2026 FIN PRO

24th Annual International Conference on Finance
organized by the Accounting Unit & the Finance Unit of the Athens Institute
Tentative Program (Athens Local Time)

6-11 July 2026
9 Chalkokondili Street, 10677 Athens, Greece

(Note 1: the program is organized along time slots and not according to common theme)
(Note 2: at the end of each session questions and discussions will follow)


Monday 6 July 2026


08:30-09:15
Registration

09:15-10:00 Opening Speech and Welcoming Remarks
Speaker: Gregory T. Papanikos, President, Athens Institute & Professor (Adjunct), University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.

10:00-11:30 Session 1
Moderator:
Christos Mavrovitis, Senior Lecturer, University of Surrey, UK.
  1. Caroline Blais, Professor, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada & Marc-Antoine Gauthier, MSc Student, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada.
    Title: Performance Reporting and Corporate Social Responsibility: A Comparative Analysis of Canada’s Leading Food Chains.
  2. Jackie Di Vito, Full Professor, HEC Montréal, Canada.
    Kim Trottier, Associate Professor, HEC Montréal, Canada.
    Title: Identifying Optimal Governance Practice According to Firm Characteristics: Can Machine Learning Help?
  3. Wenhsin Hsu, Professor, National Taiwan University, Taiwan.
    Title: Fair Value of Biological Assets and Stock Price Crash Risk.
  4. Vasileios Katsoulis, Lecturer, Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, UK.
    Title: Governance Architecture, Organizational Complexity and Firm Performance: Evidence from the Maritime Industry.

 

11:30-13:00 Session 2
Moderator: 
Caroline Blais, Professor, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada & Marc-Antoine Gauthier, MSc Student, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada.
  1. Gerhard Speckbacher, Professor, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria.
    Title: Accountability and Profit Focus in the Selection of New Product Ideas.
  2. Anneke Moolman, Associate Professor, North-West University, South Africa.
    Yolande Heymans, Professor, North-West University, South Africa.
    Anina Marx, Senior Lecturer, North-West University, South Africa.
    Title: Exploring the Affordances of Extra Accounting Classes by Tertiary Educators to Enhance Grade 12 Learners’ Understanding of Accounting Principles: A Scoping Review.
  3. Anina Marx, Senior Lecturer, North-West University, South Africa.
    Yolande Heymans, Professor, North-West University, South Africa.
    Jessica Pool, Professor, North-West University, South Africa.
    Jaco Fouche, Professor, North-West University, South Africa.
    Title: The Use of Community of Inquiry to Design Responsive Online Learning Environments for Accounting Students.
  4. Christos Mavrovitis, Senior Lecturer, University of Surrey, UK.
    Constantinos Antoniou, Associate Professor, University of Warwick, UK.
    Roman Kozhan, Professor, University of Warwick, UK.
    Title: Sample Size Neglect and Biases in Beliefs: Evidence from the Field.

 

13:00-14:00 Session 3 – A Symposium on “Rethinking the Mission of the Modern University I
Moderator: 
Gregory T. Papanikos, President, Athens Institute & Professor (Adjunct), University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.
Speakers: 

  1. Irina Ustinova, Professor, Southeast Missouri State University, USA.
    Title: AI For Good and Bad in Teaching and Research.
  2. Marija Liudvika Drazdauskiene, Professor Emerita, WSB University, University Centre in Warsaw, Poland.
    Title: A Few Questions when Thinking about Academic Values Today.
  3. Artur Myna, Professor, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Poland.
    Title: Artificial Intelligence: Challenges, Threats, and Opportunities for the Future of the Modern University.
  4. Thanos Patelis, Lead Psychometrician, University of Kansas, USA.
    Title: Is The Mission of Institutions of Higher Education Affecting the Closure of Colleges and Universities in the US? 

Interventions: 

  1. Krasimir Kabakciev, Deputy Director, Arts, Humanities and Education Division, Athens Institute.
  2. Ziona Strelitz, Director, ZZA Responsive User Environments, UK.
  3. Simona Elena Tomozii, Associate Professor, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China.
  4. Jane Anastassopoulou, Retired Professor, National, Technical University of Athens, Greece.

