MA, PGCE (Vienna University), MBA, PhD (Bangor University)

Location: Room 1.08, Hen Goleg

Telephone: 01248 38 2120

Email: d.m.merkl-davies@bangor.ac.uk

Google Scholar Author Profile

Undergraduate Teaching

• ASB 1110 Management Accounting
• ASB 3211 Advanced Accounting Theory and Practice

Postgraduate Teaching

• ASB 4418 Accounting Theory
• ASB 4907 / 4927 Accounting Theory
• ASB 4932 Foundation in Social Research

Supervision

Annika Beelitz: Organisational Legitimacy of the Nuclear Industry following the Fukushima Disaster (2010-2016)

Danial Hemmings: Corporate Equity Issues: The Symbolic Management of Investor Sentiment Prior to Seasoned Equity Offerings (2012-2016)

Emma Hughes: Frames of reference in contemporary labour disputes: The case of London Underground (2014-2018)

Sara Closs-Davies: A conceptual framework of tax credits (2012 - 2019)

My work focuses on impression management in corporate communication. Impression management entails the construction of a public impression by organisations with the intention to appeal to their audiences, including shareholders, stakeholders, the general public, and the media. The majority of research focuses on attempts to influence perceptions by means of financial statements (earnings management). However, the language in corporate narrative documents (e.g., chairmen’s statements, press releases, corporate social responsibility reports) constitutes a more subtle and powerful way of persuading audiences to accept a specific version of reality. My work is interdisciplinary and encompasses the development of conceptual and theoretical frameworks of impression management and the development and application of text analysis methodologies (primarily based on rhetoric, discourse analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis) for the analysis of corporate narratives. For this purpose, I draw on my background in accounting (MBA in Banking and Finance, PhD in Accounting) and literature and linguistics (MA in German and English). There is a growing interest in corporate narrative reporting, evidenced by the publication of the Routledge Companion to Accounting Communication and the Special Issue of Accounting Forum on Analysing the Quality, Meaning and Accountability of Organizational Reporting and Communication, to which I have both contributed.

I am an associate editor of Accounting and Business Research (ABR, 3*) and the British Accounting Review (BAR, 3*). I am also an editorial board member of the Accounting Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ, 3*). My work is published in highly regarded journals. I won the Mary Parker Follett Award for the best paper published in the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal for 2011. Reflecting the interdisciplinary orientation of the journal, the award is named in memory of Mary Parker Follett, a pioneer in the field of management and accountability literature, who was international and interdisciplinary in her focus. Another of my papers published in the Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journalwas selected by the journal’s editorial team as a Highly Commended paper in 2015. In 2017, I was the joint winner of the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal award for outstanding reviewer in the 2016 year of the journal.

Corporate narrative reporting and impression management: Corporate reporting of COVID-19

Corporate narrative reporting and impression management: Tax strategy reporting

Corporate narrative reporting and impression management: CSR reporting

2021

• PublishedTax Credits as an accounting technology of government: “Showing my boys they have to work, because that is what happens”
  Closs-Davies, S., Merkl-Davies, D. & Bartels, K. P., 10 Mar 2021, In: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. 34, 3, p. 531-557
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedThe Frog in the Pan: Relational Transformation of Public Values in the UK Tax Authority
  Closs-Davies, S., Bartels, K. & Merkl-Davies, D., 10 Sep 2021, In: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. 34, 7, p. 1635-1663
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• PublishedDiscursive framing in private and public communication by pro-nuclear corporate, political and regulatory actors following the Fukushima disaster
  Beelitz, A. & Merkl-Davies, D., 17 Jun 2019, In: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. 32, 5, p. 1585-1614
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedMoral economy, solidarity and labour process struggle in Irish public transport
  Hughes, E., Dobbins, T. & Merkl-Davies, D., 20 Dec 2019, In: Economic and Industrial Democracy.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2018

• PublishedDo firms effectively communicate with financial stakeholders? A conceptual model of corporate communication in a capital market context
  Brennan, N. & Merkl-Davies, D., Jun 2018, In: Accounting and Business Research. 48, 5, p. 553-577
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2017

