Course objective and motivation
The overarching objective of this course is to provide students with insights into the economic foundations and aspects of financial statement auditing and assurance. Auditing and assurance services are economic goods that are demanded, produced, and supplied in the audit market at equilibrium prices. In this course, we will focus on a number of economic topics related to auditing and assurance. These include a discussion of the (economic) nature of auditing, the production and pricing of auditing services, audit market structure and auditor competition, economic incentives of audit partners, and the economics of audit regulation. We cover these topics through the reading and discussion of academic papers related to these topics.
Course program
Day 1: The nature of auditing; audit quality
Day 2: Audit production and pricing; audit market and competition
Day 3: Economic consequences of auditing; audit partners and teams
Day 4: ESG assurance; economics of audit regulation
Day 5: The review and publication process
Course instructors
Professor Simon Dekeyser is a Professor of Accounting and Auditing at KU Leuven, where he heads the Accounting Research Group across the Antwerp, Leuven, and Brussels campuses. He earned his PhD in Business Economics from KU Leuven and holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Applied Economics from the same institution. Simon has served as a visiting scholar at the University of Florida and contributes to academic and professional committees within the Faculty of Economics and Business. His research focuses on audit quality, auditor market structure, and regulatory impacts on financial reporting. He examines topics such as auditor industry specialization, workload allocation in audit firms, and the effects of EU audit reform on multinational companies. Simon has published in journals including The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, and Contemporary Accounting Research. His work addresses issues like auditor incentives, market power, and audit efficiency, and he regularly collaborates on projects exploring behavioral and economic drivers of audit outcomes. Simon teaches courses in auditing and financial reporting and supervises doctoral research on audit markets and governance. He is actively involved in research projects funded by European and national bodies, bridging academic insights with policy and practice to improve audit quality and transparency.
Professor Marleen Willekens is a Professor of Accounting and Auditing at KU Leuven’s Faculty of Economics and Business. She earned her PhD in Industrial and Business Studies from Warwick Business School (UK) and holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ghent University. Marleen has served in various leadership roles at KU Leuven (such as Head of Department, Vice-Dean of Research, and Research Coordinator for the Humanities and Social Sciences Group). Her research focuses on auditing, corporate governance, and financial reporting, including topics such as audit market competition, auditor regulation and liability, audit firm governance, and the valuation of intangible assets. She applies economic theories to understand auditor and audit firm decision-making, complemented by empirical analyses using archival and hand-collected data. Marleen has published extensively in leading journals such as Journal of Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting and Economics, The Accounting Review, Accounting, Organizations and Society, and Contemporary Accounting Research. She was principal investigator for the EU Statutory Audit Reform study commissioned by the European Parliament and has secured multiple research excellence grants. Marleen serves as an academic director on the board of the Board of the Foundation for Auditing Research. She is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Accounting, and co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Auditing. She previously served as Associate Editor of the British Accounting Review and Editor of Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, and on editorial boards of major accounting journals. In addition to her academic roles, she is an Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Aedifica NV/SA and Retail Estates NV, both listed on Euronext Brussels.
Practical information
Venue:
KU Leuven, Faculty of Business and Economics, Naamsestraat 69, Leuven
Included:
- Course materials (digital)
- Coffee and tea
- Certificate (6 ECTS)
Certification
Upon successful completion of the course you will receive a certificate worth 6 ECTS (European Credits).