IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/finrev/v56y2021i1p55-83.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Political corruption shielding and corporate acquisitions

Author

Listed:
  • Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain
  • Lawrence Kryzanowski

Abstract

Corruption includes rent‐seeking behavior by public officials (e.g., lavish in‐kind benefits and monetary kickbacks for contracts/permits/regulatory leniency, improper political contributions/support, etc.) that can negatively affect firm valuations, performances, and strategic choices. Shielding strategies are used to diminish rent‐seeking attractiveness of firms. Acquisitions provide a better channel than cash or leverage for assessing the wealth effects of shielding strategies. We find that the mean 3‐day announcement returns for acquirers for a large sample of U.S. domestic acquisitions between 1990 and 2014 is significantly lower for firms headquartered in relatively higher corruption states. Our results survive an array of robustness tests.

Suggested Citation

  • Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain & Lawrence Kryzanowski, 2021. "Political corruption shielding and corporate acquisitions," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 55-83, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:finrev:v:56:y:2021:i:1:p:55-83
    DOI: 10.1111/fire.12247
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/fire.12247
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/fire.12247?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4tc33icveb94nokk2rd2ettg0k is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Sandy Klasa & Mike Stegemoller, 2007. "Takeover Activity as a Response to Time‐Varying Changes in Investment Opportunity Sets: Evidence from Takeover Sequences," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 36(2), pages 1-25, July.
    3. Jiandong Chen & Douglas Cumming & Wenxuan Hou & Edward Lee, 2016. "Does the External Monitoring Effect of Financial Analysts Deter Corporate Fraud in China?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 727-742, April.
    4. Alberto Alesina & Eliana La Ferrara, 2000. "Participation in Heterogeneous Communities," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 847-904.
    5. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    6. Donald W.K. Andrews & James H. Stock, 2005. "Inference with Weak Instruments," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1530, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    7. Gupta, Atul & Raman, Kartik & Shang, Chenguang, 2018. "Social capital and the cost of equity," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 102-117.
    8. Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain & Lawrence Kryzanowski & Xiao Bing Ma, 2020. "U.S. Political Corruption And Loan Pricing," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(3), pages 459-489, August.
    9. Jakob Svensson, 2003. "Who Must Pay Bribes and How Much? Evidence from a Cross Section of Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 207-230.
    10. Morck, Randall & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1990. "Do Managerial Objectives Drive Bad Acquisitions?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(1), pages 31-48, March.
    11. Filipe R. Campante & Quoc-Anh Do, 2014. "Isolated Capital Cities, Accountability, and Corruption: Evidence from US States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(8), pages 2456-2481, August.
    12. Croci, Ettore & Pantzalis, Christos & Park, Jung Chul & Petmezas, Dimitris, 2017. "The role of corporate political strategies in M&As," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 260-287.
    13. Mantecon, Tomas, 2008. "An analysis of the implications of uncertainty and agency problems on the wealth effects to acquirers of private firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 892-905, May.
    14. Schwert, G. William, 1996. "Markup pricing in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 153-192, June.
    15. Sara B. Moeller & Frederik P. Schlingemann & René M. Stulz, 2005. "Wealth Destruction on a Massive Scale? A Study of Acquiring‐Firm Returns in the Recent Merger Wave," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(2), pages 757-782, April.
    16. Mehmet E. Akbulut & John G. Matsusaka, 2010. "50+ Years of Diversification Announcements," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 231-262, May.
    17. Ahern, Kenneth R., 2012. "Bargaining power and industry dependence in mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(3), pages 530-550.
    18. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    19. Andrews,Donald W. K. & Stock,James H. (ed.), 2005. "Identification and Inference for Econometric Models," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521844413, October.
    20. Bliss, Christopher & Di Tella, Rafael, 1997. "Does Competition Kill Corruption?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 1001-1023, October.
    21. Glaeser, Edward L. & Saks, Raven E., 2006. "Corruption in America," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(6-7), pages 1053-1072, August.
    22. Sudip Datta & Mai Iskandar‐Datta & Kartik Raman, 2001. "Executive Compensation and Corporate Acquisition Decisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(6), pages 2299-2336, December.
    23. Smith, Jared D., 2016. "US political corruption and firm financial policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 350-367.
    24. Hoi, Chun Keung(Stan) & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2019. "Does social capital mitigate agency problems? Evidence from Chief Executive Officer (CEO) compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(2), pages 498-519.
    25. Stephen P. Ferris & Reza Houston & David Javakhadze, 2016. "Friends in the Right Places: The Effect of Political Connections on Corporate Merger Activity," NFI Working Papers 2016-WP-01, Indiana State University, Scott College of Business, Networks Financial Institute.
    26. Bhabra, Harjeet S. & Hossain, Ashrafee T., 2017. "Impact of SOX on the returns to targets and acquirers in corporate tender offers," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-19.
    27. Uysal, Vahap B. & Kedia, Simi & Panchapagesan, Venkatesh, 2008. "Geography and acquirer returns," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 256-275, April.
