About

David Burgstahler is a Professor of Accounting and holds the title of Julius A. Roller Professor of Accounting Education at the University of Washington. He has been a faculty member at the university since 1981. His academic expertise focuses on managerial accounting, with a significant body of research dedicated to earnings management, valuation of the firm, management of earnings, and the evaluation of evidence from audit sampling. Burgstahler has contributed extensively to the field through numerous publications in reputable journals, exploring topics such as proprietary costs of disclosure, earnings surprises, reporting incentives, and the implications of special items for future earnings. Throughout his career, Burgstahler has received multiple awards and honors, including the AAA-AICPA Notable Contribution to the Accounting Literature Award and the Andrew V. Smith Faculty Development Award. He has also served in various academic service roles, such as Vice-President for Publications of the American Accounting Association and acting Dean of the University of Washington Business School. His work and leadership have significantly impacted the accounting academic community, and he continues to engage in research related to valuation, earnings management, and the determinants of stock prices.

Research topics

• Economics
• Econometrics
• Business
• Accounting
• Financial economics

Selected publications

• Managers' Financial Reporting Incentives

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Promoting Research Relevance

  Accounting Horizons · 2019-06-01 · 11 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Citation David C. Burgstahler; Promoting Research Relevance. Accounting Horizons 1 June 2019; 33 (2): 1–2. https://doi.org/10.2308/acch-10657 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAccounting Horizons Search Advanced Search

  PublisherDOI

• Discussion of “Modeling the determinants of meet-or-just-beat behavior in distribution discontinuity tests”

  Journal of Accounting and Economics · 2019-10-02

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Size management by European private firms to minimize proprietary costs of disclosure

  Journal of Accounting and Economics · 2018-03-10 · 147 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• PENGANTAR AKUNTASI MANAJEMEN JILID 2

  2018-01-01

  article
  Publisher

• Management of Financial Performance Measures: Evidence from Private Colleges and Universities

  Journal of Governmental & Nonprofit Accounting · 2017-07-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  ABSTRACT This study examines the incentives for private colleges and universities (PCUs) related to financial reporting choices for net appreciation on endowments. Under current accounting standards, in the absence of explicit donor restrictions, PCUs are permitted to classify net appreciation as either unrestricted, which increases measures of operating performance, or as restricted, which constrains future actions but may also improve perceptions of various stakeholders. We analyze incentives related to four stakeholder groups (lending institutions, faculty/staff, students/parents, and donors) and find that incentives are significant determinants of the net appreciation reporting choice for PCUs. JEL Classifications: M4; I21; I22.

  PublisherDOI

• What Have We Learned About Earnings Management? Integrating Discontinuity Evidence

  Contemporary Accounting Research · 2017-03-27 · 61 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract The accounting literature includes numerous examples of discontinuities at prominent benchmarks that are widely interpreted as evidence that earnings are managed to meet those benchmarks. However, there are a few examples where discontinuities do not exist, which are sometimes interpreted as inconsistent with earnings management. Alternative explanations for discontinuities have also been suggested. This paper reviews, evaluates, and integrates the available evidence and concludes that the theory that earnings are managed to meet benchmarks provides the simplest and most complete explanation for the body of discontinuity‐related evidence.

  PublisherDOI

• Disclosure Incentives and Data Availability for Private Firms: Implications for Comparisons of Public and Private Firm Financial Reporting Quality

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2016-01-01 · 12 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Introduction to Management Accounting, 16 ed

  2014-01-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

• Introduction to Management Accounting Edisi 16 (Global Edition)

  2014-01-01

  article
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Christian Leuz

  7 shared

• Elizabeth Chuk

  7 shared

• Michael Eames

  Santa Clara University

  5 shared

• James Jiambalvo

  5 shared

• Gary L. Sundem

  4 shared

• Jeff Schatzberg

  4 shared

• Eric W. Noreen

  4 shared

• Ilia D. Dichev

  3 shared

Education

• PhD, Accounting

  The University of Iowa

  1981

• BAc, Accounting

  University of Minnesota Duluth

  1976

Awards & honors

• Andrew V. Smith Faculty Development Award (2008)
• AAA-AICPA Notable Contribution to the Accounting Literature…
• MBA Core Professor of the Quarter (Autumn 2001)
• Beta Alpha Psi Professor of the Year (1996, 1998, 1999, and…
• Dean's Research Award (1998)