Rebecca Files
Professor and William E. Crenshaw Chair Department Chair

Professional Summary
Dr. Rebecca Files is a Professor in the Department of Accounting and Business Law at Baylor University. She earned her PhD in Accounting with a specialty in Finance from Texas A&M University. Files was a faculty member at The University of Texas at Dallas before joining Baylor in 2024. She teaches financial accounting to undergraduate and graduate students and has received several teaching awards, including the UT System Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award and the President’s Teaching Award.
Files also conducts research related to financial misconduct within firms. Financial misconduct can take many forms, but generally refers to unfair or deceptive business practices that harm shareholders and other uses of accounting information. She analyzes the various decisions made by corporate leaders after the discovery of misconduct and the impact of those choices on investors, litigants, and regulators. Her work has been published in the Journal of Accounting and Economics, The Accounting Review, and Contemporary Accounting Research, among other journals.
Education
- 2009 – PhD, Accounting, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
- 2004 – Master of Science, Finance, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
- 2004 – Bachelor of Business Administration, Accounting, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
Courses
- ACC 3301 – Financial Accounting and Reporting I
Research Interests
- Corporate Fraud and Restatements
- SEC and DOJ Enforcement Actions
- Cooperation
- Reputation Repair
Selected Publications
- Files, R. and M. Liu. 2022. Unraveling Financial Fraud: The Role of the Board of Directors and External Advisors in Conducting Independent Internal Investigations. Contemporary Accounting Research 39(3): 1905-1948.
- Files, R., G. S. Martin, and S. Rasmussen. 2019. Regulator-Cited Cooperation Credit and Firm Value: Evidence from Enforcement Actions. The Accounting Review 94(4): 275-302.
- Files, R. and U. Gurun. 2018. Lender’s Response to Peer and Customer Restatements. Contemporary Accounting Research 35(1):464-493.
- Files, R., N.Y. Sharp, and A. Thompson. 2014. Empirical Evidence on Repeat Restatements. Accounting Horizons 28(1): 93-123.
- Efendi, J., R. Files, B. Ouyang, and E.P. Swanson. 2013. Executive Turnover Following Option Backdating Allegations. The Accounting Review 88(1): 75-105.
- Files, R. 2012. SEC Enforcement: Does Forthright Disclosure and Cooperation Really Matter? Journal of Accounting and Economics 53:353-374. Winner of the Glen McLaughlin Prize for Research in Accounting Ethics
- Files, R., E.P. Swanson, and S. Tse. 2009. Stealth Disclosure of Accounting Restatements. The Accounting Review 84(5): 1495-1520.