Daniel Aobdia

Professor Daniel Aobdia holds the Ernst & Young Professorship of Accounting at the Smeal College of Business, Penn State. His prior roles include Assistant/Associate Professor at Northwestern Kellogg School and Senior Research Fellow at PCAOB’s Center for Economic Analysis. He advises scholarly journals including Journal of Accounting and Economics, The Accounting Review, and Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. & MBA, UCLA Anderson School of Management (2012, 2006)
  • M.S., Management Science & Engineering, Stanford University (2002)
  • B.S., École Polytechnique (France, 1999)
• Professional Background:
  • Morgan Stanley Investment Banking (Los Angeles)
  • Strategy Consultant, Mars & Company (Tokyo)

His research explores auditing as a lens to examine economic phenomena: regulatory impacts, labor inputs (e.g., high-skilled immigration), information spillovers, and disclosure effects on markets. Recent work addresses audit quality drivers, auditor workload effects, and ESG integration in audits. He frequently examines institutional investor behavior, audit firm governance, and cross-border talent dynamics.

Editorial roles include Associate Editor at Journal of Accounting and Economics and membership on five editorial boards. His work bridges academic rigor with practical implications for audit oversight, capital markets, and organizational strategy.