W Brooke Elliott

W Brooke Elliott is the Dean and Professor at the Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where they also hold the prestigious Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professorship in the Department of Accountancy. Their work bridges accounting, finance, and behavioral economics, focusing on how investors interpret financial information.

Research interests include investor judgment, financial reporting quality, disclosure practices, managerial tone, and market efficiency. Their studies explore cognitive biases like motivated reasoning and how delivery modes (e.g., reading vs. listening) affect investor reactions. They examine whether enhanced audit reports increase investor trust and valuation.

Their recent publications in top journals such as Review of Accounting Studies, Contemporary Accounting Research, and Journal of Accounting Research reflect a strong trend toward understanding the psychological and informational drivers of market participant behavior.

• Josef and Margot Lakonishok Professor (Endowed Chair)

W Brooke Elliott has advised numerous students and led major research initiatives on investor cognition and disclosure effectiveness. They have secured research funding reflected in sustained output, though specific grants are not detailed here. Collaborators include Jennifer L. Hobson, Benjamin W. Van Landuyt, and Stacy A. Grant.

They lead research efforts within the Accountancy department, contributing to both academic scholarship and policy-relevant insights in financial reporting and auditing standards.