Timothy Shields

I am a tenured Associate Professor at the Argyros School of Business and Economics and a research associate with the Economic Science Institute. I received my Ph.D. in Accounting from the University of Minnesota in 2008 where John Dickhaut was my advisor. Prior to graduate school, I was a controller at a private multi-state firm and senior auditor for a public accounting firm. For the 2016-17 year, I was a visiting professor at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. During the Spring of 2018, I was on sabbatical as a visiting professor at Emory University.

My research examines the effect of institutional features, namely accounting systems, have upon strategic behavior within group settings. The research methodology employed is exclusively experimental, and predictions of behavior are based upon economics-based analytical theory and psychology theory. I have published several articles in peer-reviewed journals including Management Science, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Economic Inquiry, Accounting Horizons, and the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. I have also been awarded several competitive grants including the American Accounting Association Steve Berlin/CITGO Award and Certified General Accountants/Canadian Academic Accounting Association Research Grant. My research has been presented at numerous major conferences in accounting, economics, religion, and evolutionary psychology.

I currently teach undergraduate Introductory Managerial Accounting and in the Master of Accounting program I teach Ethics using Adam Smith's The Moral Sentiments. In the past, I have taught graduate Accounting for Management and Control and Financial Accounting and Analysis, as well as undergraduate Introductory Financial Accounting.

Expertise:

• Accounting; Strategic Communication; Trust & Trustworthiness; Information Economics; Ambiguity; Strategic Coordination

Research Interests

• Coordination & Communication Settings
• Determinants of Cooperation
• Information Economics
• Institutional Influences upon Behavior
• Incentives & Disincentives to Trust
• Effects of Ambiguity

Education

• PhD University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (1999 — 2008)
• MBA University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management (1998 — 2000)
• BS University of Nevada-Reno (1985 — 1991)

Publications

Lunawat, R., Shields, T.W., and Waymire, G. (2021) “Financial Reporting and Moral Sentiments”, Journal of Accounting & Economics, 72(1): 101421

Gómez-Miñambres, J., Schnider, E., and Shields, T.W. (2021) “Investment Choice Architecture in Trust Games: When ‘All-in’ Is Not Enough", Economic Inquiry, 59(1): 300-314

Schniter, E., and Shields, T.W. (2020) "Gender, Stererotypes, and Trust in Communication", Human Nature, 31(3): 296-321

Schniter, E., Shields, T.W. and Sznycer, D. (2020) “Trust in Humans and Robots: Economically Similar but Emotionally Different”, Journal of Economic Psychology, 78

Rietz, T., Schniter, E., Sheremeta, R. and Shields, T.W. (2018) “Trust, Reciprocity, and Rules”, Economic Inquiry, 56(3)

Sheremeta, R., and Shields, T.W. (2017), "Deception and Reception: The Behavior of Information Providers and Users", Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 137: 445-456.

Schniter, E., Sheremeta, R., and Shields, T.W. (2015), “Conflicted Emotions Following Trust-Based Interaction”, Journal of Economic Psychology, 51: 48-65.

Pfeiffer, G., and Shields, T.W. (2015) “Performance-Based Compensation and Firm Value – Experimental Evidence”, Accounting Horizons, 29(4), 777–798.

Kimbrough, E., Rubin, J., Sheremeta, R., and Shields, T.W. (2015) “Commitment Problems in Conflict Resolution”, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 112: 33-45.

Schniter, E., and Shields, T.W. (2014) “Ageism, Honesty and Trust”, Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 51: 19-29

Kimbrough, E., Sheremeta, R., and Shields, T.W. (2014) “Parity Promotes Peace: Resolving Conflicts through a Random Device”, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 99: 96-108.

Schniter, E., and Shields, T.W. (2013) “Recalibrational Emotions and the Regulation of Trust-Based Behaviors” In Psychology of Trust: New Research, David Gefen Ed., Nova Publishers.

Rietz, T., Sheremeta, R., and Shields, T.W. and Smith, V. (2013) “Transparency, Efficiency and the Distribution of Economic Welfare in Pass-Through Investment Trust Games”, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 94: 257-267.

Sheremeta, R., and Shields, T.W. (2013) “Do Liars Believe? Beliefs and Other-Regarding Preferences in Sender-Receiver Games”, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 94: 268–277

Dickhaut, J., Shields, T.W., and Stecher, J. (2011) “Generating Ambiguity in the Laboratory”, Management Science, Vol. 57 (4): 705-712