Yu Hou
Associate Professor & KPMG Fellow of AccountingOverview
Yu Hou is an Associate Professor and KPMG Fellow of Accounting at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, where he also serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the CPA Centre for Corporate Reporting and Professionalism.
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Appointment Type
Tenure/Tenure-Track
Academic Area
- Accounting
Interest Topics
- Corporate Litigation
- Financial Accounting
- Innovation
Faculty Details
Profile
Full Bio
Yu Hou is an Associate Professor and KPMG Fellow of Accounting at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, where he also serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the CPA Centre for Corporate Reporting and Professionalism.
Yu’s research spans diverse topics, with recent emphases on disclosure, innovation, social media, and Chinese issues. His work has appeared in leading accounting journals such as The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, and Review of Accounting Studies. Yu currently serves on the editorial board of Contemporary Accounting Research and received the journal's Outstanding Reviewer Award in 2024. He has received multiple Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) research grants and was honored with the New Researcher Award from Smith School of Business in 2017.
Yu earned his PhD from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto in 2013. He also holds a PhD in Business Administration and a Bachelor's degree in Accounting from Tsinghua University (Beijing, China). Additionally, Yu obtained his CGA certification from the Certified General Accountants Association in 2003.
As an experienced educator, Yu has taught undergraduate courses in Management Accounting at Smith School of Business and the Rotman School of Management, along with Intermediate Management Accounting and PhD seminars.
Academic Degrees
Doctor of Philosophy, Accounting
Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto (2013)
Doctor of Philosophy, Business Administration
School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University (2010)
Bachelor of Accounting
School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University (2003)
Academic Experience
Smith School of Business, Queen's University
Senior Research Fellow, CPA Ontario Centre (2021 - Present)
Associate Professor (2019 - Present)
KPMG Fellow of Accounting (2017 - Present)
Assistant Professor (2013-2019)
Publications
Financial Times Journal Publications
“Do Firms Mimic Industry Leaders' Accounting? Evidence from Financial Statement Comparability” With Gus De Franco and Mark Ma, The Accounting Review (FT50, Dallas), Vol.98, No. 6, 2023
“Chilling Effects of Patent Trolls” With Feng Chen, Jiaping Qiu, and Gordon Richardson, Research Policy (FT50), Vol.52, No. 3, 2023
“Auditor Experience and the Timeliness of Litigation Loss Contingency Disclosures” With Feng Chen, Gordon Richardson, and Minlei Ye, Contemporary Accounting Research (FT50), Vol.35, No. 2, 2018
“Strategic Disclosures of Litigation Loss Contingencies When Customer-Supplier Relationships Are at Risk” With Ling Cen, Feng Chen, and Gordon Richardson, The Accounting Review (FT50, Dallas), Vol.93, No. 2, 2017
“The Role of Diversification in the Pricing of Accruals Quality” Review of Accounting Studies (FT50), Vol.20, No. 20, 2015 (dissertation)
Media Coverage
Article, Smith Insights, “How Catfish Effects Drive Stock Market Reform” Nov 26, 2024
Webinar, CPA Ontario and Smith Insights, “Auditing and Controlling Cybersecurity Risks” Nov 31, 2022
Article, Smith Insights, “Making the Case for Lawyer CEOs” Jun 10, 2021
Article, Smith Insights, “For Copycat Accountants, Location Matters” Nov 2, 2019
Article, Smith Insights, “Patent Trolls Are Worse Than You Think” Jul 8, 2019
Article, Smith Insights, “Shopping for a Pretty Picture or An Accurate One?” Feb 25, 2018
Teaching
Teaching Experience
Queen's University- COMM 112 Introduction to Management Accounting
- COMM 312 Intermediate Management Accounting
- MGMT 916 Special Topics in Accounting Research (PhD Seminar)
- Managerial Accounting: 2012
- Financial Data Analysis: 2006 - 2007
Student Supervision
- PhD Supervisor for Lin Bai (Completed, first placement: Capital One)
- PhD Committee member for Luke Phelps, Jing Wang
- MSc Supervisor for Lei Luo
- MSc Second Reader for Luke Phelps and Edbert Oey
Research
Interests
Disclosure, Innovation, Social Media, Chinese Issues
