RESEARCH

RESEARCH INTERESTS                                            

Management Accounting and Control; Accounting for the Public Interest (e.g., sustainability, healthcare, modern slavery); International Accounting; Cultural Practice of Accounting; Qualitative Field Methods; Material Semiotics; Linguistic Anthropology; etc. 

Trained in archival/empirical, experimental/behavioural, and qualitative accounting research, my main area of research is qualitative field studies from sociological and philosophical perspectives. My research on the roles that accounting and accountability play in our society ranges from accounting in corporations, accounting for the public interest, to accounting for individuals’ everyday life. My work is interdisciplinary in nature that involves approaches from anthropology, sociology, history, linguistics, and literary theories. 

RESEARCH GRANTS

1.  The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Grants, 2022. Principal Investigator. Project: “Management Accounting and Control for Conservation: The Recovery of Species at Risk in Canada.”

2.  Ted Rogers School of Management Matching Funds Grant, Ryerson University, 2021. Principal investigator. Project: “Constituting International Supply Chains: The Coalition of Management Control Technology and Network.”

3.   The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Grants, 2020. Collaborator (Principal Investigator: Lily Cho). Project: “Asian Values: Fictions of Finance in Postcolonial and Diasporic Asia.”

4.   CPA Ontario Post-Secondary Institutions Funding Program, Tier 2, 2019. Co-investigator. Projects: “Accountability and Animals: The Case of the Greater Sage-Grouse Protection” and “On Speaking for Others: Surrogate Accountability and Postcolonial Animals.”  

5.   The CPA Canada-CAAA Management Accounting, Performance Management, Finance, Governance and Strategy Research Grant, 2018. Principal investigator. Project: “Constituting International Supply Chains: The Coalition of Management Control Technology and Network.”

PUBLICATIONS                                                  

Deng, C., Kanagaretnam, K., & Zhou, Z. (2020). Do Locally Based Independent Directors Reduce Corporate Misconduct? Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms. Journal of International Accounting Research, 19(3), 61-90. https://doi.org/10.2308/JIAR-19-513

Deng, C. (2023), When ethnography meets scientific aspiration: a comparative exploration of ethnography in anthropology and accounting. Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRAM-11-2022-0183

Smirnow, D., & Deng, C. (2023). Mandatory Disclosure as Calculative Spaces: Public Sector Accountability on Restoring Species at Risk. Accounting Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3838.12348

WORKING PAPERS                                                      

1.   “Performing the Reality Multiple: The Ontological Consequence of Translating a Performance Management System.” With Marcia Annisette. [Under revision]

2.   “Performance Management System in Context: When Flat-earthers Encounter High-rise Structures.”

3.   “Stretching the Meaning: Linguistic Gaps and the Incomplete Performance Measures.”

4.    “Undocumented Migrants and Healthcare: Accounting as Territorializing Strategies for Everyday Life.”

5.    “Rethinking Accountability to Animals.” With Eija Vinnari.

WORKS IN PROGRESS 

1.  “Constituting International Supply Chains: The Coalition of Management Control Technology and Network.” With Lifang Gao. 

2.  “Management Accounting and Control for Conservation: The Recovery of Species at Risk in Canada.” With Charles Cho and Dasha Smirnow.

3.  “Asian Values: Fictions of Finance in Postcolonial and Diasporic Asia.” With Lily Cho, Satish Poduval, and Rajni Palriwala.

REFEREED PRESENTATIONS AND INVITED WORKSHOPS                               

1.   “Rethinking Accountability for Biodiversity.” Presented at the Research Group on Sustainability and Critical Accounting at Tampere University. Dec.15, 2022.

2.    “Public-Sector Biodiversity Accounting: Protecting Species at Risk in Canada.” Presented at the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR) Webinar Series. Feb.3, 2022.

3.   “Performing the Reality Multiple: The Ontological Consequence of Translating a Performance Management System.” Presented at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM) Discussion Forum on Qualitative Accounting Research in North American Journals, 6th Edition. Oct. 28, 2021.

4.   “Undocumented Migrants and Healthcare: Accounting as Territorializing Strategies for Everyday Life.” Presented at the 13th Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting Conference. Virtual conference hosted by the University of Innsbruck, Austria. July 7-9, 2021.

5.   “Stretching the Meaning: Linguistic Gaps and the Incomplete Performance Measures.” Presented at the 12th Conference of the Performance Measurement Association. Virtual conference hosted by the University of Groningen, Netherlands. June 28-30, 2021.

6.   “Performing the Reality Multiple: The Ontological Consequence of Translating a Performance Management System.” Presented at the 13th Workshop on Management Accounting as Social and Organizational Practice (MASOP). Virtual conference hosted by ESCP Business School, France. Apr. 15-16, 2021.

7.   “A Brief Introduction to Alternative Accounting Research.” Presented at invited virtual workshop at the School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, China. Jan. 18, 2021.

8.   “On Speaking for Others: Surrogate Accountability and Postcolonial Animals.” Presented at the 5th Qualitative Accounting Research Symposium. Virtual conference hosted by the University of Guelph, Canada. Nov. 26-27, 2020.