• PublishedExplaining Communication Choices during Equity Offerings: Market Timing or Impression Management?
  Hemmings, D., Brennan, N. M. & Merkl-Davies, D. M., Nov 2017, Handbook of Investor Relations and Financial Communications. Laskin, A. (ed.). Wiley
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2016

• PublishedA Theoretical Framework of External Accounting Communication: Research Perspectives, Traditions, and Theories
  Merkl-Davies, D. M. & Brennan, N., 6 Mar 2016, In: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. 30, 2, p. 433-469
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedImpression Management Theory
  Merkl-Davies, D., 1 Jul 2016, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Corporate Reputation. Carroll, C. E. (ed.). Sage
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

2014

• PublishedRhetoric and argument in social and environmental reporting: the Dirty Laundry case
  Brennan, N. M. & Merkl-Davies, D. M., 1 Nov 2014, In: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. 27, 4
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2013

• PublishedDialogism in Corporate Social Responsibility Communications: Conceptualising Verbal Interaction Between Organisations and Their Audiences
  Brennan, N. M., Merkl-Davies, D. M. & Beelitz, A., 1 Jul 2013, In: Journal of Business Ethics. 115, 4, p. 665-679
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2012

• PublishedAccounting Narratives and Impression Management
  Brennan, N., Merkl-Davies, D. M., Jack, L. (ed.), Davison, J. (ed.) & Craig, R. (ed.), 1 Jan 2012, The Routledge Companion to Accounting Communication. 2012 ed. Routledge
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
• PublishedUsing Discourse to Restore Organisational Legitimacy: ‘CEO-speak’ After an Incident in a German Nuclear Power Plant
  Beelitz, A. & Merkl-Davies, D. M., 1 Jan 2012, In: Journal of Business Ethics. 108, 1, p. 101-120
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• Published‘Metaphoring’ people out of this world: A Critical Discourse Analysis of a chairman's statement of a UK defence firm
  Merkl-Davies, D. M. & Koller, V., 13 Mar 2012, In: Accounting Forum.
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2011

• PublishedA conceptual framework of impression management: new insights from psychology, sociology and critical perspectives
  Merkl-Davies, D. M. & Brennan, N., 25 May 2011, In: Accounting and Business Research. 41, 5, p. 415-437
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedImpression management and retospective sense-making in corporate narratives: a social psychology perspective.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., Brennan, N. & McLeay, S., 1 Jan 2011, In: Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal. 24, 3, p. 315-344
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2009

• PublishedExecutive Share Option Backdating in the UK: Empirical Evidence.
  Wells, H. J., Merkl-Davies, D. M., Merkl-Davies, D., Hodgkinson, L. & Wells, J., 1 Jan 2009.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• Published‘Homo economicus’, ‘homo socialis’ and ‘homo fabulans’: Impression management and reality construction in corporate annual reporting.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., Merkl-Davies, D. & Brennan, N., 1 Jan 2009.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2008

• PublishedConstructing an autoethnography: Hegemonic stories and subversive tales.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M. & Merkl-Davies, D., 1 Jan 2008.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedObfuscation, impression management, and reflectivity: A journey through research paradigms.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., Merkl-Davies, D. & Brennan, N., 1 Jan 2008.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2007

• PublishedDiscretionary Disclosure Strategies in Corporate Narratives: Incremental Information or Impression Management?
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., Merkl-Davies, D. & Brennan, N., 1 Jan 2007, In: Journal of Accounting Literature. 26, p. 116-196
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
• PublishedIn search of ‘the other’: Social reality construction in corporate narratives.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., Merkl-Davies, D. & Brennan, N., 1 Jan 2007.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedThe chairman’s report as a corporate genre: Employing a corpus-based genre analysis approach.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., Merkl-Davies, D. & Brennan, N., 1 Jan 2007.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2005

• PublishedA new approach to impression management – Linguistic indicators of self-presentational dissimulation in narrative annual report documents.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., Merkl-Davies, D., Brennan, N. & McLeay, S., 1 Jan 2005.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedA new methodology for measuring impression management – A linguistic approach to reading difficulty.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., Merkl-Davies, D., Brennan, N. & McLeay, S., 1 Jan 2005.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper
• PublishedWhat type of readability do you mean? Impression management in UK chairman’s reports.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., Merkl-Davies, D., Brennan, N. & McLeay, S., 1 Jan 2005.
  Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper

2004

• PublishedDraft accounting law: an analysis of institutionalised interest representation.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M., McLeay, S. J., Merkl-Davies, D., Leuz, C. (ed.), Pfaff, D. (ed.) & Hopwood, A. (ed.), 1 Jan 2004, The Economics and Politics of Accounting: International Perspectives on Research Trends: Policy and Practice. 2004 ed. Oxford University Press, p. 317-346
  Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
• PublishedRegulation and enforcement of financial reporting in Austria.
  Merkl-Davies, D. M. & Merkl-Davies, D., 1 Jun 2004, In: Journal of Management and Governance. 8, 2, p. 199-225
  Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2019

• Does voluntary tax reporting result in increased tax transparency?

  research seminar

  6 Dec 2019

  Links:

  • https://www.whu.edu/en/faculty-research/finance-and-accounting-group/finance-accounting-research-seminar/
  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• Corporate Tax Reporting: Substantive or symbolic management? The Case of Vodafone

  Research seminar at Quinn Business School

  10 Sep 2019

  Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
• University College Dublin

  Research visit

  9 Sep 2019 – 13 Sep 2019

  Activity: Visiting an external academic institution (Visiting researcher)
• Beyond the Question: An Interactionist Study of Q & A Sequences in Oral Financial Results Presentations

  PhD examination

  22 Mar 2019

  Activity: Examination (Examiner)

2017

• Information for Better Markets Conference: Corporate reporting: is it heading in the right direction?

  What information should companies disclose? How should they measure their profits and their capital? How should their reporting be regulated? As the laws, regulations and standards governing financial reporting become ever more complex, the ICAEW Financial Reporting Faculty aims to helps members keep up to date and to understand the implications of new requirements. The faculty also seeks to inform and influence regulators and standard-setters on financial reporting questions. The faculty’s work on these public policy issues is informed by its Information for Better Markets thought leadership programme.

  18 Dec 2017 – 19 Dec 2017

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
• 9th Colloquium on Qualitative Research Methods in Business and Accounting

  This colloquium is a two day intensive research development forum normally delivered each year by Professor Parker and selected visiting research professors invited from across Australia and overseas. It is multidisciplinary and attracts scholars and doctoral students from across and beyond the various business disciplines in all states of Australia and New Zealand. It covers a wide variety of qualitative research methodologies and includes both formal presentations from professorial leaders as well as interactive forums and exercises engaging all participants. The research methodologies covered continually change across each year’s Colloquium and include the most leading edge developments in the tradition.

  26 Jun 2017 – 27 Jun 2017

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
• Research seminar at Essex Business School

  3 May 2017

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
• Research seminar at Loughborough School of Business & Economics

  17 Mar 2017

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)

2016

• 8th Asia-Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting Conference

  13 Jul 2016 – 15 Jul 2016

  Activity: Participation in conference (Participant)
• Research seminar at Newcastle Business School

  Research seminar at Newcastle Business School

  3 Mar 2016

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)

2015

• Research seminar at Toulouse Business School

  Research seminar

  1 Apr 2015

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)

2014

• Accounting and Business Research (Journal)

  Associate Editor

  2014 →

  Activity: Editorial activity (Editor)
• British Accounting Review (Journal)

  Associate Editor

  2014 →

  Activity: Editorial activity (Editor)

2013

• Pre-conference PhD workshop and keynote address at conference

  Pre-conference PhD workshop and keynote address at conference

  24 Oct 2013 – 25 Oct 2013

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
• Accounting and Business Research (Journal)

  1 Sep 2013 – 1 Sep 2014

  Activity: Editorial activity (Editorial board member)
• Research seminar at Bristol Business School

  Research seminar at Bristol Business School

  4 Feb 2013

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
• Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (Journal)

  2013 →

  Activity: Editorial activity (Editorial board member)

2012

• Research seminar at Southampton Management School

  Research seminar at Southampton Management School

  14 Nov 2012

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
• Research seminar at Adam Smith School of Business

  Research seminar

  19 Sep 2012

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Invited talk (Speaker)
• Visiting researcher at Sydney Business School

  visiting researcher at Sydney Business School

  25 Feb 2012 – 25 Mar 2012

  Activity: Types of External academic engagement - Hosting an academic visitor (Member)