Robert Bushman’s research interests include the architecture of corporate transparency and the roles played by information in corporate governance, managerial compensation, organizational design, stock price formation, short selling, debt-contracting and bank risk-taking. His most recent research examines contracting constraints and the dynamic evolution of incentives, disclosure incentives of activist short sellers, the role of organizational capital in shaping banks’ lending decisions and performance, and the impact of political polarization on loan syndicate formation and contract design.

His research has been extensively published in leading accounting and finance journals and has been presented at hundreds of conferences and invited seminars around the world. He currently serves or has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies, Management Science, and Journal of Accounting and Public Policy.

Bushman is an award-winning teacher, having been recognized for MBA and PhD teaching at UNC Kenan-Flagler and the University of Chicago. He has taught PhD seminars on a wide range of topics for over 25 years and has the served on 40 PhD thesis committees. He served as the Chair of the Accounting Area at UNC Kenan-Flagler for 16 years.

Bushman received his PhD from the University of Minnesota under the mentorship of Chandra Kanodia and John Dickhaut. He has served on the faculty at UNC Kenan-Flagler for 25 years. Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler he served on the faculty at the Graduate School of Business (now the Booth School) of the University of Chicago for over a decade.