Presentations
Conference Participation
Contemporary Accounting Research Conference 2010 – 2024
Canadian Academic Accounting Association Annual Meeting 2011 - 2024
Review of Accounting Studies Conference 2014, 2022
Annual Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting 2014, 2016, 2024
American Accounting Association Annual Meeting 2011 - 2023
Toronto Accounting Research Conference 2008 - 2017
University of Alberta Accounting Research Conference 2017- 2018
McMaster Accounting Research Symposium 2012 - 2016
Financial Accounting and Reporting Section Midyear Meeting 2013 & 2015
AAA Deloitte/J. Michael Cook Doctoral Consortium Lake Tahoe 2012
Invited Presentations
Arizona State University, Central University of Finance and Economics, Fudan University, McGill University, McMaster University, Nanyang Technological University, National University of Singapore, Peking University, Queen’s University, Sichuan University, Singapore Management University, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Tsinghua University, University of Alberta, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Toronto, University of Utah
American Accounting Association Annual Meeting, Annual Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting, Canadian Academic Accounting Association Annual Meeting, Financial Accounting and Reporting Section Midyear Meeting, Review of Accounting Studies Conference
Awards
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant, Solo (Principal) Investigator, 2025
Outstanding reviewer for Contemporary Accounting Research (FT50), 2024
Monieson Research Grant, Smith School of Business, 2024
Research Grant from CPA Ontario Centre for Corporate Reporting & Professionalism, Smith School of Business, 2024
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant, Co-Investigator, 2020
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant, Solo (Principal) Investigator, 2020
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant, Co-Investigator, 2020
New Researcher Award, Smith School of Business, 2017
General Research Grant, Smith School of Business 2017, 2024
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant, Co-Investigator, 2017
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant, Principal Investigator, 2016
DI McLeod Award, Smith School of Business, 2016
Research Initiation Grant, Smith School of Business, 2013
Service
Professional Services
- Editorial Board Member for Contemporary Accounting Research
- Scientific committee member for Canadian Academic Accounting Association Annual Meeting (2021, 2024, and 2025)
- Reviewing committee member for Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Development Grants competition (2017 – 2019)
- Regular Reviewer for the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong - General Research Fund (GRF) and Early Career Scheme (ECS) (2014 –)
- Ad hoc reviewer for FT journals: Contemporary Accounting Research, Management Science, Review of Accounting Studies
- Ad hoc reviewer for other journals: Accounting Horizon, Accounting Perspective, British Accounting
- Review, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance,
- Journal of International Accounting Research, Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, The International Journal of Accounting
- Ad hoc Reviewer for Annual Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting, American
- Accounting Association Annual Meeting and Canadian Academic Accounting Association Annual Meeting, CAAA Research Grant
Professional Affiliations
- American Accounting Association (AAA)
- Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA)
- Chinese Accounting Professors Association of North America (CAPANA)
Professional Certifications & Industrial Experience
- Research Analyst, China Security and Regulatory Commission (CSRC), Beijing, China, 2004-2006
- Certified General Accountant (Inactive), CGA Institute, 2003
Service to the School & the University
- Chair - Research Ethics Committee, 2021-2023
- Chair – Faculty Search committee, 2019
- Member - Faculty Search committee, 2020, 2022
- Member - Student Award Committee，2020-2022
- Member - Database Committee, 2020-2023
- Member - Faculty Development Fund Committee, 2013 – 2014
- Member - Awards Adjudication Committee, 2014 - 2015
- Member - Commerce Curriculum Committee, 2015 – 2017
- Member - Research Committee, 2017 – 2018
- Member - Graduate Academic (MSc/PhD) Committee, 2018 – 2020
- Reader - Major Admission Awards, 2014-