Prof. Dr. Benedikt Downar

Professor of Corporate Reporting and Auditing

Curriculum vitae

Benedikt Downar studied Management and Economics (B.Sc.) and Management (M.Sc.) at Ruhr University Bochum. After completing his master’s degree, he first worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Accounting and Auditing at Ruhr University Bochum and later as a research assistant at the Chair of Financial Accounting at the Technical University of Munich. He received his doctorate on issues related to disclosure regulation, the enforcement of financial reporting, and audit quality.

Following his doctoral studies, he pursued his habilitation at the Chair of Financial Accounting at the Technical University of Munich. His habilitation encompassed empirical research in the fields of financial reporting, sustainability reporting, and auditing. In the winter term 2022/2023, he held the interim professorship for Accounting and Auditing at the University of Goettingen. From 2023 to 2025, he was the holder of the EY-Endowed Professorship of Financial Governance at the same university. Since 2025, he is Professor of Corporate Reporting and Auditing at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.

Professor Downar’s research focuses on disclosure regulation (financial and sustainability reporting), the real effects of corporate reporting, and the determinants of audit quality.

More information is available on the chair’s website.