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Dennis De Widt

Dr Dennis De Widt

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Available for postgraduate supervision

Teams and roles for Dennis De Widt

Overview

Dennis De Widt is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Accounting & Finance at Cardiff Business School, which he joined in August 2017. After graduating from Leiden University, the Netherlands, he worked as a Junior Researcher at the Centre for Public Sector Reform at Leiden University. He moved to the UK in 2011 to conduct his PhD at Queen Mary University of London, conducting a European comparative study of the impact of intergovernmental financial structures on local government debt. Subsequently, he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Exeter Business School where his EU funded research focused on tax compliance initiatives for large businesses.

Dennis’ research in the areas of public sector finances and accounting is characterised by a strong interdisciplinary, and often international comparative approach. His publications have appeared in a range of journals including Abacus, the British Tax Review, Financial Accountability & Management, Government Information Quarterly, Public Administration, and Regional Studies.

Dennis is an Independent Adviser to the Welsh Government’s Local Government Finance Distribution Group, an Executive Board Member of the BAFA (British Accounting & Finance Association) Special Interest Group for Public Services and Charities, and Co-Director of PACCFINTAX - the Public Sector Accounting, Finance and Taxation Research Group of Cardiff Business School.

Publication

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

  • De Widt, D. and Oats, L. 2020. Co-operative compliance: The U.K. evolutionary model. In: Hein, R. and Russo, R. eds. Co-operative Compliance and the OECD’s International Compliance Assurance Programme., Vol. 68. EUCOTAX Series on European Taxation Alphen aan den Rijn: Kluwer Law International, pp. 213-230.

2019

2018

2017

2016

Articles

Book sections

Conferences

Monographs

Research

Research interests

  • Intergovernmental and local government finances
  • Public budgeting and accounting
  • Public sector auditing
  • Tax policy and administration (including transfer pricing)

Research consultancies and external engagement

2022–current   Executive Board Member of the BAFA (British Accounting & Finance Association) Special Interest Group for Public Services and Charities.

2019–current   Independent Adviser to the Welsh Government’s Local Government Finance Distribution Sub-Group.

2017–current   Associate Research Fellow of the Tax Administration Research Centre (TARC), University of Exeter Business School.

2023–current   Governor and Chair of the Finance Committee of Roath Park Primary School, Cardiff.

Recent grants:

  • Cardiff University-University of Illinois System Grants Programm, award for research visit to the Government Finance Research Center (GFRC) at the University of Illinois Chicago, £4,000, Principal Investigator (2025).
  • 'Regulation of intermediaries, including tax advisers, in the EU/Member States and best practices from outside the EU', fund award European Parliament Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC), Co-I, £12,500 (spring 2022).
  • 'Small businesses and the tax system' Cardiff University Civic Mission fund award, Co-I, £6,700 (summer 2022).
  • 'Determinants of audit fees in the UK university sector', Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP), Principal Investigator, £2,250 (summer 2019).
  • 'Independent Review of PSAA Appointing Person Project' (2018), funding award from the Local Government Association (LGA) to review Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd., together with Dr Tim Thorogood and Iolo llewelyn, Principal Investigator, £27,000. Report available via: https://www.psaa.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/PSAA-Appointing-Person-evaluation-final-report.pdf

Academic honours & recognitions:

  • Visiting Professorship Université de Poitiers, L'Institut d'administration des entreprises (IAE), spring 2025.
  • Wiley award Top Cited Article in Financial Accountability & Management, 2023.

Reviewing and Editorial Board positions

Ad hoc reviewing for:

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Accounting Forum, Financial Accountability & Management, Global Finance Journal, Government Information Quarterly, International Review of Administrative Sciences, Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Journal of Tax Administration, Local Government Studies, Policy & Politics, Public Administration Review, Public Money & Management, Sustainability.

I am an Editorial Review Board member of the Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change.

I am currently guest-editor of a special issue for the journal Financial Accountability & Management. 

Teaching

Teaching commitments

  • Performance & Financial Management (Undergraduate, year 2)
  • People & Finance (Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare Planning) 
  • MSc dissertations
  • PhD supervision

Teaching experience at Cardiff University

  • MBA Business Projects dissertation supervisor
  • Research Methods (MSc)
  • Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting (MSc)
  • BSc Dissertation (Undergraduate, year 3)

Furthermore, Dennis has taught at Bristol University, Exeter University, Leiden University in the Netherlands, and Queen Mary University of London.

Teaching awards

  • Nominated for the Cardiff University Enriching Student Life Award, 2020

Biography

Education

  • PhD in Business and Management (Queen Mary University of London)
  • MSc(Res) in Public Administration (Leiden University)
  • MA in Economic History (Leiden University)
  • BSc in Public Administration (Leiden University)
  • BA in Economic History (Leiden University)
  • Diploma in International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) (CIFPA, London)
  • Certificate in Management and Financial Accounting (CIPFA, London)
  • Diploma in Financial Management and Audit (CIPFA, London)

Professional memberships

  • British Accounting & Finance Association (BAFA)
  • Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA)
  • Comparative International Governmental Accounting Research Network (CIGAR)
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

External examiner roles

  • University of Leicester (2024 to date)
  • University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg (South Africa) (2024 to date)

Previous positions

  • Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, Cardiff Business School, 2020-2023
  • Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, Cardiff Business School, 2017-2020  
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow European Union Horizon FairTax research project, University of Exeter Business School, 2015-2017
  • Junior Researcher at the Centre for Public Sector Reform, Leiden University, the Netherlands, 2010-2011

 

Contact Details

Email DeWidtD@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone +44 29208 76569
Campuses Aberconway Building, Room Room R32, Colum Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3EU

Specialisms

  • Accounting
  • Auditing and accountability
  • Public sector organisation and management
  • Taxation and revenue