Pepa KRAFT

Professor

Accounting and Management Control

kraft@hec.fr
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Biography

Pepa Kraft received her PhD in Accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, her M.Sc. in Banking and Finance from HEC University of Lausanne, and her B.Sc. with Honours in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics. Her research focuses on the role of accounting in credit markets, credit rating agencies, off-balance sheet financing and disclosure issues in financial reporting. She has taught courses on financial reporting and financial statement analysis at Chicago Booth, Stern and Wharton. Before joining academia, she has held posts at Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan in Corporate Equity Derivatives and Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the American Accounting Association and European Accounting Association.  

Scientific articles

The Usefulness of Credit Ratings for Accounting Fraud Prediction

Accounting Review, November 2023, vol. 98, n° 7, pp 347–376, (in coll. with A. HUANG, S. WANG)

Do Rating Agencies Behave Defensively for Higher Risk Issuers?

Management Science, August 2023, vol. 69, n° 8, pp 4864-4887, (in coll. with S. BONSALL, K. KOHARKI, K. A. MULLER, A. SIKOCHI)

Qualitative Disclosure and Credit Analysts’ Soft Rating Adjustments

European Accounting Review, 2023, vol. 32, n° 4, pp 779-807, (in coll. with Z. BOZANIC, A. TILLET)

Market Power and Credit Rating Standards: Global Evidence

Journal of Accounting and Economics, April-May 2022, vol. 73, n° 2-3, pp 101474, (in coll. with M. HUNG, S. WANG, G. YU)

Effect of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Accounting-based Prediction Models for CDS Spreads

European Accounting Review, 2021, vol. 30, n° 2, pp 223–250, (in coll. with W. R. LANDSMAN, Z. SHAN)

The intraday timing of rating changes

Journal of Corporate Finance, February 2020, vol. 60, n° 101532, (in coll. with Y. XIE, L. ZHOU)

Rating Agency’s Adjustments to GAAP Financial Statements and Their Effect on Ratings and Credit Spreads

Accounting Review, March 2015, vol. 90, n° 2, pp 641-674,

Do Rating Agencies Cater? – Evidence from Rating-Based Contracts

Journal of Accounting and Economics, April-May 2015, vol. 59, n° 2-3, pp 264-283,

The Role of Accounting Accruals in Chinese Firms

China Accounting and Finance Review, 2014, vol. 16, n° 11, pp 148-154,

Financial Statement Comparability and Credit Risk

Review of Accounting Studies, 2013, vol. 18, n° 3, pp 783-823, (in coll. with S. KIM, S. G. RYAN)

Working papers

Trustees in Public Debt Contracts and Timeliness of Defaults”, with Vedran Capkun, Ying Dang and Xucheng Shi

Cahier de Recherche du Groupe HEC , 2023

Credit Rating Agencies and Accounting Fraud Detection

Cahier de Recherche du Groupe HEC , 2019

Scientific articles

Do Rating Agencies Behave Defensively for Higher Risk Issuers?

Management Science, August 2023, vol. 69, n° 8, pp 4864-4887, (in coll. with S. BONSALL, K. KOHARKI, K. A. MULLER, A. SIKOCHI)

Qualitative Disclosure and Credit Analysts’ Soft Rating Adjustments

European Accounting Review, 2023, vol. 32, n° 4, pp 779-807, (in coll. with Z. BOZANIC, A. TILLET)

The Usefulness of Credit Ratings for Accounting Fraud Prediction

Accounting Review, November 2023, vol. 98, n° 7, pp 347–376, (in coll. with A. HUANG, S. WANG)

Market Power and Credit Rating Standards: Global Evidence

Journal of Accounting and Economics, April-May 2022, vol. 73, n° 2-3, pp 101474, (in coll. with M. HUNG, S. WANG, G. YU)

Working papers

Trustees in Public Debt Contracts and Timeliness of Defaults”, with Vedran Capkun, Ying Dang and Xucheng Shi

Cahier de Recherche du Groupe HEC , 2023

Credit Rating Agencies and Accounting Fraud Detection

Cahier de Recherche du Groupe HEC , 2019

Education

  • Ph.D., Accounting, The University of Chicago, Booth School of Business - USA
  • MSc Banking and Finance, HEC Lausanne - Switzerland
  • Bachelor of Science, Accounting and Finance, London School of Economics & Political Science - United Kingdom

Academic appointments

Academic Responsibilities at HEC

  • 2023- Professor, Accounting and Management Control HEC Paris
  • 2017-2022 Associate Professor, Accounting and Management Control HEC Paris
  • 2018- Departmental PhD Coordinator. HEC Paris
  • 2017- Member of GREGHEC, the joint research laboratory CNRS-HEC Paris HEC Paris

External Academic Responsibilities

  • 2010-2017 Assistant Professor, Accounting NYU Stern School of Business
  • 2012-2013 Visiting Faculty The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Scientific Activities

Membership in Academic or Professional Organisation

  • Verein fuer Socialpolitik
  • French Accounting Association
  • European Accounting Association
  • CFA charterholder, member of NYSSA
  • American Accounting Association

Editorial activities

  • 2020 Member of scientific/editorial committee for Swiss Accounting Research Alpine Camp
  • 2020- Asscociate Editor of European Accounting Review
  • 2014 FARS Editorial Committee (track Debt Contracting and Credit Ratings)
  • Ad hoc referee for Journal of Accounting Research; Journal of Accounting Economics; European Accounting Review; Review of Accounting Studies; Contemporary Accounting Research; Management Science; Accounting Horizons; The Accounting Review; Research Grants Council Hong Kong; Journal of Financial Reporting; Journal of Law, Finance Accounting; Law Policy; Financial Accounting Reporting Section; American Accounting Association

    • Awards & honors

    • 2023 Researcher of the Year Award of the HEC Foundation