. (2018). Current Trends within Social and Environmental Accounting Research: A Literature Review. Accounting Perspectives, 17(2), 207-239.

19. Nègre, E., Verdier, M-A. and Cho, C.H. (2018). Discursive Struggles between Bidding and Target Companies: An Analysis of Press Releases Issued during Hostile Takeover Bids. M@n@gement, 21(2), 803-833.

20. André, K., Cho, C.H. and Laine, M. (2018). Reference Points for Measuring Social Performance: Case Study of a Social Business Venture. Journal of Business Venturing, 33(5), 660-678.

21. Cho, C.H., Hageman, A.M. and Jérôme, T. (2017). Eye-Tracking Experiments in Social and Environmental Accounting Research. Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 37(3), 155-173.

22. Nègre, E., Verdier, M-A., Cho, C.H. and Patten, D.M. (2017). Disclosure Strategies and Investor Reactions to Downsizing Announcements: A Legitimacy Perspective. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 36(3), 239-257.

23. Krasodomska, J. and Cho, C.H. (2017). Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Perspectives from Sell-Side and Buy-Side Analysts. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 8(1), 2-19.

24. Cho, C.H., Jung, J-H, Kwak, B., Lee, J. and Yoo, C-Y. (2017). Professors on the Board: Do They Contribute to Society outside the Classroom? Journal of Business Ethics, 41(2), 393-409.

25. Cho, C.H., Maurice, J., Nègre, E. and Verdier, M-A. (2016). Is Environmental Disclosure Good for the Environment? A Meta-Analysis and Research Agenda. Korean Accounting Review, 41(3), 239-277.

26. Kang, J., Kim, H., Chu, H., Cho, C.H. and Kim, H. (2016). In Distrusts of Merits: The Negative Effects of Astroturfs on People’s Prosocial Behaviors. International Journal of Advertising, 35(1), 135-148.

27. Chauvey, J-N., Giordano-Spring, S., Cho, C.H. and Patten, D.M. (2015). The Normativity and Legitimacy of CSR Disclosure: Evidence from France. Journal of Business Ethics, 130(4), 789-803.

28. Cho, C.H., Laine, M., Roberts, R.W. and Rodrigue, M. (2015). Organized Hypocrisy, Organizational Façades, and Sustainability Reporting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 40(1), 78-94.

29. Cho, C.H., Michelon, G., Patten, D.M. and Roberts, R.W. (2015). CSR Disclosure: The More Things Change…? Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 28(1), 14-35.

30. Brivot, M., Cho, C.H. and Kuhn, J.R. (2015). Marketing or Parrhesia? A Longitudinal Study of the AICPA Leaders’ Communications in Times of Public Trust, Crisis Management and Trust Repair. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 31(1), 23-43.

31. Rodrigue, M., Cho, C.H. and Laine, M. (2015). Level and Tone of Environmental Disclosure: A Comparative Analysis of a Corporation and its Stakeholders. Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 35(1), 1-16. [link]

32. Bozzolan, S., Cho, C.H. and Michelon, G. (2015). Impression Management and Organizational Audiences: The FIAT Group Case. Journal of Business Ethics, 126(1), 143-165.

33. Chen, J.C., Cho, C.H. and Patten, D.M. (2014). Initiating Disclosure of Environmental Liability Information: An Empirical Analysis of Firm Choice. Journal of Business Ethics, 125(4), 681-692.

34. Cho, C.H., Michelon, G., Patten, D.M. and Roberts, R.W. (2014). CSR Report Assurance in the United States: An Empirical Investigation of Determinants and Effects. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 5(2), 130-148.

35. Cho, C.H. and Patten, D.M. (2013). Green Accounting: Reflections from a CSR and Environmental Disclosure Perspective. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 24(6), 443-447.

36. Rodrigue, M., Magnan, M. and Cho, C.H. (2013). Is Environmental Governance Substantive or Symbolic? An Empirical Investigation. Journal of Business Ethics, 114(1), 107-129.

