Contact

232 Mervis Hall
vickyh@katz.pitt.edu
412-648-1627

Profile

Vicky B. Hoffman was a senior auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers (formerly Coopers and Lybrand) in Washington, D.C., and is a certified public accountant (Inactive – Maryland).

Her research examines cognitive information processing in business decision settings. She applies social science theory to auditing, managerial, and financial accounting settings, and is particularly interested in studying the combined effects of cognition and motivation on accounting decisions.

She currently teaches Auditing, Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination, and a doctoral seminar in behavioral/experimental research. She has also previously taught financial accounting in both the CBA and MBA programs.

Courses Recently Taught

• CBA Auditing
• MAcc Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination
• PhD Seminar in Experimental Research in Accounting

Research Interests

• Accounting and Behavioral Science

Awards and Honors

• AAA Auditing Section Outstanding Audit Educator Award (January 2024)
• Barry Jay Epstein Faculty Fellow (September 1, 2021- present)
• Ben L. Fryrear Faculty Fellow (September 2018 – August 2021)
• 2018 First prize (with Michele Frank) at University of Oklahoma Price College of Business McLaughlin Ethics Conference
• 2016 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award
• James H. Rossell Endowed Faculty Fellowship (Jan. 2013 – Aug. 2018)
• Student’s Choice Award for Outstanding Teacher in MAcc Program (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020)
• Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Awards in the MAcc (2009–2021), CBA (2000, 2003-2004, 2006–2015, 2019, 2020-2022), and MBA programs (1998, 1999, 2001)
• Katz Graduate School of Business Excellence in Research Award (2009, 2015)
• Outstanding Teacher in CBA Accounting Major (2010)
• Ed and Margaret Kay Award for Teaching Excellence in Accounting (2010)
• AAA Auditing Section Doctoral Consortium presentation on Behavioral Research (2010) and on Career Advice (2009) and AAA Doctoral Consortium Distinguished Faculty presentation on Behavioral Research (1996)
• Award from AAA ABO section: Chairing Outstanding Behavioral Dissertation (2000)
• AAA Auditing Section Outstanding Dissertation Award (1989)

Professional Service and Activities

• Editorial Board Member of The Accounting Review; Accounting, Organizations and Society; and Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory.
• Formerly on Editorial Boards of Behavioral Research in Accounting, Advances in Accounting, and Journal of Accounting Education.

Degrees

• PhD in Business Administration (Accounting), University of Michigan
• BS in Business Administration (Accounting), University of Maryland

Selected Publications

“Why some Investors Avoid Accounting Information: Identifying a Psychological Cost of Information Acquisition Using the Securities-Based Crowdfunding Setting” with Nicole Cade and Shannon Garavaglia, 2023 (in press), The Accounting Review.

“Do Effort Differences Between Bonus and Penalty Contract Frames Persist in Labor Markets?” with George Gonzalez and Donald Moser, 2020, The Accounting Review 95(3): 205-222.

“Continuous Auditing’s Effectiveness as a Fraud Deterrent” (with George Gonzale“Continuous Auditing’s Effectiveness as a Fraud Deterrent” with George Gonzalez, 2018, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Volume 37 (2): 225-247.

“Discussion of Construal Instructions and Professional Skepticism in Evaluating Complex  Estimates” with Michele Frank, 2015, Accounting Organizations and Society, Volume 46:56-58.

“Points to Consider When Self-Assessing Your Empirical Accounting Research” with J. Harry Evans, Mei Feng, Donald Moser, and Wim Van der Stede, 2015, Contemporary Accounting Research, Vol. 32 (3): 1162-1192.

“How Audit Reviewers Respond to an Audit Preparer’s Affective Bias – The Ironic Rebound Effect” with Michele Frank, 2015, The Accounting Review 90 (2): 559-577.

“Do Strategic Reasoning and Brainstorming Help Auditors Change Their Standard Audit Procedures in Response to Fraud Risk?” with Mark F. Zimbelman 2009, The Accounting Review, 84(3) (May): 811-837.

“Reducing Management’s Influence on Auditors’ Judgments: An Experimental Investigation of SOX 404 Assessments,” with Christine E. Earley and Jennifer R. Joe 2008, The Accounting Review, 83(6) (November): 1461-1485.

“The Accountability Demand for Information in China and the US – A Research Note” with Jacob G. Birnberg and Susana Yuen, Accounting, Organizations, and Society, 2008 Vol. 33, issue 1, pages 20-32.

“Bonus vs. Penalty: Does Contract Frame Affect Employee Effort?” with R. Lynn Hannan and Donald V. Moser, Experimental Business Research: Economic Perspectives, Vol. II, edited by A. Rappaport and R. Zwick (2005). Netherlands: Springer.

“The Effect of Constrained Processing on Auditors’ Judgments,” with Donald V. Moser and Jennifer R. Joe, Accounting, Organizations, and Society, Vol. 28, 2003, 699-714.

“Accountability, the Dilution Effect, and Conservatism in Auditors’ Fraud Judgments” with James M. Patton, Journal of Accounting Research, 1997 (Autumn): 227-237.

“Auditors’ Assessments of the Likelihood of Error Explanations in Analytical Review. The Accounting Review, 1990, (October): 875-890.

Academic Area

Accounting