Faculty & Curriculum : Faculty Profile

Research Interests Capital market research in sccounting Voluntary disclosure Real investment effects of financial accounting choice

Dr. Daniel Bens

Daniel Bens is an associate professor of accounting at The University of Arizona.

Prior to joining Arizona, he was on faculty at the University of Chicago from 1999-2005. Bens earned his Ph.D. from Wharton, his MBA from Indiana University, and his bachelor’s degree from Penn State. He worked as a CPA from 1990-1993 for Westinghouse and Price Waterhouse.

Bens teaches introductory financial accounting to Eller MBAs. His research focuses on the determinants and effects of corporate disclosure, and how accounting rules affect managers’ investment decisions. A current project examines how U.S. regulators’ response to the Enron scandal affected the competitive balance in the international banking market. Another study examines how firms use their share repurchases to manage earnings per share. Dan’s work has been cited in Fortune, Business Week, and various newspapers including the Arizona Daily Star and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Daniel Bens on his introductory financial accounting course:

All corporations have a story. The story includes a plot (strategy), a conflict (competition), and character development (operations that execute the strategy). A firm also tells its story in financial terms through accounting reports. In my financial accounting class, students develop the skills to understand the financial story of a firm. I will not try to make you an accountant, but rather a knowledgeable consumer of financial information. You can use this knowledge in many ways: as an investor, competitor, or employee of the firm. Learning takes place in a fun (yes fun!) atmosphere, yet I challenge you to develop your critical thinking and communication skills at the same time.
  

  View full faculty web page.