37. Cho, C.H., Choi, J.S., Kwak, Y.M. and Patten, D.M. (2013). An Empirical Investigation of the Extensiveness of Standalone Environmental Reporting in South Korea. Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 33(2), 91-103.

38. Cho, C.H., Michelon, G. and Patten, D.M. (2012). Impression Management in Sustainability Reports: An Empirical Investigation of the Use of Graphs. Accounting and the Public Interest, 12, 16-37.

39. Cho, C.H., Michelon, G. and Patten, D.M. (2012). Enhancement and Obfuscation through the Use of Graphs in Sustainability Reports: An International Comparison. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 3(1), 74-88.

40. Cho, C.H., Freedman, M. and Patten, D.M. (2012). Corporate Disclosure of Environmental Capital Expenditures: A Test of Alternative Theories. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 25(3), 486-507.

41. Cho, C.H., Guidry, R.P., Hageman, A.M. and Patten, D.M. (2012). Do Actions Speak Louder than Words? An Empirical Investigation of Corporate Environmental Reputation. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 37(1), 14-25.

42. Cho, C.H., Martens, M., Kim, H. and Rodrigue, M. (2011). Astroturfing Global Warming: It Isn’t Always Green on the Other Side of the Fence. Journal of Business Ethics, 104(4), 571-587.

43. Loucks, E.S., Martens, M.L. and Cho, C.H. (2010). Engaging Small and Medium-Sized Businesses in Sustainability. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 1(2), 178-200.

44. Cho, C.H., Roberts, R.W. and Patten, D.M. (2010). The Language of U.S. Corporate Environmental Disclosure. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35(4), 431-443.

45. Cho, C.H. and Roberts, R.W. (2010). Environmental Reporting on the Internet by America’s Toxic 100: Legitimacy and Self-Presentation. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 11(1), 1-16.

46. Cho, C.H. and Patten, D.M. (2010). Social and Environmental Accounting in North America: A Research Note. Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management, 4, 161-177.

47. Boulianne, E. and Cho, C.H. The Rise and Fall of WebTrust. (2009). International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 10(4), 229-244.

48. Cho, C.H., Phillips, J., Hageman, A.M. and Patten, D.M. (2009). Media Richness, User Trust, and Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Experimental Investigation of Visual Website Disclosure. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 22(6), 933-952.

49. Caron, M.A. and Cho, C.H. (2009). Positions des organisations face à la gestion et à la communication environnementales. Gestion - Revue Internationale de Gestion, 34(1), 59-67.

50. Cho, C.H. (2009). Legitimation Strategies Used in Response to Environmental Disaster: A French Case Study of Total S.A.’s Erika and AZF Incidents. European Accounting Review, 18(1), 33-62.

51. Cho, C.H., Chen, J.C. and Roberts, R.W. (2008). The Politics of Environmental Disclosure Regulation in the Chemical and Petroleum Industries: Evidence from the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 19(4), 450-465.

52. Cho, C.H. and Patten, D.M. (2008). Did the GAO Get it Right? Another Look at Corporate Environmental Disclosure. Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 28(1), 21-32.

53. Cho, C.H., Roberts, R.W. and Roberts, S.K. (2008). Chinese Students in US Accounting PhD Programs: Educational, Political and Social Considerations. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 19(2), 199-216.

54. Cho, C.H. and Patten, D.M. (2007). The Role of Environmental Disclosures as Tools of Legitimacy: A Research Note. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 32(7-8), 639-647.

55. Cho, C.H., Patten, D.M. and Roberts, R.W. (2006). Corporate Political Strategy: An Examination of the Relation between Political Expenditures, Environmental Performance, and Environmental Disclosure. Journal of Business Ethics, 67(2), 139-154.

56. Cho, C.H. and Boulianne, E. (2005). Development of a Decision Support System Based on ABC for Costing and Pricing Decisions, and its Conversion to a Web-based DSS. Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research, 3(2), 37-50.