2024 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Marcel Olbert, London Business School

Marcel Olbert
London Business School

“In my opinion, Prof. Olbert really did justice to discussing highly pertinent and real-world up-to-date issues in accounting, discussing accounting complexities and teaching the basics. He is HANDS DOWN the best accounts teacher I have had in my last 11 years of studying this (otherwise boring) field.”

“Fantastic at engaging students. A remarkable quality about him is his ability to remember and engage with every student who participates. He makes an effort to understand the question from their end and really draws everyone into a discussion. He’s easily one of the most engaging lecturers I’ve ever seen.”

“I was really chuffed when I was sat in a board meeting on Friday and was able to actually analyse the balance sheet and the business more accurately and coherently than I had before.” – Student evaluation comments

 

Marcel Olbert, 33, is Assistant Professor of Accounting at London Business School.

His broad range of experience includes investment banking within the M&A advisory group of JP Morgan London, strategy consulting with Roland Berger and international tax and private equity with PwC and Flick Gocke Schaumburg.

His research interests focus on the real effects of corporate taxation and disclosure regulation, examining how multinational businesses respond to incentives that stem from their regulatory and macroeconomic environment.

He currently serves as an Associate Editor at the European Accounting Review, and his work has been accepted for publication in The Accounting Review, the Journal of Accounting and Economics, the Journal of Accounting Research, and the Review of Financial Studies.

Olbert has been awarded numerous research grants. His work on tax reforms and investment in Africa as well as carbon leakage to developing countries has received research awards by the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development. For his current work on the effect of public Country-by-Country Reporting on multinational enterprises’ global resource allocation, he has received a grant from The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The same project as well as his work measuring the effects of the global tax reform have received grants from the International Tax Policy Forum (ITPF).

BACKGROUND

At current institution since what year? 2020
Education: BSc., MSc., PhD in Business Administration from the University of Mannheim, with positions as visiting PhD student at Stanford GSB and UNC Chapel Hill
List of MBA courses you currently teach: Financial Accounting in the core MBA curriculum, Taxes and Transparency for Sustainable Business (elective)

TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR

I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when… I was a visiting PhD student at Stanford GSB and realized that the combination of: a) conducting cutting-edge research on the topics you get truly excited about, b) being surrounded by super smart colleagues, and c) teaching the brightest minds from around the world – must be an absolute privilege and a dream job!

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? I mostly focus on how tax law as a policy tool or tax incentives in general influence business outcomes along many dimensions. I usually study international issues that are of great relevance for policymakers and societies in both developed and developing countries, such as the new global corporate minimum tax rate of 15% that will affect multinational firms in the future.

A recent, and probably the most significant discovery I have made to date, is the following: carbon taxes imposed in European countries can help decrease corporate CO2 emissions in Europe, however, the same firms decreasing emissions in Europe are also increasing their CO2 emissions in African countries where environmental regulations are relatively lax. This finding confirms a major public concern labelled carbon leakage. The finding questions the effectiveness of carbon pricing in developed countries, but it also highlights an important global development and equity trade-off: if we impose strict environmental policies worldwide, we might hinder economic growth in the least developed countries where CO2 emissions have been historically very low.

If I weren’t a business school professor… I would miss out on a lot of amazing things – both at work and in life as a whole.

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? Three things – 1) I am approachable yet objective, 2) I always try to surprise my audience with unexpected insights from the teaching contents or my research, and 3) I rarely wear suits ☺

One word that describes my first time teaching: Covid-hybrid.

Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: MBA students are the busiest species in the world.

Professor I most admire and why: Hard and unfair to name just one, so here are the names of three professors who have influenced me in my short career so far:

• Prof. Christoph Spengel at the University of Mannheim (my PhD advisor): a selfless mentor who uses his incredibly rich professional and personal experience to help junior taxation scholars. Few scholars care about evidence-based policy-making more than him – he always goes the extra mile to inform lawmakers and governments about the deficiencies and benefits of certain policies (which costs a lot of energy and can be a frustrating task but is of the utmost importance for society at large).
• Prof. Ahmed Tahoun at LBS, Poets & Quants 2018 Best 40 under 40: Tahoun is not only my mentor and friend at LBS, but he is also the professor I admire the most for pushing the boundaries in our field of research as well as being immensely creative and impactful in the classroom.
• Prof. Stefanie Stantcheva at Harvard: Unfortunately, I have not yet met Stefanie in person, but I admire her research output which is absolutely on fire given her young age. I am inspired by people like her who focus on the big questions but also execute their research extremely rigorously.

TEACHING MBA STUDENTS

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? Business is everywhere, which means business students come from everywhere and go everywhere. For example, sometimes we discuss in class how financial accounting numbers can affect performance measurement in sports, luxury fashion, investment banking, consulting, non-profit organizations, or health tech. As another example, I am privileged to teach students who are former Olympians or Formula 1 racers or run a farming business in Tanzania on the side. It is amazing to interact with such cohorts. There are no boundaries, which makes teaching super exciting and rewarding.

What is most challenging? The diversity of backgrounds in the classroom. In the same cohort, I teach both students with a deep background knowledge in accounting and finance as well as absolute beginners. Furthermore, LBS prides itself on running the most international and diverse MBA program, with students from over 60 nationalities and no single nationality being a discernible majority. This mix creates a unique learning and teaching experience – but it can also be challenging to teach complex materials to such a diverse crowd.

In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Ambitious.

In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: Entitled.

When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as… Fair.

LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

What are your hobbies? Immersing myself in the lifestyle of different cultures while being away from home. It inspires me to question and improve my own lifestyle and also let go – something important in today’s hectic world.

How will you spend your summer? First getting in my best shape for beaches, then going to several beaches (luckily, some research conferences happen near some fantastic beaches ☺ )

Favorite place(s) to vacation: Mexico, Crete, the Alps.

Favorite book(s): The Firm by John Grisham; Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? Sorry to disappoint here, but at this stage of my life I have two kids under the age of four and that doesn’t leave much time for movies and shows. Whenever my kids do not demand my attention, I focus on things that I derive more utility from than watching screens.

What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? I love many types of Latin American music – it just always comes with so much vibe and passion. I also like electronic music – fast and hard when working out in the gym or running; slow when working in noisy places; funky house and EDM when celebrating. I may even start making some of my own with an electronic piano as a new hobby.

THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS

If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… Mandatory classes titled a) quality and focus over quantity b) how to relax c) how to respect and fairly treat your personal stakeholders.

In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at… staying true to their long-term vision (and credibly establishing and communicating one).

I’m grateful for… the efforts of everyone who contributed to my education – from my parents, primary and high school teachers to professors at Uni, as well as current colleagues and co-authors.

DON’T MISS: THE ENTIRE 2024 ROSTER OF THE WORLD’S BEST 40-UNDER-40 MBA PROFESSORS