Mendoza School of Business


Sandra Vera-Munoz

Ernst & Young Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor
Accountancy
 574-631-9041
  389B Mendoza College of Business
  • Biography
  • Background
  • Publications
  • Awards
  • Grants
  • Media

Sandra C. Vera-Muñoz is an Associate Professor, EY Faculty Fellow, Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership Faculty Fellow, and former Deloitte Foundation Department Chair of Accountancy. She currently teaches Corporate Sustainability Reporting. Her research focuses on climate risk disclosures and assurance, and judgment and decision making. She received a B.B.A. (Accounting) from the University of Puerto Rico, an MBA from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. (Accounting) from the University of Texas at Austin. Her dissertation on accounting knowledge and opportunity costs was honored with the AAA/ABO Outstanding Dissertation Award.


Professor Vera-Muñoz has published in The Accounting Review, Contemporary Accounting Research, Review of Accounting Studies, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Accounting Horizons, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Issues in Accounting Education, and the Journal of Business Ethics, among others. She serves on the Editorial Board of Accountability in a Sustainable World Quarterly and served on the editorial boards of the Journal of International Accounting Research, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, The Accounting Review, and Contemporary Accounting Research, among others. She has been invited to present at numerous national and international research conferences. Her 2014 article in The Accounting Review on carbon emissions and carbon disclosures has been cited over 1,300 times. Professor Vera-Muñoz chaired the 2023 AAA/AACSB/RRBM Award for Research Impacting Societal Challenges Committee and serves on the AAA/Research & Publications Committee. She has also served on the AAA/Grant Thornton Doctoral Dissertation Award Committee, the New Faculty Consortium Planning Committee, and as a faculty liaison with KPMG.


At Notre Dame, Professor Vera-Muñoz serves on the Academic Council and has served on the Care for our Common Home Theme Advisory Committee, the Department Chairs Advisory Group to the Provost, and the Ryan Ethics Chair Search Committee. She is a faculty mentor for underrepresented minority students through the Building Bridges Program.


Professor Vera-Muñoz is the recipient of the 2022 Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the 2022 Mendoza Mission Research Award. For her spirit of service and academic accomplishments, Professor Vera-Muñoz was named to the 2021 Notre Dame All-Faculty Team.

Education
BBA, University of Puerto Rico
MBA, Penn State University
C.P.A., State of Texas
Ph D, University of Texas at Austin

Areas of Expertise
Corporate environmental disclosures
Assurance on sustainability disclosures
Judgment and decision making

Editorial Boards
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Accounting Horizons


Ad Hoc Reviewer
Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research


Ad Hoc Reviewer
Advances in Accounting Education


Ad Hoc Reviewer
Decision Sciences Journal


Ad Hoc Reviewer
Issues in Accounting Education


Ad Hoc Reviewer
Journal of Management Accounting Research


Editorial Board Member
Accountability in a Sustainable World Quarterly
March 11, 2022

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Contemporary Accounting Research Conference
2007

Ad Hoc Reviewer
The Accounting Review
August 31, 1994

Associate Editor
Journal of International Accounting Research
June 1, 2017 - June, 2020

Editorial Board Member
Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory
2014 - 2017

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Management Accounting Reseach Conference
January 5, 2017 - January 7, 2017

Editorial Board Member
Behavioral Research in Accounting
January, 2013 - December, 2015

Editorial Board Member
Advances in Accounting
2006 - 2015

Editorial Board Member
Journal of International Accounting Research
January, 2014 - December, 2014

Editorial Board Member
Contemporary Accounting Research
2010 - 2013

Editorial Board Member
The Accounting Review
April, 2003 - December, 2005

Ad Hoc Reviewer
AAA/Taiwan Accounting Association Globalization Conference
1999 - 1999


"Climate-Risk Materiality and Firm Risk", (With Ella Mae Matsumura, Rachna Prakash), Review of Accounting Studies, 2022

"Communicating assurance using practitioner-customized procedures: An experiment and emerging research opportunities", (With Lisa Gaynor, William Kinney, Jr.), Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, 39, 2020


"Firm-value effects of carbon emissions and carbon disclosures", (With Ella Matsumura, Rachna Prakash), The Accounting Review, 29, 2014

"Carbon Footprint Stomps on Firm Value", (With Ella Mae Matsumura, Rashna Prakash), KPMG's Global Valuation Institute, 2013


"Exploring the extent and determinants of knowledge sharing in audit engagements", (With Chee Chow, Joanna Ho), Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting and Economics, 15, 2008

"Corporate governance reforms: Redefined expectations of audit committee responsibilities and effectiveness", (Reprint) Fundamentals of Corporate Governance, SAGE Publications, London, 2007

"Accountants' usage of causal business models in the presence of benchmark data: A note", (With Margaret Shackell-Dowell, Marc Buehner), Contemporary Accounting Research, 24, 2007

"Enhancing knowledge sharing in public accounting firms", (With Joanna Ho, Chee Chow), Accounting Horizons/American Accounting Association, 20, 2006


"Exploring the Openness of Information Sharing in Audits and its Main Impediments", (With Joanna Ho, Chee Chow), Accounting Research Monthly/Accounting Research & Development Foundation, August, 2002



