INVITATION FOR PHD DEFENCE - Christina Kjær

In order to obtain the PhD degree, Christina Kjær has submitted her thesis entitled:    

Corporate scandals  in the age of “responsible business”

This thesis examines how corporate scandals work, the circumstances that make them possible, and how they are accounted for by wider society. During my research, I stumbled over a surprising discovery: companies with high socially responsible scores (rated by ESG rating agencies) are associated with higher incidences of scandals. This discovery lit my curiosity. Through a detailed case-study of the Danske Bank money laundering scandal, I demonstrate how scandals emerge and endure through the interaction of different social-control agents who form a framing coalition against the alleged company. The case study constitutes rare access to interviews with key protagonists, including both bank insiders and different types of social control agents.    

The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk

Primary Supervisor:  
Professor Steen Thomsen  
Center for Corporate Governance,
Department of Accounting  
Copenhagen Business School    

Secondary Supervisors:    
Professor Tom Kirchmaier
Center for Corporate Governance,  
Department of Accounting  
Copenhagen Business School    

Professor Peter Skærbæk
Department of Accounting
Copenhagen Business School    

Assessment Committee:    
Professor Trond Randøy (Chair)  
Department of Accounting  
Copenhagen Business School    

Professor Ann-Christine Frandsen  
Department of Accounting  
University of Birmingham    

Associate Professor Kristina Jonäll  
Department of Accounting  
University of Gothenburg

Date: 1 February 2024
Time: 14:00-16:00
Location: Solbjerg Plads
Room: SPs03 Novo Nordisk Aud.
Reception: FUHU

*The CBS PhD School will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence