Pavlo Kalyta

Assistant Professor

Overview

Pavlo’s expertise covers the areas of sustainable development, environmental accounting, and corporate governance. His research has been published in the leading academic journals in the field, such as the Strategic Management Journal and The Accounting Review, and has received extensive coverage in the media.

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Academic Area

  • Accounting
  • Sustainability

Interest Topics

Faculty Details

Profile

Full Bio

Pavlo’s expertise covers the areas of sustainable development, environmental accounting, and corporate governance.

His research has been published in the leading academic journals in the field, such as the Strategic Management Journal and The Accounting Review, and has received extensive coverage in the media.

He has taught a wide range of university courses and performed executive training in cost management and in environmental accounting.

In addition to research and teaching, Pavlo has performed advisory services in the private sector, participated in the development of environmental reporting policies, and volunteered at the Indigenous communities. Pavlo holds a PhD and an MBA from Concordia University.

Academic Degrees

PhD in Administration (Accounting)
Concordia University (2007)

MBA
Concordia University (2003)

BCom / Professional Accountancy
KNUTE, Ukraine (2000)

Academic Experience

Smith School of Business, Queen's University
Assistant Professor (2016 - Present)

McGill University
Assistant Professor (2009–2016)

University of Ottawa                                     
Assistant Professor (2007–2009)
Lecturer (2006–2007)

Concordia University
Lecturer (2005–2006)

Publications

Journal Articles

Kalyta, P., Malsch, B. “Ethnographic accounting research: Field notes from the frontier”. Accounting Perspectives, vol. 17, no. 2, 2018, pp. 241-252.

Malsch, B., Kalyta, P. “Accounting may be key to corporate compliance on climate goals”. The Globe and Mail, 10 December 2015.

Kalyta, P. “Earnings management after CEO death”. ASAC Conference Proceedings, Accounting Division, vol. 34, 2013, pp. 5-39.

Kalyta, P. “Directors of philosophy: The impact of intellectual governance on firm performance”.

ASAC Conference Proceedings, Finance Division, vol. 32, 2011, pp. 24-40.

Kalyta, P. “Social networking and firm performance: Empirical investigation of the corporate use of Twitter”. ASAC Conference Proceedings, Accounting Division, vol. 32, 2011, pp. 63-81.

Kalyta, P. “Accounting discretion, horizon problem, and CEO retirement benefits”. The Accounting Review, vol. 84, no. 5, 2009, pp. 1553-1574. 

Kalyta, P. “Compensation transparency and managerial opportunism: A study of supplemental retirement plans”. Strategic Management Journal, vol. 30, no. 4, 2009, pp. 405-423. 

Kalyta, P. “Making it personal: The impact of CEO retirement plan on firm risk”. ASAC Conference Proceedings, Finance Division, vol. 29, 2008, pp. 195-210.

Kalyta, P., Magnan, M. “Executive pensions, disclosure quality, and rent extraction”. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, vol. 27, no. 2, 2008, pp. 133-166.

Kalyta, P. “CEO retirement benefits and accounting discretion: Canadian evidence”. ASAC Conference Proceedings, Accounting Division, vol. 28, 2007, pp. 1-12.

In the Media

Forbes; Reuters; The Globe and Mail; Business Week; Calgary Herald; Pension & Benefits Daily; Montreal Gazette; Toronto Sun; Les Affaires; Metro Montreal; Ottawa Business Journal; Huffington Post Quebec; MetroNews Canada; blog TO; MTL Blog; Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulations

Applied Projects

Kalyta, P. “Mapping Sustainability”, Part 1: Walking map of Montreal metro system, Part 2: Walking map of Toronto subway system, Part 3: Walking map of Vancouver transit system, 2016, Reproduced in various media and integrated into mobile mapping applications.

Cases

Kalyta, P., Magnan, M., Perrotta, N., Thouin, B. “Repap Enterprises Inc. A: A study in governance”, 2004. 

Kalyta, P., Magnan, M., Perrotta, N., Thouin, B. “Repap Enterprises Inc. A: A study in executive compensation”, 2004.