"Commentary on The Role of Peer Relationships During CPA Firm Mergers", Behavioral Research in Accounting, 10, 1998


Award
"2024 Women Lead Honoree", University of Notre Dame, 2024

"EY Faculty Fellow", Department of Accountancy, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, 2022

"Kaneb Center Faculty Fellow", Kaneb Center, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 2022

"Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C. Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching", Office of the Provost - University of Notre Dame, 2022

"Mendoza Research Mission Award", Mendoza College of Business - Dean's Office, 2022

"2021 All-Faculty Team Inductee", Office of the Provost - University of Notre Dame, 2021

"Faculty Fellow ND Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership", Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, 2021

"Honorary Inductee", Beta Alpha Psi, Department of Accountancy, Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame, 2012

"Honored by Notre Dame Provost Dr. Tom Burish at Notre Dame vs. Navy Football Game", Notre Dame Provost, Dr. Tom Burish, 2011

"Invited scholar, 1st Annual Field Research in Accounting & Auditing: A North-American Focused Workshop", Queen's School of Business, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 2005


Fellows/Elected Memberships


Deconstructing users' confidence: Full audits, analytical procedures and inquiries, and selected substantive tests, AICPA's Assurance Research Advisory Group (ARAG), $2,950

The Adoption of Western Management Control Systems by Chinese State-Owned Enterprises: Investigating the Determinants of 'Fit', China's Research Grant Council, $331,000

Laurent Belsie, writer at The Christian Science Monitor, Belsie, Laurent, “A Tale of two companies: Can Boeing, Cruise rebuild customer confidence?,” The Christian Science Monitor, February 6, 2024. https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2024/0206/A-tale-of-two-companies-Can-Boeing-Cruise-rebuild-customer-confidence, February 6, 2024


UBS Financial Services Inc. , Cites Matsumura, Prakash, and Vera-Munoz (2014), Firm-value effects of carbon emissions and carbon disclosures. The Accounting Review (Vol. 89/2), December, 2012


American Accounting Association's Newsroom, Features Matsumura, Prakash, and Vera-Munoz (2014), Firm-value effects of carbon emissions and carbon disclosures. The Accounting Review (Vol. 89/2), in "Wall St. exacts stiff penalties for carbon emissions - and failure to disclose them." , April 13, 2014


Purcell, J. A. , Cites Matsumura, Prakash, and Vera-Munoz (2014), Firm-value effects of carbon emissions and carbon disclosures. The Accounting Review (Vol. 89/2). See: file:///N:/Private/Research/ENV_DISCLOSURES/Business%20press/climate-change-risk-disclosure-transcript_CPA%20Australia-2016.pdf, August 29, 2016


GreenBiz.com, Features Matsumura, Prakash, and Vera-Munoz (2014), Firm-value effects of carbon emissions and carbon disclosures. The Accounting Review (Vol. 89/2). See: Matsumura, Prakash, and Vera-Munoz (2014), Firm-value effects of carbon emissions and carbon disclosures. The Accounting Review (Vol. 89/2), April 26, 2011


Environmental Leader, Features Matsumura, Prakash, and Vera-Munoz (2014), Firm-value effects of carbon emissions and carbon disclosures. The Accounting Review (Vol. 89/2). See: Matsumura, Prakash, and Vera-Munoz (2014), Firm-value effects of carbon emissions and carbon disclosures. The Accounting Review (Vol. 89/2). See: https://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/04/high-carbon-emitters-are-valued-lower/, April 20, 2011


The Finance & Accounting Show Business Podcast (with Terrell Turner, CPA), The Finance & Accounting Show Business Podcast - Interview with Terrell Turner, CPA, "What is happening regarding ESG?", December 27, 2022


Brett Beasley, Mendoza Business Magazine 2022


Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, "A crystal-clear opportunity: Transparency improves business and sets your firm apart:

Details here: https://ethicalleadership.nd.edu/news/a-crystal-clear-opportunity-how-transparency-improves-business-and-can-set-your-firm-apart/, August, 2023


Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, "Navigating new SEC climate disclosure rules - Insights from Accountancy professor Sandra Vera-Munoz"

https://ethicalleadership.nd.edu/news/navigating-new-climate-disclosure-rules-from-the-sec-a-discussion-with-accountancy-professor-sandra-vera-munoz/, March, 2024


Securities and Exchange Commission, Accounting research by the Sandra Vera-Muñoz and her co-authors, Ella Mae Matsumura (University of Wisconsin – Madison) and Rachna Prakash (University of Mississippi) has been tapped by the Securities and Exchange Commission to craft a proposed new rule on climate risk disclosures.

Background
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s March 2022 proposed Climate Risk disclosure rule, https://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/2022/33-11042.pdf, cites research by Matsumura, Prakash, and Vera-Muñoz, who investigate whether equity markets reward or penalize firms that disclose climate risk in their 10-K filings. Their paper, “Climate Risk Materiality and Firm Risk,” published in the Review of Accounting Studies, finds that disclosing firms’ cost of equity is lower than nondisclosing firms’. This difference in cost of equity is even larger for firms in industries where the market expects climate risk to be material but the firms do not disclose the risk in their 10-K., March, 2022