9.   “Do Locally-Based Independent Directors Reduce Corporate Misconduct?” With Kiridaran (Giri) Kanagaretnam and Zejiang Zhou. Presented at the plenary session of Journal of International Accounting Research (JIAR) Conference, Saguenay, Canada. June 2019.

10.  “Accountability and Animals: The Case of the Greater Sage-Grouse Protection.” With Dasha Smirnow. Presented at the workshop for special issue on “Accounting, Accountability and Animals” of Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Tampere, Finland. Apr. 23, 2019.

11.  “Translating through Institutional Contexts: A Field Study on the Formation of a Performance Management System.” Presented at invited workshop at the University of Sydney, Jan. 31, 2019.

12.  “The Role of Social Media in Earnings Management: The Case of China.” With Peng Wu, Shan Lu, and Jie Gao. Presented at the AAA 2018 Midwest Region Meeting. Indianapolis, US. Oct. 2018.

13.  “Translating through Institutional Contexts: A Field Study on the Formation of a Performance Management System.” Presented at the 12th Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting (IPA) Conference. Edinburgh, UK. July 2018.

14.  “Stretching the Meaning: Linguistic Translation in the Diffusion of Management Accounting Practices.” Presented at the Emerging Scholars Colloquium of the 12th Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting Conference. Edinburgh, UK. July 2018.

15.  “Illegal in the City: Accounting for the Tactics, Strategies and Practices of Everyday Life.” Presented at the 7th Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR) North America Congress. Toronto, Canada. June 2018. 

16.  “Translating through Institutional Contexts: A Field Study on the Formation of a Performance Management System.” Presented at the Alternative Accounts Conference, Montreal, Canada. May 2018.

17.  “Illegal in the City: Accounting for the Tactics, Strategies and Practices of Everyday Life.” Presented at the Emerging Scholars Colloquium of Alternative Accounts Conference, Montreal, Canada. May 2018.

18.  “Translating through Institutional Contexts: A Field Study on the Formation of a Performance Management System.” Presented at invited workshop at Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Dec. 11, 2017.

19.  “Translating through Institutional Contexts: A Field Study on the Formation of a Performance Management System.” Presented at invited workshop at Odette School of Business, University of Windsor, Dec. 2, 2017.

20.  “Do Locally-Based Independent Directors Reduce Corporate Misconduct?” With Kiridaran (Giri) Kanagaretnam and Zejiang Zhou. Presented at the plenary session of Symposium of a Special Accounting Horizons Forum Conference on “Accounting, Auditing and Corporate Governance Practices in China.” Suzhou, China. Nov. 2017.

21.  “Translating through Institutional Contexts: A Field Study on the Formation of a Performance Management System.” Presented at the Accounting Seminar Series at Schulich School of Business, York University. Toronto, Canada. Oct. 2017.

22.  “Epistemicide in Qualitative Accounting Research: Translating Chinese Fieldwork for an English Audience.” Presented at the Joint York University – Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Workshop “Ethnographic Fieldwork in a Global Era: Challenges and Opportunities.” Beijing, China. Aug. 2017.

23.  “Illegal in the City: Accounting for the Tactics, Strategies and Practices of Everyday Life.” With Dean Neu. Presented by Claire Deng at the Emerging Scholars Colloquium of the 2017 Critical Perspectives on Accounting Conference. Quebec City, Canada. July 2017.

24.  “Do Locally-Based Independent Directors Reduce Corporate Misconduct?” With Kiridaran (Giri) Kanagaretnam and Zejiang Zhou. Presented by Claire Deng at the CAAA 2017 Annual Conference. Montreal, Canada. June 2017.

25.  “Performing Performance Management: Boundary Objects for Organizational Change in a Chinese Context.” Presented at the Craft of Accounting Workshop of the CAAA 2017 Annual Conference.

26.  “The Global Diffusion of Management Accounting Knowledge.” Presented at the Alternative Accounts Doctoral Colloquium of the Alternative Accounts Conference. Ottawa, Canada. Apr. 2016.

27.  “Accounting Professionalism and Inter-Organizational Collaboration: Insights from International Supply Chains.” Poster presentation at the Centre for Accounting Ethics Symposium 2015, Toronto, Canada. Apr. 2015.

28.  “Quantification as Legitimacy: Results Based Budgeting — For the Welfare State or Business?” Presented at the Emerging Scholars Colloquium of the 2014 Critical Perspectives on Accounting Conference. Toronto, Canada. July 2014.

29.  “Religion, Lineage and Modernity: Cultural Sustainability of the Hakka Community.” Invited presentation at the 4th Toronto Hakka Conference. Toronto Canada. June – July 2012.

30.  “Expelling Calamities: Buddho-Daoist Interactions in Celestial Demonology.” The 16th New Frontiers Graduate History Conference, York University. Toronto Canada. Feb. 2012.

THESIS

My Master's thesis "Action-Taking Gods: Animal Spirit Shamanism in Liaoning, China," available through McGill Library, Academia.Edu, and GoogleBooks, appears to be the first study in English about animal spirit shamanism in northern China. It is therefore heavily cited in subsequent studies and public sites. For example, this thesis is the main source for the Wikipedia entry of "Northeast China folk religion."

RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS