John Shon

John J. Shon is an associate professor of accounting at the Gabelli School of Business. He received his PhD in accounting with an emphasis on corporate finance and microeconomics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In his doctoral research, he examined how the earnings surprises of high-technology companies, such as biotech firms, affect their disclosure practices due to expected litigation costs under SEC Rule 10b-5.

Professor Shon's research interests include the behavior of sell-side analysts and their resultant earnings forecasts and stock recommendations; CEO insider trading behavior and earnings management; firms' R&D expenditure patterns; and option-trading strategies around earnings announcements.

Professor Shon has taught in the United States, Europe and Asia at a range of levels: undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA and international executive MBA. He has won multiple teaching awards.

Prior to academia, Professor Shon worked in KPMG's Financial Services assurance practice, as well as KPMG's risk management advisory practice. He has also recently consulted for hedge funds, biotech startup companies and distance-learning companies.

Education

• PhD: Accounting, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
• Master's: MBA in Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
• Bachelor's: BS in Accounting, SUNY Buffalo

Research interests

• Sell-side analysts' behavior, analyst coverage decisions
• Negative book value of equity, liquidation/bankruptcy risk
• Auditor-client relations, auditor tenure
• Equity trading strategies and anomalies; behavioral finance
• Campaign contributions; campaign finance
• Corporate voluntary disclosure behavior

Publications

• Insiders' Sales and Meeting-or-Beating Earnings Expectations Under Rule 10b5-1 Plans," with Stan Veliotis, Management Science, September 2013, Vol. 59, No. 9, 1988-2002.
• Do Stock Returns Vary With Campaign Contributions? Bush versus Gore: The Florida Recount. Economics & Politics 22(3), 2010: 257-281.
• Deductible state tax payments: Empirical evidence of strategic prepayment (with S. Veliotis). Journal of the American Taxation Association 32(2), 2010: 53-71.
• Are Earnings Surprises Interpreted More Optimistically on Sunny Days? Accounting Information and the Sunshine Effect (with P. Zhou). Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance 24(2), Spring 2009: 211-232.
• Determinants of Analysts' Dropped Coverage Decision: The Role of Analyst Incentives, Experience, and Accounting Fundamentals (with S. Young). Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, 38(7)&(8), September/October 2011, 861-886.
• Do abnormal accruals affect the life expectancy of audit engagements? (with S. Lustgarten). Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, forthcoming .
• Effective Controls for Research in International Accounting (with W. Ruland and P. Zhou). Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 26(1), Jan/Feb 2007: 96-116.
• Trading on Corporate Earnings News: Theory, Evidence, and Implementation of Profiting from Targeted, Short-term Options Positions. FT Press (Pearson Education); Upper Saddle River, NJ. March 2011.
• Chief Financial Officers, Incentive Compensation, and Effective Internal Control Systems (with T. Henry and R. Weiss). Research in Accounting Regulations 23, 2011: 46-59.
• Do divergent opinions explain the value premium? (with P. Zhou). Journal of Investing19(2), Summer 2010: 53-62.