    28. Deng, Xin & Kang, Jun-koo & Low, Buen Sin, 2013. "Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 87-109.
    29. Ferris, Stephen P. & Houston, Reza & Javakhadze, David, 2016. "Friends in the right places: The effect of political connections on corporate merger activity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 81-102.
    30. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/nhjqqngq98lnqqrct2aj93qja is not listed on IDEAS
    31. Di Guardo, Maria Chiara & Marrocu, Emanuela & Paci, Raffaele, 2016. "The effect of local corruption on ownership strategy in cross-border mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4225-4241.
    32. Martynova, Marina & Renneboog, Luc, 2008. "A century of corporate takeovers: What have we learned and where do we stand?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 2148-2177, October.
    33. Moeller, Sara B. & Schlingemann, Frederik P. & Stulz, Rene M., 2004. "Firm size and the gains from acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 201-228, August.
    34. Boone, Audra L. & White, Joshua T., 2015. "The effect of institutional ownership on firm transparency and information production," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 508-533.
    35. D. Kayes, 2006. "Organizational Corruption as Theodicy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 51-62, August.
    36. MARA FACCIO & RONALD W. MASULIS & JOHN J. McCONNELL, 2006. "Political Connections and Corporate Bailouts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2597-2635, December.
    37. Campello, Murillo & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2010. "The real effects of financial constraints: Evidence from a financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 470-487, September.
    38. Ronald W. Masulis & Cong Wang & Fei Xie, 2007. "Corporate Governance and Acquirer Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1851-1889, August.
    39. Alexander Borisov & Eitan Goldman & Nandini Gupta, 2016. "The Corporate Value of (Corrupt) Lobbying," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(4), pages 1039-1071.
    40. Stephen P. Ferris & Reza Houston & David Javakhadze, 2019. "It is a Sweetheart of a Deal: Political Connections and Corporate‐Federal Contracting," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 54(1), pages 57-84, February.
    41. Kryzanowski, Lawrence & Mohebshahedin, Mahmood, 2016. "Board governance, monetary interest, and closed-end fund performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 196-217.
    42. Alexander W. Butler & Larry Fauver & Sandra Mortal, 2009. "Corruption, Political Connections, and Municipal Finance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(7), pages 2673-2705, July.
    43. Roll, Richard, 1986. "The Hubris Hypothesis of Corporate Takeovers," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(2), pages 197-216, April.
    44. Demiralp, Ilhan & D'Mello, Ranjan & Schlingemann, Frederik P. & Subramaniam, Venkat, 2011. "Are there monitoring benefits to institutional ownership? Evidence from seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1340-1359.
    45. Kyeong Hun Lee, 2018. "Cross‐border mergers and acquisitions amid political uncertainty: A bargaining perspective," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(11), pages 2992-3005, November.
    46. Nishant Dass & Vikram Nanda & Steven Chong Xiao, 2016. "Public Corruption in the United States: Implications for Local Firms," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 5(1), pages 102-138.
    47. Peter Demerjian & Baruch Lev & Sarah McVay, 2012. "Quantifying Managerial Ability: A New Measure and Validity Tests," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1229-1248, July.
    48. Jha, Anand & Cox, James, 2015. "Corporate social responsibility and social capital," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 252-270.
    49. Chung, Richard & Firth, Michael & Kim, Jeong-Bon, 2002. "Institutional monitoring and opportunistic earnings management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 29-48, January.
    50. Toke S. Aidt, 2003. "Economic analysis of corruption: a survey," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(491), pages 632-652, November.
    51. René M. Stulz, 2007. "The Limits of Financial Globalization," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 19(1), pages 8-15, January.
    52. Offenberg, David & Pirinsky, Christo, 2015. "How do acquirers choose between mergers and tender offers?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 331-348.
    53. Sean Cleary & Ashrafee Hossain, 2020. "POSTCRISIS M&As AND THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(2), pages 407-454, May.
    54. Wu, Xuan & Tian, Gaoliang & Li, Yueting & Zhou, Qing, 2019. "On the pricing of the persistence of earnings components in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 112-132.
    55. Atanasov, Vladimir & Black, Bernard, 2016. "Shock-Based Causal Inference in Corporate Finance and Accounting Research," Critical Finance Review, now publishers, vol. 5(2), pages 207-304, December.
    56. Jay C. Hartzell & Laura T. Starks, 2003. "Institutional Investors and Executive Compensation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(6), pages 2351-2374, December.
    57. Chrisostomos Florackis & Aydin Ozkan, 2009. "The Impact of Managerial Entrenchment on Agency Costs: An Empirical Investigation Using UK Panel Data," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 15(3), pages 497-528, June.
    58. Yu, Fang (Frank), 2008. "Analyst coverage and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 245-271, May.
    59. James S. Linck & Jeffry M. Netter & Tina Yang, 2009. "The Effects and Unintended Consequences of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on the Supply and Demand for Directors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(8), pages 3287-3328, August.
    60. Asim Ijaz Khwaja & Atif Mian, 2005. "Do Lenders Favor Politically Connected Firms? Rent Provision in an Emerging Financial Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(4), pages 1371-1411.
    61. Golubov, Andrey & Yawson, Alfred & Zhang, Huizhong, 2015. "Extraordinary acquirers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 314-330.
