A l u m n i M a g a z i n e - Duke University's Fuqua School of Business

the Faculty
Qi Chen
Assistant Professor, Accounting
Assistant professor Qi (pronounced Chee) Chen joined
Fuqua in July.
He comes to Duke from the University of Chicago
with a background in managerial accounting and is scheduled
to defend his dissertation by the end of 2000. His
thesis is titled, “Cooperation in the Budgeting Process.”
His decision to come to Duke was heavily influenced
by his long-time ties with the faculty at Fuqua. As a student
at Chicago, fellow Fuqua professors Katherine
Schipper and Jennifer Francis taught some of his Ph.D.
level courses.
Chen’s research
interests are in
accounting, corporate
governance and
organizational
design. The focus of
his research is on the
theoretical modeling
of certain agency
problems. Chen
gives an example to
illustrate, “If I’m a
principal (a shareholder)
and I want
you (a manager) to
do something for
me, but I can’t track whether you actually perform that
assigned task, I need to design something to make sure
that you do indeed complete the task.” This design comes
often in the form of a “bonus plan or some kind of optimal
contract in response to the fact that I can’t see or
track what you’re doing.” This type of scenario is where
the field of managerial accounting is incorporated as a
way of monitoring these types of situations.
Chen is currently working in a research capacity and
will teach one of the core courses in managerial accounting
for both The Duke MBA (daytime) and Cross
Continent programs in 2001.
When he returns to the classroom in January, aside
from learning core accounting formulas and principles,
Chen wants his students to learn how to analyze questions
logically, think critically, and most importantly, not
take everything for granted.
Faculty N ews
Francesca Cornelli
Associate Professor, Finance
“Conducting research at Duke is much easier since the
teaching is more concentrated,” said newly appointed
associate professor Francesca Cornelli. Fuqua is very efficient
in the way its structure is organized. This structure, as
well as Duke’s reputation and first-class faculty, greatly
appealed to me.”
Before accepting the Fuqua post, Cornelli held an assistant
professor position at the London School of Business. Her
experience working with practitioners in London enabled her
to bring real-life scenarios into the classroom. Her primary
objective for her students
is to change the
common way of thinking
and then develop an
approach in order to
come to the correct resolution.
“Approaching
and resolving problems
does not come naturally
for most people,” she
said. “This process is
very difficult initially,
but very rewarding once
you get it.”
She attended
Bocconi University in
Milan, Italy, as an
undergraduate and received her Ph.D. in economics from
Harvard University in 1992.
She currently serves as a member of the Board of Editors
of The Review of Economic Studies, is a research fellow of the
Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR) and is a fellow
of the William Davidson Institute at the University of
Michigan Business School.
Her research interests focus on corporate finance, privatization,
bankruptcy procedures, initial public offerings (IPOs),
takeovers and risk arbitrage, contact theory and industrial
organization. This year, she was awarded the best paper prize
at the ABN-AMRO International Conference for her article
on, “Bookbuilding: How informative is the Order Book?”
She teaches an elective corporate finance course for The
Duke MBA (daytime) program at Fuqua.
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