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Do they do it for the money?

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  • Bhattacharya, Utpal
  • Marshall, Cassandra D.

Abstract

Using a sample of all top management who were indicted for illegal insider trading in the United States for trades during the period 1989–2002, we explore the economic rationality of this white-collar crime. If this crime is an economically rational activity in the sense of Becker (1968), where a crime is committed if its expected benefits exceed its expected costs, “poorer” top management should be doing the most illegal insider trading. This is because the “poor” have less to lose (present value of foregone future compensation if caught is lower for them). We find in the data, however, that indictments are concentrated in the “richer” strata after we control for firm size, industry, firm growth opportunities, executive age, the opportunity to commit illegal insider trading, and the possibility that regulators target the “richer” strata. We thus rule out the economic motive for this white-collar crime, and leave open the possibility of other motives.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhattacharya, Utpal & Marshall, Cassandra D., 2012. "Do they do it for the money?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 92-104.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:18:y:2012:i:1:p:92-104
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2011.11.010
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    Cited by:

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    2. Davidson, Robert H., 2022. "Who did it matters: Executive equity compensation and financial reporting fraud," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2).
    3. Haß, Lars Helge & Müller, Maximilian A. & Vergauwe, Skrålan, 2015. "Tournament incentives and corporate fraud," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 251-267.
    4. Kallunki, Juha-Pekka & Mikkonen, Jenni & Nilsson, Henrik & Setterberg, Hanna, 2016. "Tax noncompliance and insider trading," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 157-173.
    5. Peter Cziraki & Peter De Goeij & Luc Renneboog, 2014. "Corporate Governance Rules and Insider Trading Profits," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(1), pages 67-108.
    6. Agrawal, Anup & Nasser, Tareque, 2012. "Insider trading in takeover targets," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 598-625.
    7. Ordu, Umut & Schweizer, Denis, 2015. "Executive compensation and informed trading in acquiring firms around merger announcements," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 260-280.
    8. Kim, Y. Han (Andy), 2013. "Self attribution bias of the CEO: Evidence from CEO interviews on CNBC," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2472-2489.
    9. Cumming, Douglas & Dannhauser, Robert & Johan, Sofia, 2015. "Financial market misconduct and agency conflicts: A synthesis and future directions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 150-168.
    10. Zhou, Fangzhao & Zhang, Zenan & Yang, Jun & Su, Yunpeng & An, Yunbi, 2018. "Delisting pressure, executive compensation, and corporate fraud: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 17-34.
    11. Ahmed Tahoun & Laurence van Lent, 2016. "The Personal Wealth Interests of Politicians and the Stabilization of Financial Markets," Working Papers Series 52, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    12. Agrawal, Anup & Cooper, Tommy, 2015. "Insider trading before accounting scandals," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 169-190.
    13. Lin, Zhaoxin & Sapp, Travis R.A. & Ulmer, Jackie Rees & Parsa, Rahul, 2020. "Insider trading ahead of cyber breach announcements," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    14. Hillier, David & Korczak, Adriana & Korczak, Piotr, 2015. "The impact of personal attributes on corporate insider trading," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 150-167.
    15. Millicent Chang & Yilin Lim, 2016. "Late Disclosure of Insider Trades: Who Does It and Why?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(3), pages 519-531, February.
    16. Robert H. Davidson & Aiyesha Dey & Abbie Smith, 2020. "Executives' Legal Records and the Deterrent Effect of Corporate Governance†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(3), pages 1444-1474, September.
    17. Chenhao Hu, 2023. "The dual role of state shareholders in disclosed corporate misconduct: Evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 1732-1748, April.
    18. Chang, Millicent & Watson, Iain, 2015. "Delayed disclosure of insider trades: Incentives for and indicators of future performance?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 182-197.
    19. Cline, Brandon N. & Posylnaya, Valeriya V., 2019. "Illegal insider trading: Commission and SEC detection," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 247-269.
    20. Shantaram Hegde & Tingyu Zhou, 2019. "Predicting Accounting Misconduct: The Role of Firm-Level Investor Optimism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 535-562, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    White-collar crime; Insider trading; SEC enforcement; CEO compensation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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