    62. Steven N. Kaplan & Luigi Zingales, 1997. "Do Investment-Cash Flow Sensitivities Provide Useful Measures of Financing Constraints?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 169-215.
    63. Aktas, Nihat & de Bodt, Eric & Bollaert, Helen & Roll, Richard, 2016. "CEO Narcissism and the Takeover Process: From Private Initiation to Deal Completion," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 51(1), pages 113-137, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hassan, M. Kabir & Karim, Md. Sydul & Kozlowski, Steven E., 2022. "Implications of public corruption for local firms: Evidence from corporate debt maturity," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    2. Chourou, Lamia & Hossain, Ashrafee T. & Jha, Anand, 2024. "US political corruption and quarterly conference calls," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    3. Shaddy Douidar & Christos Pantzalis & Jung Chul Park, 2023. "Political geography and the value relevance of real options," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 58(4), pages 703-733, November.
    4. Chowdhury, Hasibul & Hossain, Ashrafee & Masum, Abdullah-Al & Zheng, Jiayi, 2023. "Does corporate sexual orientation equality affect labor investment efficiency?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    5. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Wei, Zuobao & Zhu, Yicheng, 2023. "Does public corruption affect analyst forecast quality?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    6. Hossain, Ashrafee Tanvir & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2021. "Political corruption and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    7. Ahsan Habib & Mabel D' Costa & Ahmed Khamis Al‐Hadi, 2023. "Consequences of local social norms: A review of the literature in accounting, finance, and corporate governance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 3-45, March.
    8. Elena de la Poza & Lucas Jódar & Paloma Merello, 2021. "Modeling Political Corruption in Spain," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Ioannis Passas & Konstantina Ragazou & Eleni Zafeiriou & Alexandros Garefalakis & Constantin Zopounidis, 2022. "ESG Controversies: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis for the Sociopolitical Determinants in EU Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-17, October.
    10. Chowdhury, Hasibul & Estreich, Timothy & Hossain, Ashrafee & Zheng, Jiayi, 2024. "U.S. Political corruption and labor investment (in)efficiency," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hossain, Ashrafee Tanvir & Hossain, Takdir & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2021. "Political corruption and corporate payouts," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    2. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 650-699.
    3. Gurmeet S. Bhabra & Harjeet S. Bhabra & Ashrafee T. Hossain, 2022. "CEO inside debt and the acquisition of private targets," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2163-2202, June.
    4. Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain & Lawrence Kryzanowski & Xiao Bing Ma, 2020. "U.S. Political Corruption And Loan Pricing," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(3), pages 459-489, August.
    5. Hossain, Ashrafee Tanvir & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2021. "Political corruption and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    6. Sean Cleary & Ashrafee Hossain, 2020. "POSTCRISIS M&As AND THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 43(2), pages 407-454, May.
    7. Ahsan Habib & Mabel D' Costa & Ahmed Khamis Al‐Hadi, 2023. "Consequences of local social norms: A review of the literature in accounting, finance, and corporate governance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 3-45, March.
    8. Huang, Chia-Wei & Lin, Chih-Yen & Lin, Wen-Chun & Tsai, Yun-Ching, 2022. "Corruption transfer and acquisition performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    9. Ucar, Erdem & Staer, Arsenio, 2020. "Local corruption and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 266-282.
    10. An, Suwei, 2023. "Essays on incentive contracts, M&As, and firm risk," Other publications TiSEM dd97d2f5-1c9d-47c5-ba62-f, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Du, Qingjie & Heo, Yuna, 2022. "Political corruption, Dodd–Frank whistleblowing, and corporate investment," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    12. Huai Zhang & Jin Zhang, 2023. "Political corruption and accounting choices," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 443-481, March.
    13. Hussain, Tanveer & Tunyi, Abongeh A. & Sufyan, Muhammad & Shahab, Yasir, 2022. "Powerful bidders and value creation in M&As," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Nguyen, Nam H. & Phan, Hieu V. & Simpson, Thuy, 2020. "Political corruption and mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Leon Zolotoy & Don O’Sullivan & Keke Song, 2021. "The Role of Ethical Standards in the Relationship Between Religious Social Norms and M&A Announcement Returns," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(4), pages 721-742, May.
    16. Hassan, M. Kabir & Karim, Md. Sydul & Kozlowski, Steven E., 2022. "Implications of public corruption for local firms: Evidence from corporate debt maturity," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    17. Huang, Kershen & Shang, Chenguang, 2019. "Leverage, debt maturity, and social capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 26-46.
    18. Chourou, Lamia & Hossain, Ashrafee T. & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2019. "Dual-class firms, M&As and SOX," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 176-187.
    19. Bhabra, Harjeet S. & Huang, Jiayin, 2013. "An empirical investigation of mergers and acquisitions by Chinese listed companies, 1997–2007," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 186-207.
    20. Carline, Nicholas F. & Linn, Scott C. & Yadav, Pradeep K., 2009. "Operating performance changes associated with corporate mergers and the role of corporate governance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1829-1841, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:finrev:v:56:y:2021:i:1:p:55-83. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/efaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.