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Thesis@ICG

The Institute for Corporate Governance supervises Bachelor- and Master Theses according to the current research focus of the named contact persons (please find a list of already supervised theses here).

If you are interested, please contact the respective supervisor. After the initial contact every student has to submit a proposal for the pursued research work. 

Requirements for writing a Bachelor thesis at the Institute

Current Topics

Currently, the following, specific topics are available:

Stefan Edlinger-Bach, PhD
(English)
  • The role of organizational transparency for strategy implementation
  • Predictive financial forecasting systems (ML/AI) and accounting innovation
  • The design of accountability systems and relative performance measurement
  • Information overload and deceptive ESG disclosure
Dr. Christian Haas
(English)		Fairness, accountability, transparency, and explainability of data-driven decisions:
  • Definitions and achievable trade-offs
  • Evaluation of novel AI/ML based predictions and comparison with existing / human-based decisions
  • Acceptance of AI/ML-based decisions in specific contexts
  • Exploration of existing biases in business analytics scenarios
Novel AI/ML applications and forecasting methods in Accounting and Corporate Governance
Jelena Radovanovic, MSc
(German/English)
  • Machine learning models for bankruptcy prediction
  • Die Rolle des Prüfungsausschusses bei der ESG-Überwachung (German/English)
  • Corporate Stakeholder-Orientierung in deutschen (oder österreichischen) börsennotierten Unternehmen (German/English)
  • Aktuelle Entwicklungen in der Corporate Governance (German/English)
Nicolaus Wallner, M.A. HSG
(German/English)		Tone in financial disclosures related to M&A activities
  • What influences the tone in financial disclosure in special corporate events such as M&A?
  • What information on M&A activity is captured in financial disclosure?
  • How does the tone of other market participants influence managers’ tone in financial disclosure?
  • How does the tone of managers on M&A activity influence other market participants e.g. analysts?
  • Do analysts change their “story” on a company following special corporate events such as M&A?
  • Do CEOs change their story, e.g. in CEO letters, following the announcement of mergers?
Determinants of M&A outcomes and performance
  • How does sentiment/tone in financial disclosure data relate to engagement in M&A activities of organizations?
  • What factors drive the completion of M&A attempts?
  • What drives ultimate performance in completed M&A transactions?
  • How do corporate governance measures influence the performance of corporate transactions?

Research Focus

If you are interested in a Bachelor's or Master's thesis topic from one of our disciplines, please contact your chosen supervisor directly:

Prof. Dr. Anne d'Arcy
  • Corporate Governance
  • Accounting
  • Risk Management
  • Capital Markets and
  • Internal Control
Stefan Edlinger-Bach, PhD
  • Informational Governance
  • Accountability System Design
  • Organizational Controls
  • Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Dr. Christian Haas
  • Novel applications of predictive/prescriptive analytics, (big) data analytics, and Machine Learning
  • Fairness/bias/explainability/accountability in data-driven/algorithmic decision making
  • Strategic manipulation in decision scenarios
Jelena Radovanovic, MSc
  • Big data analytics
  • Machine Learning in corporate governance
  • AI based predictions in accounting
Nicolaus Wallner, M.A. HSG
  • Financial Disclosure
  • Analyst reports
  • Merger & Acquisitions / Corporate transactions
  • Capital markets

Of course, students are welcome to present own approaches for their Thesis.

As the supervision depends on available resources, we suggest to get in contact as early as possible with the probable supervisor.