Phil Berger‘s research interests are mainly in the areas of financial reporting and corporate finance. Some of the major themes addressed in his work include: (1) the valuation consequences of diversification strategies; (2) the use of financial statement data to value real options; (3) the impact of managerial entrenchment on corporate finance and financial reporting decisions; (4) the effects of disclosure on capital markets; (5) the motives for choosing opaque versus transparent financial reporting practices and (6) factors influencing R&D investment and financing decisions including the use of off-balance-sheet financing.
Berger’s research has been published widely in accounting and finance journals, including The Accounting Review, the Journal of Accounting & Economics, the Journal of Accounting Research, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Finance, and the Review of Financial Studies. He has received several research prizes and counts among his publications one of the most widely cited papers by an accounting professor. He has been a co-editor of the Journal of Accounting Research since 2004.
He previously served on the faculty of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1991-2002) and also served as a visiting associate professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management (1998-99).
His teaching interests are mainly in financial accounting, financial statement analysis, and empirical accounting research. His teaching experience covers undergraduate, MBA, executive, and Ph.D. courses. While at Wharton, he won every MBA teaching award that the Wharton School offers. At Chicago Booth, he has been awarded the 2011 Phoenix Prize.
Berger holds Ph.D. and MBA degrees from the University of Chicago as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.