IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finmar/v40y2018icp60-74.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Proximity and litigation: Evidence from the geographic location of institutional investors

Author

Listed:
  • Mazur, Mieszko
  • Salganik-Shoshan, Galla
  • Walker, Thomas
  • Wang, Jun

Abstract

In this paper, we examine how the geographic distance between a firm and its largest institutional investors affects the firm's litigation risk. We show that geographic proximity between the firm and its largest institutional shareholders reduces the incidence of a lawsuit. Moreover, we find that geographic proximity affects the relationship between institutional investors' ownership and the litigation risk of their portfolio firms. These findings indicate that geographically proximate investors may have an informational advantage over investors who are located far away, and that this advantage manifests itself in more effective monitoring of firm management, and consequently, in lower litigation risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Mazur, Mieszko & Salganik-Shoshan, Galla & Walker, Thomas & Wang, Jun, 2018. "Proximity and litigation: Evidence from the geographic location of institutional investors," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 60-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finmar:v:40:y:2018:i:c:p:60-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.finmar.2018.05.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386418117302021
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.finmar.2018.05.002?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanley, Kathleen Weiss & Hoberg, Gerard, 2012. "Litigation risk, strategic disclosure and the underpricing of initial public offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 235-254.
    2. Bruce Haslem, 2005. "Managerial Opportunism during Corporate Litigation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(4), pages 2013-2041, August.
    3. Derrien, François & Kecskés, Ambrus & Thesmar, David, 2013. "Investor Horizons and Corporate Policies," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(6), pages 1755-1780, December.
    4. Gaspar, Jose-Miguel & Massa, Massimo & Matos, Pedro, 2005. "Shareholder investment horizons and the market for corporate control," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 135-165, April.
    5. Agnes Cheng, C.S. & He Huang, Henry & Li, Yinghua & Lobo, Gerald, 2010. "Institutional monitoring through shareholder litigation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 356-383, March.
    6. Thomas H. Noe, 2002. "Investor Activism and Financial Market Structure," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 289-318, March.
    7. Bae, Kee-Hong & Stulz, René M. & Tan, Hongping, 2008. "Do local analysts know more? A cross-country study of the performance of local analysts and foreign analysts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 581-606, June.
    8. Parrino, Robert & Sias, Richard W. & Starks, Laura T., 2003. "Voting with their feet: institutional ownership changes around forced CEO turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 3-46, April.
    9. Ravi Dharwadkar & Maria Goranova & Pamela Brandes & Raihan Khan, 2008. "Institutional Ownership and Monitoring Effectiveness: It's Not Just How Much but What Else You Own," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 419-440, June.
    10. Pukthuanthong, Kuntara & Turtle, Harry & Walker, Thomas & Wang, Jun, 2017. "Litigation risk and institutional monitoring," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 342-359.
    11. Admati, Anat R & Pfleiderer, Paul & Zechner, Josef, 1994. "Large Shareholder Activism, Risk Sharing, and Financial Market Equilibrium," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(6), pages 1097-1130, December.
    12. Baik, Bok & Kang, Jun-Koo & Kim, Jin-Mo, 2010. "Local institutional investors, information asymmetries, and equity returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 81-106, July.
    13. Sanjai Bhagat & John Bizjak & Jeffrey L. Coles, 1998. "The Shareholder Wealth Implications of Corporate Lawsuits," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 27(4), Winter.
    14. Burns, Natasha & Kedia, Simi & Lipson, Marc, 2010. "Institutional ownership and monitoring: Evidence from financial misreporting," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 443-455, September.
    15. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:4:p:1335-1362 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Vladimir Atanasov & Vladimir Ivanov & Kate Litvak, 2012. "Does Reputation Limit Opportunistic Behavior in the VC Industry? Evidence from Litigation against VCs," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(6), pages 2215-2246, December.
    17. Henrik Cronqvist & Rüdiger Fahlenbrach, 2009. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Policies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(10), pages 3941-3976, October.
    18. 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.
    19. Mazur, Mieszko & Salganik-Shoshan, Galla, 2017. "Teaming up and quiet intervention: The impact of institutional investors on executive compensation policies," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 65-83.