14:00-15:00 Lunch 

18:00-20:00 Session 4 – Visit Aristotle’s Lyceum

This is not a guided tour, and participation in this visit is not included in any conference registration fee. It requires pre-booking. It includes visits to Aristotle’s Lyceum, the Panathenaic Stadium (Kallimarmaro), the National Garden, the statues of Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides, and Syntagma Square, where the tour concludes in front of the Hellenic Parliament. Click here for more details.

20:30-22:30 Athenian Early Evening Symposium (Sequence of Events: Ongoing Academic Discussions, Dinner, Wine and Water, Music, Dance)


Tuesday 7 July 2026


09:00-10:30 Session 5
Moderator:
 Thanos Patelis, Lead Psychometrician, University of Kansas, USA.
  1. Rosalba Pinto, Adjunct Professor, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC), Mexico.
    Title: Is Architecture a Hybrid Discipline?
  2. Ziona Strelitz, Director, ZZA Responsive User Environments, UK.
    Title: Student Experience of a Transforming University Campus: Time-Series User Research at London School of Economics, 2011-2023.
  3. Mariasole Dassie, Independent Researcher, Italy.
    Lidia Spaventa, Independent Researcher, Italy.
    Title: Design for Social Protagonism. A Reflection from Quarticciolo, Rome.
  4. Abdallah Daoud, PhD Student, University of Seville, Spain.
    Title: The Agent Intellect in Crisis: Architectural Education between Philosophical Tradition and Computational Displacement.

 

10:30-12:00 Session 6
Moderator TBA
  1. Raymond K. Agbodoh-Falschau, Professor, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada.
    Caroline Blais, Professor, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada.
    Title: What Drives Cyber Outcomes? A PLS-SEM Analysis Ode to Costs, Risk Management, Strategic Motives, and Control Measures in Canadian Organizations.
  2. Kiran Baldavoo, Senior Lecturer, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
    Title: Exploring the Rationale and Design of a Robot Tax: A Scoping Review on Automation, Employment and Fiscal Policy.

 

12:00-13:30 Session 7
Moderator: 
Rosalba Pinto, Professor, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexico.
  1. Raluca Stan, Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth, USA.
    Title: Taillights in the Fog: Why Institutional Investors Herd when Visibility is Low.
  2. Nien-Tzu Yang, Professor, National United University, Taiwan.
    Kuan-Cheng Ko, Professor, National Chi Nan University, Taiwan.
    Title: Are Stocks with Extreme Daily Returns Really Lottery? A Tale of Intraday and Overnight Returns.
  3. Achraf Ait Hammou, PhD Student, INREDD Laboratory, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco.
    Rachid Ouchchikh, Professor, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco.
    Title: European Union Macroeconomic Spillovers during Crises: A GVAR Approach.

 

13:30-14:30 Session 8 – A Symposium on “Rethinking the Mission of the Modern University II
Moderator: 
Krasimir Kabakciev, Deputy Director, Arts, Humanities and Education Division, Athens Institute.
 

Click here for the program

 

14:30-15:30 Lunch 

15:45-19:30 Session 9
Old and New-An Educational Urban Walk
The urban walk ticket is not included as part of your registration fee. It includes transportation costs and the cost to enter the Parthenon and the other monuments on the Acropolis Hill. The urban walk tour includes the broader area of Athens. Among other sites, it includes: Zappion, Syntagma Square, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Ancient Roman Agora and on Acropolis Hill: the Propylaea, the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheion, and the Parthenon. The program of the tour may be adjusted, if there is a need beyond our control. This is a private event organized by the Athens Institute exclusively for the conference participants.

20:00-22:00
Closing Remarks by Gregory T. Papanikos: “Wine, Words, and Wisdom: An Ancient Athenian Dinner Symposium” followed by an Ancient Athenian Dinner


Wednesday 8 July 2026
An Educational Visit to Selected Islands
or Visiting the Oracle of Delphi


Thursday 9 July 2026
Nafplio & Mycenae Visit


Friday 10 July 2026
Visiting the Ancient Corinth and Cape Sounion


Saturday 11 July 2026
09:00-10:00 – The Academic Discussion continues in the downtown open agora (close to the Aristotelian Lyceum)
Refreshments are offered by the president of the Athens Institute. The purpose of this academic meeting is to engage in a comprehensive discussion regarding the future of education and research. click here for more details – (Pre-booking is required and the event will only be held if a minimum number of participants is reached)



Conference Venue: 9 Chalkokondili Street, 10677 Athens, Greece