SarahÌýZechman

  • Myrtle and Tony Tisone Endowed Chair
  • Professor
  • Senior Associate Dean of Faculty
  • ACCOUNTING
Sarah Zechman
Address

Koelbel - 402P

Biography

Ìý

Education

PhD, Managerial Science and Applied Economics, University of Pennsylvania - Wharton School of Business, 2008

BSBA, Washington University in St. Louis - Olin School of Business, 1998
(Summa Cum Laude, graduated first in class)

Sarah Zechman is Senior Associate Dean of Faculty, Myrtle and Tony Tisone Chair, and Professor of Accounting at the Leeds School of Business. She was formerly Chair of the Accounting Division and Faculty Director of the Leeds Doctoral Program. Prior to arriving at CU, she served on the faculty at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and worked at KPMG as a CPA.Ìý

Professor Zechman studies strategic corporate communication and financial disclosure, focusing on how firms disseminate information to capital markets and how external parties such as regulators, media, and investors shape the information environment. Her work has been published in leading journals includingÌýThe Accounting Review,ÌýJournal of Accounting Research,ÌýJournal of Accounting and Economics, andÌýReview of Accounting Studies, and has received numerous awards, including multiple Best Paper and Kahle Family Awards for Outstanding Leeds School Publication. Her research has been cited by the SEC and PCAOB and covered by major media outlets such asÌýThe Wall Street Journal,ÌýThe New York Times, andÌýthe Financial Times.

Professor Zechman has served as Editor of The Accounting Review and on the editorial boards of The Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies, and Journal of Accounting Research. She regularly presents her work at leading universities and conferences and mentors doctoral students and junior faculty.Ìý

Research

Research Areas of Interest

  • Strategic communications by firms (voluntary disclosure and financial reporting)
  • Role of external parties in information dissemination
  • Manager incentives

Selected Publications

  • Pawliczek, N. Skinner, and Zechman (2024). Signing blank checks: The roles of reputation and disclosure in the face of limited information, The Accounting Review, Vol. 99 (2).
  • Marshall, Rogers, and Zechman (2023). Why can’t I trade? Exchange discretion in calling halts (2023) Contemporary Accounting Research, Vol. 40 (1).
  • Pawliczek, N. Skinner, and Zechman (2022). Facilitating tacit collusion through voluntary disclosure: Evidence from common ownership, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 60 (5).Ìý
    - awarded the Kahle Family Award for Outstanding Leeds School Publication (2023)
  • Ertimur, Rawson, Rogers, and Zechman (2018). Bridging the Gap: Evidence from externally hired CEOs, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 56 (2).
  • Rogers, D. Skinner, and Zechman (2017). Run EDGAR run: SEC dissemination in a high-frequency world, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 55 (2).
    - awarded the Best Paper Award, AAA FARS (2020)
    - awarded the Kahle Family Award for Outstanding Leeds School Publication (2017)
  • Rogers, D. Skinner, and Zechman (2016). The role of the media in disseminating insider trading news, Review of Accounting Studies, Vol. 21 (3).
    - awarded the Best Paper Award at the Review of Accounting Studies conference (2015)
  • Schrand and Zechman (2012). Executive overconfidence and the slippery slope to financial misreporting, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 53 (1-2).
    - awarded the Best Paper Award, AAA FARS (2015)
    - awarded the Emerald Citations of Excellence award (2015)
    - awarded the Ernest R. Wish Accounting Research Award (2013)
  • Rogers, Van Buskirk, and Zechman (2011). Disclosure tone and shareholder litigation, The Accounting Review, Vol. 86 (6).
  • Zechman (2010). The relation between voluntary disclosure and financial reporting: Evidence from synthetic leases, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 48 (3).
    - awarded the Best Dissertation Award, AAA FARS (2009)

Working Papers

  • Moss, Wegner, and Zechman. AI meets DIY: The impact of human intervention on AI-assisted investing.
  • Marshall, Wegner, and Zechman. Beyond dissemination: Social media as a disclosure channel for original firm information.
  • Griffin, N. Skinner, and Zechman. Regulation and investor processing costs: Evidence from the hyperlink mandate.
  • Marshall, Wegner, and Zechman. From Mic to Market: The Role of CEO Podcasts in Financial Markets

Teaching

Zechman teaches undergraduate courses in financial reporting including one for honors students. She also teaches capital markets accounting seminar in the accounting PhD program.Ìý

Service

  • Editor & Editorial Advisory and Review Board, Accounting Review, Editor: 2020-2023 | Board Position: 2014 - 2020, 2023–present
  • Editorial Board, Review of Accounting Studies, 2020–present
  • Editorial Board, Journal of Accounting Research, 2012–2021
  • Ad hoc reviewer: The Accounting Review; Journal of Accounting and Economics; Journal of Accounting Research; The Journal of Finance; Review of Financial Studies; Review of Accounting Studies; Accounting, Organizations, and Society; Contemporary Accounting Research; Management Science; European Accounting Review; Accounting Horizons
  • AAA FARS Junior Faculty Mentoring Program, 2025–present
  • Senior Associate Dean of Faculty, 2024–present
  • Vice Chancellor's Advisory Committee, 2024
  • Leeds Dean's Search Advisory Committee, 2022–2023
  • Chair, Accounting Division, 2019–2022
  • Leeds Executive Committee, 2016, 2022–2023
  • Director, Leeds Doctoral Program, 2017–2019

Media, Insights & News

  • Securities and Exchange Commission, (Release No. 33-11265, 2/26/2024)
  • Securities and Exchange Commission, (Release No. 33-10901, 12/11/2020)
  • Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, (PCAOB-2018-005, 12/20/2018)
  • The Wall Street Journal, (Dave Michaels, 9/20/2017)
  • The Wall Street Journal, (Scott Patterson, 12/26/2014)
  • Financial Times, (Gina Chon, 10/29/2014)
  • The New York Times, (William Alden, 10/29/2014)