Oktay Urcan

Professor of Accountancy and Academic Director of iDegrees and Josef and Margot Lakonishok Faculty Fellow and Fred & Virginia Roedgers Faculty Fellow in Accountancy

Biography

Oktay Urcan is professor of accountancy and Fred & Virginia Roedgers Faculty Fellow in Accountancy. He joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014 after being an assistant professor for seven years at London Business School and, before that, a teaching assistant for five years at the University of Texas at Dallas. His research interests include archival financial accounting: debt market relevance of accounting information, accounting disclosures, and macro accounting. He has made the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent at the University of Illinois several times, and received the Raymond A. Hoffman Faculty Excellence Award in Accountancy in 2016. Urcan received his BA in management from Bogazici University in 2002 and his PhD in accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2007.

Contact

4066 Business Instructional Facility

515 Gregory Dr

Champaign, IL 61820

Listings

Educational Background

Ph.D., Accounting, University of Texas at Dallas, 2007
B.A., Management, Bogazici University, 2002

Positions Held

Professor of Accountancy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022 to present
Academic Director of iDegrees, Online Programs, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020 to present
Associate Professor of Accountancy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2014-2022
Assistant Professor, London Business School, 2007-2014
Teaching Assistant, University of Texas at Dallas, 2002-2007

Recent Publications

Urcan, O., & Yoon, H. Forthcoming. Properties of accounting performance measures used in compensation contracts. Review of Accounting Studies. link >
Thompson, A., Urcan, O., & Yoon, H. (2023). Do companies redact material information from confidential SEC filings? Evidence from the FAST Act. The Accounting Review, 98 (4), 405–433.
Chen, C., Correia, M., & Urcan, O. (2023). Accounting for Leases and Corporate Investment. The Accounting Review, 98 (3), 109-133.
Franco, F., & Urcan, O. (2022). Executive deferral plans and insider trading. Contemporary Accounting Research, 39 (2), 1054-1084.

Other Publications

Articles

Shevlin, T., Urcan, O., & Vasvari, F. (2020). Corporate tax avoidance and debt costs. The Journal of the American Taxation Association, 42 (2), 117–143.
Shevlin, T., Shivakumar, L., & Urcan, O. (2019). Macroeconomic effects of corporate tax policy. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 68 (1), 1-23.
Li, W., Ng, J., Tsang, A., & Urcan, O. (2019). Country-level institutions and management earnings forecasts. Journal of International Business Studies, 50 (1), 48-82.
Shivakumar, L., & Urcan, O. (2017). Why does aggregate earnings growth reflect information about future inflation? The Accounting Review, 92 247-276.
Franco, F., Ittner, C., & Urcan, O. (2017). Determinants and trading performance of equity deferrals by corporate outside directors. Management Science, 63 (1), 114-138.
Franco, F., Urcan, O., & Vasvari, F. (2016). Corporate diversification and the cost of debt: The role of segment disclosures. The Accounting Review, 91 1139-1165.
Louis, H., & Urcan, O. (2015). Agency conflicts, corporate payout policies, and direct benefits of conservative financial reporting to equity-holders. Contemporary Accounting Research, 32 455-484.
Franzen, L., Li, X., Urcan, O., & Vargus, M. (2014). The market response to insider sales of restricted stock versus unrestricted stock. Journal of Financial Research, 37 (1), 99-118.
Louis, H., Sun, A., & Urcan, O. (2013). Do analysts sacrifice forecast accuracy for informativeness? Management Science, 59 1688–1708.
Ali, A., & Urcan, O. (2012). Dividend increases and future earnings. Asia-Pacific Journal of Accounting and Economics, 19 12-25.
Demirkan, S., Radhakrishnan, S., & Urcan, O. (2012). Discretionary accruals quality, cost of capital, and diversification. Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, 27 496–526.
Louis, H., Sun, A., & Urcan, O. (2012). Value of cash holdings and accounting conservatism. Contemporary Accounting Research, 29 1249–1271.
Shivakumar, L., Urcan, O., Vasvari, F., & Zhang, L. (2011). The debt market relevance of management earnings forecasts: Evidence from before and during the credit crisis. Review of Accounting Studies, 16 464-486.

Working Papers

Chi, S., Persson, A., Shevlin, T., & Urcan, O. The Deterrence Effect of Cross-Border Monitoring: Evidence from EDGAR Search Activity by Foreign Tax Authorities.

Honors and Awards

Josef and Margot Lakonishok Faculty Fellowship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022 to present
Fred and Virginia Roedger Fellowship in Accountancy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Accountancy, 2016 to present
List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

Teaching Interests

Financial Accounting and Accounting for Mergers, Acquisitions, and Other Complex Transactions

Research Interests

Archival Financial Accounting: Macro Accounting and Real Effects of Accounting Information

Current Courses

Atg Measuremnt, Rpting & Cntrl (ACCY 500) A managerial perspective of the nature and role of accounting in organizational measurement, reporting and control processes.
Advanced Topics in Accounting (ACCY 506) Covers current authoritative accounting standards and applications to accounting practice. Topics include accounting for business combinations, the preparation of consolidated financial statements, and other advanced financial reporting topics.
Accounting for M&As (ACCY 532) Focuses on the financial accounting behind the deal structures and transactions that shape the design of complex organizations. To this end, this course will examine the accounting, economic, and regulatory aspects of a variety of different transaction types, including but not limited to M&A transactions.
Doctoral Research Seminar (ACCY 594) Seminars in various accounting areas designed to enhance the research abilities of doctoral students and to assist them in preparing research proposals; these include Behavioral Dimensions, Public Sector, Tax, Auditing, Managerial, and others announced in the Class Schedule.