The 2025 Experimental Research in Management Accounting Conference is jointly hosted by Laura W. Wang (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Thorsten Knauer (Ruhr University Bochum), Friedrich Sommer (University of Bayreuth), and Arnt Wöhrmann (Giessen University).
Laura W. Wang is an Associate Professor of Accounting and the Fred and Virginia Rodgers Faculty Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research employs experimental methods to investigate how management controls influence employee task strategies and performance. Laura’s work has been published in top accounting and management journals, including The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Accounting, Organizations, and Society, Management Science, and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. Her recent studies address emerging issues such as gender biases in performance evaluations within remote work settings and the impact of innovative management practices—like peer recognition systems and failure disclosure programs—on employee collaboration and exploration performance. Laura has received awards including the Best Early-Career Researcher in Management Accounting and the Impact on Management Accounting Practice Award. She serves as an Editor for the Journal of Management Accounting Research and is a member of the editorial boards for Accounting, Organizations, and Society and Behavioral Research in Accounting.
Thorsten Knauer holds the Chair of Management Accounting at the Ruhr University Bochum (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) since 2016. He completed his Ph.D. and post-doctoral studies ("Habilitation") at the University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster). In 2012/2013 he was a visiting scholar at Richard Ivey School of Business, London (Canada). From 2013 to 2016, he held the Chair of Management Accounting and Control at the University of Bayreuth.
Friedrich Sommer holds the Chair of Management Accounting and Control at the University of Bayreuth since 2017, after being the Acting Professor at that Chair since 2016. He holds doctoral and post-doctoral degrees (“Habilitation”) from the University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster). During his post-doc time, he was a visiting scholar at Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business in Atlanta, GA (USA). Before joining university, Prof. Sommer gained professional experience as a baker (“Bäckermeister”).
Arnt Wöhrmann holds the Chair of Managerial Accounting at Giessen University (Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen) since 2016. Prior to that, he completed his doctoral and post-doctoral (“Habilitation“) studies at the University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster). In addition, he gained experience in experimental research in management accounting as a visiting scholar at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business (Georgia State University, Atlanta, USA). In 2016, he took over as Interim Professor of Controlling and Integrated Accounting at Giessen University.