Staff profile

Dr John Millar is an Assistant Professor in the Accounting Department at Durham University Business School., which he joined in September 2020.

Prior to taking up his post at Durham John completed his PhD at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Professor Chris Carter and Professor David Cooper; his thesis explored the field of fund management in the city of Edinburgh. This research built on insights gained during John’s 24-year career as a fund manager, where he managed Japanese and Asian equity portfolios. He has a BA(Hons) in Classics and Modern Languages from the University of Oxford, an MSc in Investment Analysis from the University of Stirling and an MBA from the University of Edinburgh and is an Associate of the Society of Investment Professionals (ASIP).

John’s research focuses on the fund management industry, looking at practices within the industry and at its role as a social institution. In doing so he draws heavily on social theory and particularly the work of Pierre Bourdieu. He is currently working on research into recruitment practices, firms’ use of history in their self-presentation and the responses of practitioners to the changing ESG environment.

Mini Biography

Assistant Professor in the Accounting Department specialising in research into the fund management industry and teaching on both undergraduate and postgraduate Accounting programmes.

• ESG investing
• Fund management
• elites
• responses to change
• uses of history

Journal Article

• Millar, J., Mueller, F., & Carter, C. (2024). Mediating ESG: Mapping individual responses to a changing field. Critical Perspectives On Accounting, 100, Article 102766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2024.102766
• Millar, J., & Slack, R. (2024). Global investor responses to the International Sustainability Standards Board draft sustainability and climate-change standards: Sites of dissonance or consensus. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 15(3), 573-604. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-03-2023-0128
• Millar, J., Mueller, F., & Carter, C. (2023). Grassroots accountability: the practical and symbolic aspects of performance. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 37(2), 586-607. https://doi.org/10.1108/aaaj-06-2022-5865
• Millar, J. (2021). The gilded path: Capital, habitus and illusio in the fund management field. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 34(8), 1906-1931. https://doi.org/10.1108/aaaj-12-2019-4320