Ulrich Schäfer

Research statement

I joined the University of Graz in 2026 following positions at University of Vienna, University of Zurich and Georg August University Göttingen. My research addresses the intersection of managerial and financial accounting. Using theoretical economic modeling, I study how managers’ explicit and implicit incentives affect their discretionary disclosure choices. Empirical work documents that managers strategically use firm disclosures to pursue their own goals. These findings suggest that managers’ multilayered reporting objectives have important implications for the quality of mandatory and voluntary disclosures and affect measures of capital market efficiency (such as allocational efficiency, price informativeness, and the cost of capital). Accounting theory should provide a coherent basis to understand the relevant economic forces. It should complement empirical research and guide accounting regulators in creating a transparent and efficient disclosure environment. Ongoing developments towards ESG reporting and disclosure digitalization challenge our understanding and call for rigorous and innovative theoretical studies.

My publications address questions such as: How do managers’ labor market incentives affect capital market efficiency? Does investor sophistication reduce earnings management? How do information leaks affect firms’ voluntary disclosure decisions? How does the measurement of carbon emissions affect firms' investments into green technologies? What are the real effects of fair value accounting? How can deferred compensation effectively balance managers’ short- and long-term decisions?

My teaching at an undergraduate and graduate level is closely related to my research interests focusing on management accounting and control, optimal executive incentives, fundamental analysis, and corporate valuation.