Teaching

PhD Supervision

Laurence Daoust (Queen’s); thesis committee                                    

    2017–18

Russell Evans (Queen’s); thesis committee                                        

    2016–17

Leon Bea (McGill); supervisor                                                            

    2013–16

Rojin Mansouri (McGill); supervisor                                                  

    2012–16

Leanne Keddie (Concordia); external committee member                 

    2013–16

Hugues Langlois (McGill); external member on the defense committee

    2014

Hai Ta (McGill); external member on the defense committee            

    2011

Courses Taught

PhD

  • Research design in accounting (McGill)
  • Accountability and sustainability (McGill)

EMBA

  • Sustainability accounting (McGill/HEC Montreal)

MBA

  • Management accounting (McGill) BCom
  • Intermediate management accounting (Queen’s) 
  • Management accounting (McGill)
  • Sustainability and environmental accounting (McGill)
  • Cost accounting (Ottawa)
  • Financial accounting (Ottawa)
  • Managerial accounting (Concordia)
  • Introductory financial accounting (Concordia)

New Courses Created 

  • Sustainability and Environmental Accounting (McGill, BCom)
  • Accountability and Sustainability (McGill, PhD) 
  • Research Design in Accounting (McGill, PhD)

Interests

Management accounting; sustainability accounting; research methods

Research

Select Research 

Study: 

“Ethnographic accounting research: Field notes from the frontier” (with B. Malsch)

Journal:

Accounting Perspectives 

Abstract:

 

Ethnographic fieldwork in accounting is scarce and remains a “frontier” methodology, unfamiliar to most accounting researchers. Building on our field research project on corporate accountability and stakeholder engagement, set in the Canadian Arctic, we illustrate in this paper the use and explanatory power of ethnographic methods for studying social groups and individual actors in the broader accounting universe. We share our fieldwork strategies and provide a few practical tips for conducting ethnographic research in both corporate and community environments. We then argue that ethnographies provide accounting researchers with untapped opportunities to discover vast reservoirs of knowledge inaccessible to other research methods, and offer a path to humanize accounting research. 

Study: 

“Accounting discretion, horizon problem, and CEO retirement benefits”

Journal:

Accounting Review 

Abstract:

Empirical research on the impact of managerial retirement on discretionary accounting choices is inconclusive, with most studies finding no evidence of earnings management in the pre-retirement period. I argue that income-increasing accounting choices in final pre-retirement years are particularly appealing to managers whose pension depends on firm performance in these years. Using primary data on retired CEOs of Fortune 1000 firms, I investigate the impact of CEO pension plans on discretionary accruals. Consistent with the prediction, I find evidence of income-increasing earnings management in the pre-retirement period only when CEO pension is based on firm performance. I also report evidence of negative abnormal market reaction to CEO retirement in firms with performance-contingent CEO pensions. 

Study:

“Compensation transparency and managerial opportunism: A study of supplemental retirement plans”

Journal:

Strategic Management Journal 

Abstract:

Existing research on managerial compensation is based primarily on optimal contracting and managerial hegemony theories. Under the optimal contracting theory, observed compensation contracts are optimally determined, aligning the interests of managers and shareholders. Under the managerial hegemony theory, observed compensation contracts deviate from the optimum because top managers with power over boards are able to influence their own pay. I argue that the impact of managerial power over boards on managerial pay, and hence the deviation of compensation contracts from the optimum, is contingent on the transparency of managerial compensation. Within this framework, I investigate the impact of supplemental executive retirement plans (SERPs) - historically the least transparent compensation component - on opportunistic decision making. An empirical analysis based on a time series sample of CEOs of S&P/TSX60 firms provides support of the compensation transparency theory. I find that SERP benefits are primarily driven by variables proxying for CEO power over the board, whereas more transparent compensation components are primarily driven by economic factors. The results also suggest that CEOs whose SERPs are contingent on firm performance appear to reduce firm R&D expenditures as they approach retirement. Both findings provide important contributions to existing research on the impact of managerial compensation on opportunistic decisions.

Interests

Governance; accountability; CSR reporting; Indigenous issues

Presentations

Conference Presentations

American Accounting Association (×7); Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (×5); Canadian Academic Accounting Association (×6); European Accounting Association (×2); British Accounting Association; Money, Economy, and Management Conference; HEC Montreal Winter Workshop; Alternative Perspectives in Accounting Research; European Financial Management Association; Telfer Accounting & Finance Conference

Workshops

McGill University (×2); IE Business School; University of Cagliari; Université Laval; University of Ottawa (×2); Humboldt University; University of Padova; Queen’s University (×2); Lancaster University

Conference Discussions

ASAC (×3), AAA (×3), CAAA (×2)

Awards

Fellowships

Marcel Desautels Institute for Integrated Management Fellowship (with D. Etzion) (2013–2014)

Marcel Desautels Institute for Integrated Management Teaching Fellowship (2013)

Doctoral Consortium Fellow, AAA (2006)

J.W. McConnell Memorial Fellowship (2005–2007)

Teaching Awards

McGill Management Undergraduate Professor of the Year, Nominee (3% of the faculty) (2014, 2015)

Other Awards

Best Paper Award, ASAC Conference (2013)

Honorable Mention Award, ASAC Conference (2011)

Best Paper Award, ASAC Conference (2007, 2008)

FRQSC (Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture) Doctoral Scholarship (2005–2007)

Concordia University Doctoral Scholarship (2005–2007)

Grants & Funding

Insight Grant, “Inside tax havens and the making of offshore accounting in Canada” (with B. Malsch and M.-S. Tremblay) (2018-2022)
SSHRC | $151,375 

Smith School of Business General Research Grant (with B. Malsch; T. Dacin) (2016–2017)

Insight Grant, “The role of intellectual capital in corporate governance and organizational performance” (individual) (2012-2016)
SSHRC | $107,000 

McGill University Internal Research Grant  (2010–2016)

Service

Ad-Hoc Reviewer

Journals

The Accounting Review (×4), Accounting Perspectives (×3), Australian Accounting

Review, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences (×2), ComptabilitéContrôleAudit, Contemporary Accounting Research (×7), Eurasian Business Review, Journal of

Accounting and Public Policy (×2), Journal of Accounting and Taxation, Human

Resource Management Journal, Accounting and Business Research

Conferences

ASAC (×10), AAA (×8), CAAA (×11)

Grants 

SSHRC Insight grants (×98), CAAA grants (×32), FQRSC grants (×2)

Internal

Student PhD/MSc applications; student grant/fellowship applications

Internal Contributions

Queen’s University

Aboriginal Council; Indigenous Knowledge, Curriculum and Research Working Group
2017 - Present

Development of Institute for Sustainable Finance
2017 - Present

Library Advisory Committee
2016 - Present

Major Admission Award Reader
2017–2018

Judge, Queen’s Case Competition
20162017

McGill University

Research Council
2013–2015

Judge, Desautels Preparatory Case Competition
2012–2013

CMA Order Representative at McGill University
2010–2013

PhD Program Committee
2010–2013

Course Coordinator, Management Accounting
2009–2014

CA Program Admissions Subcommittee
2011–2012

Ernst & Young Speaker Series Organizer
2010–2012

Pro-Dean, PhD Thesis Defense Committees (×3)
2010–2012

External Contributions

Accounting Perspectives, Editorial Board
2016 - Present

SSHRC Insight Grant Assessment Committee
2013–2014

CAAA Annual Conference, Scientific Committee
2011–2015

CAAA, Board of Directors
2010–2012

CAAA, Chair of the Research Committee
2010–2012

Contemporary Accounting Research, Editorial Board
2009–2011

Case Competitions Coaching    

Coach of the Queen’s University Case Competition Union Team
2016 - Present

Coach of the McGill University Financial Open Case Competition Team
2012-2014

Coaching Record

1st place, Belgrade International Case Competition (2018)

5th place, University of Navarra International Case Competition (2017)

1st place, Financial Open—Management Accounting (2014)