    20. Alex Edmans, 2014. "Blockholders and Corporate Governance," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 23-50, December.
    21. Bizjak, John M & Coles, Jeffrey L, 1995. "The Effect of Private Antitrust Litigation on the Stock-Market Valuation of the Firm," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 436-461, June.
    22. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-488, June.
    23. Karpoff, Jonathan M. & Lee, D. Scott & Martin, Gerald S., 2008. "The Cost to Firms of Cooking the Books," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(3), pages 581-611, September.
    24. Xavier Giroud, 2013. "Proximity and Investment: Evidence from Plant-Level Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(2), pages 861-915.
    25. Gaspar, Jose-Miguel & Massa, Massimo, 2007. "Local ownership as private information: Evidence on the monitoring-liquidity trade-off," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 751-792, March.
    26. DuCharme, Larry L. & Malatesta, Paul H. & Sefcik, Stephan E., 2004. "Earnings management, stock issues, and shareholder lawsuits," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 27-49, January.
    27. Brochet, Francois & Srinivasan, Suraj, 2014. "Accountability of independent directors: Evidence from firms subject to securities litigation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 430-449.
    28. Brickley, James A. & Lease, Ronald C. & Smith, Clifford Jr., 1988. "Ownership structure and voting on antitakeover amendments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 267-291, January.
    29. Ayers, Benjamin C. & Ramalingegowda, Santhosh & Eric Yeung, P., 2011. "Hometown advantage: The effects of monitoring institution location on financial reporting discretion," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 41-61, June.
    30. Andriy Bodnaruk, 2009. "Proximity Always Matters: Local Bias When the Set of Local Companies Changes," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 13(4), pages 629-656.
    31. Mello, Antonio S. & Repullo, Rafael, 2004. "Shareholder activism is non-monotonic in market liquidity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 2-10, March.
    32. Francis, J & Philbrick, D & Schipper, K, 1994. "Shareholder Litigation And Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 137-164.
    33. Joshua D. Coval & Tobias J. Moskowitz, 1999. "Home Bias at Home: Local Equity Preference in Domestic Portfolios," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 2045-2073, December.
    34. Joshua D. Coval & Tobias J. Moskowitz, 2001. "The Geography of Investment: Informed Trading and Asset Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(4), pages 811-841, August.
    35. Gande, Amar & Lewis, Craig M., 2009. "Shareholder-Initiated Class Action Lawsuits: Shareholder Wealth Effects and Industry Spillovers," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 823-850, August.
    36. Lowry, Michelle & Shu, Susan, 2002. "Litigation risk and IPO underpricing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 309-335, September.
    37. DeFond, Mark L. & Jiambalvo, James, 1994. "Debt covenant violation and manipulation of accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 145-176, January.
    38. Lin Peng & Ailsa Röell, 2008. "Executive pay and shareholder litigation," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 12(1), pages 141-184.
    39. Chen, Xia & Harford, Jarrad & Li, Kai, 2007. "Monitoring: Which institutions matter?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 279-305, November.
    40. Bhagat, Sanjai & Brickley, James A. & Coles, Jeffrey L., 1994. "The costs of inefficient bargaining and financial distress *1: Evidence from corporate lawsuits," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 221-247, April.
    41. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:1:p:65-98 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Sanggyu Kang & Chune Young Chung & Amirhossein Fard, 2024. "Does geographic or market proximity matter? Evidence from institutional investor monitoring on earnings attributes in US cross‐listed stocks," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(2), pages 443-469, April.
    2. Kim, Taeyeon & Hwang, Hyoseok (David) & Kim, Hyun-Dong, 2023. "Do local investors know more? Evidence from securities class actions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    3. Liu, Lewis & Neupane, Suman & Zhang, Lei, 2022. "Firm location effect on underwriting, subscription, and underpricing: Evidence from IPOs in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Liu, Huan & Hou, Canran, 2023. "The impact of institutional investors' corporate site visits on corporate social responsibility," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    5. Ziwei Wang & Chunfeng Wang & Zhenming Fang, 2023. "Common institutional ownership and corporate misconduct," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 102-136, January.
    6. Li, Wanli & Lai, Yin & Zhong, Yufen, 2024. "The closer the better: Supplier geographic proximity and corporate information disclosure violation," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).

