Christian Leuz

Christian Leuz is the Charles F. Pohl Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting and Finance at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. He holds affiliations with institutions such as the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), and the Leibniz Institute SAFE. His research focuses on corporate disclosure, transparency regulation, ESG reporting, and the economic effects of regulation in financial markets. Leuz earned his doctoral degree and Habilitation from Goethe University Frankfurt and received an honorary doctorate from Maastricht University in 2024.

Key research areas include corporate governance, financial markets, securities regulation, and international accounting standards. His work bridges accounting, finance, and policy, addressing topics like fracking’s environmental impacts, mandatory carbon disclosures, and audit quality. Leuz has been recognized with prestigious awards, including the ACA Prize and Humboldt Research Award, and is a senior editor for the Journal of Accounting Research.

• Education:
  • PhD and Habilitation in Accounting, Goethe University Frankfurt
  • Dr. h.c. (Honorary Doctorate), Maastricht University (2024)
• Affiliations:
  • National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
  • Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
  • Leibniz Institute SAFE
  • European Corporate Governance Institute

His recent work emphasizes transparency’s role in mitigating environmental externalities and informing climate policies. Notable contributions include studies on hydraulic fracturing’s water quality impacts and the design of mandatory carbon emissions reporting. Leuz also explores conflicts of interest in banking, audit partner rotations, and investor behavior in market manipulation schemes.

• Awards:
  • Chicago Booth Phoenix Award (2023)
  • ACA Prize in Financial Governance (2022)
  • Humboldt Research Award (2012)
  • Highly Cited Researcher (Thomson Reuters, 2014–2018)
• Grants & Teams: Leuz collaborates across disciplines, leading projects on sustainability governance, financial regulation, and environmental policy. His research often combines large datasets to analyze real-world impacts of regulatory policies.