Leentje Moortgat
Associate professor
Biography
Leentje Moortgat is Associate Professor of Corporate Finance at Ghent University and Research Fellow at the Study Centre for Exchanges and Companies (SCOB) at the University of Antwerp. Prior to joining Ghent University, she held positions as PhD researcher and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp and she was a visiting researcher at Rotterdam School of Management.
Her research is situated in the broad field of corporate finance and corporate governance. She has conducted research on corporate dividend policy in both listed firms and privately held SMEs, the impact of government regulation on corporate finance decisions, and the role of investor protection. In her research, she often takes an historical perspective by studying contemporary corporate finance issues in historical settings. For instance, she has studied the use of dual-class shares during the Interbellum and the effect of war uncertainty on entrepreneurial decision-making in pre-World War I Belgium. Being passionate about Belgian financial history, she was co-organizer of a workshop to commemorate 200 years of stock listings on Euronext Brussels in November 2024. Her research has been published in, among others, the Journal of Banking & Finance, European Review of Economic History, and Business History.
Leentje Moortgat is the PhD supervisor of Ekin Bayram and Johannes De Ruig.
Leentje Moortgat teaches several courses in the Master of Business Economics (Corporate Finance) and the Master of Business Engineering (Finance). She is passionate about teaching business valuation to students in the master Business Engineering – Finance (Business Valuation – F000898) and in master Business Economics – Corporate Finance (Valuation & Financial Risk Management – F000738).
To support students in developing strong valuation skills, she co-authored the book ‘The Valuation Compass: Valuation as a guide for corporate finance decisions’. More information on this book can be found here.
Furthermore, she is also passionate about helping students with their first steps in conducting academic research. She is co-teacher in the research-oriented course Topics in Advanced Corporate Finance (Master Business Engineering (Finance) – F000900) and guides several students in their Master’s thesis.
Leentje Moortgat is a member of the Education Committee Business Engineering, Exam Committee Master Business Engineering, and deputy member of the Committee Scientific Research.
Research expertise
- Dividend policy
- Corporate Governance
- SME financing decisions
- Financial history