Biography
I am an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. My research focuses on the intersection of accounting and economics, with an emphasis on incentive contracting, disclosure, empirical methods, and the role of information in markets. I teach Strategic Business Analytics and advanced topics in empirical accounting research.
Working Papers
Biased Cybersecurity Disclosure
Are cybersecurity disclosures systematically biased, and can machine learning detect such bias? I use machine learning trained on observable fundamentals and cyber risk exposure to construct firm-specific counterfactual disclosure levels, and compare them to actual disclosures for S&P 500 firms. Firms that under-disclose experience a 41% higher likelihood of future cybersecurity breaches relative to the 7% baseline rate. These deviations are persistent, predictable, and have real effects. The findings contribute to the growing literature on algorithmic assessment of financial disclosure and have implications for regulatory oversight and corporate governance.
SSRN Download →This scientific podcast 'deep dive' episode features my latest work on cybersecurity and disclosure.
Teaching
- Strategic Business Analytics
- Incentive Contracting
- Empirical Methods in Accounting Research
I also contribute to the development of open-source analytical tools for accounting research. Explore tidy-accounting.org, a resource providing tidy, well-documented R workflows and datasets designed to support modern empirical accounting research and teaching.
Contact
Office: Vienna University of Economics and Business
Email: stefan.edlinger-bach@wu.ac.at
Address: WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Welthandelsplatz 1, Building D5, 1020 Vienna, Austria