    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. Wang, Qin (Emma) & Zhang, Jun, 2023. "Local institutional investors and debt maturity," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Mazur, Mieszko & Salganik-Shoshan, Galla, 2017. "Teaming up and quiet intervention: The impact of institutional investors on executive compensation policies," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 65-83.
    3. Kang, Jun-Koo & Luo, Juan & Na, Hyun Seung, 2018. "Are institutional investors with multiple blockholdings effective monitors?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(3), pages 576-602.
    4. Sanggyu Kang & Chune Young Chung & Amirhossein Fard, 2024. "Does geographic or market proximity matter? Evidence from institutional investor monitoring on earnings attributes in US cross‐listed stocks," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(2), pages 443-469, April.
    5. Huang, Xiaoran & Kang, Jun-Koo, 2017. "Geographic concentration of institutions, corporate governance, and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 191-218.
    6. Edmans, Alex & Holderness, Clifford, 2016. "Blockholders: A Survey of Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 11442, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Andriosopoulos, Dimitris & Yang, Shuai, 2015. "The impact of institutional investors on mergers and acquisitions in the United Kingdom," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 547-561.
    8. Basnet, Anup & Davis, Frederick & Walker, Thomas & Zhao, Kun, 2021. "The effect of securities class action lawsuits on mergers and acquisitions," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    9. Ayers, Benjamin C. & Ramalingegowda, Santhosh & Eric Yeung, P., 2011. "Hometown advantage: The effects of monitoring institution location on financial reporting discretion," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 41-61, June.
    10. Chung, Chune Young & Hur, Seok-Kyun & Liu, Chang, 2019. "Institutional investors and cost stickiness: Theory and evidence," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 336-350.
    11. Wilson, Jared I., 2020. "The consequences of limiting shareholder litigation: Evidence from exclusive forum provisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Lu, Shengfeng & Sun, Yukun & Tian, Hui & Zhao, Yan, 2024. "Geographical proximity to government and corporate litigation behavior: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    13. Chung, Chune Young & Song, Jun Myung, 2024. "Institutional investors by nationality and long-term investor value appropriation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    14. Golbe, Devra L. & Nyman, Ingmar, 2013. "How do share repurchases affect ownership concentration?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 22-40.
    15. Dan Amiram & Zahn Bozanic & James D. Cox & Quentin Dupont & Jonathan M. Karpoff & Richard Sloan, 2018. "Financial reporting fraud and other forms of misconduct: a multidisciplinary review of the literature," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 732-783, June.
    16. Daeheon Choi & Paul Moon Sub Choi & Joung Hwa Choi & Chune Young Chung, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility: Evidence from the Role of the Largest Institutional Blockholders in the Korean Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-15, February.
    17. Lin, Hsien-Ping & Walker, M. Mark & Wang, Yung-Jang, 2020. "Shareholder wealth effects of corporate fraud: Evidence from Taiwan’s securities investor and futures trader protection act," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 222-243.
    18. Becker, Bo & Cronqvist, Henrik & Fahlenbrach, Rüdiger, 2011. "Estimating the Effects of Large Shareholders Using a Geographic Instrument," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(4), pages 907-942, August.
    19. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Ehlert, Sebastian & Schröder, Henning, 2021. "Institutional ownership and firm performance in the global shipping industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    20. Aharony, Joseph & Liu, Chelsea & Yawson, Alfred, 2015. "Corporate litigation and executive turnover," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 268-292.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Litigation; Institutional investors; Geography; Monitoring; Corporate governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process

    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:eee:finmar:v:40:y:2018:i:c:p:60-74. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/finmar .

    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.