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Criminal convictions and risk taking

Author

Listed:
  • Eli Amir

    (Tel Aviv University, Israel; City University London, UK)

  • Juha-Pekka Kallunki

    (University of Oulu, Finland)

  • Henrik Nilsson

    (Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden)

Abstract

An analysis of a proprietary dataset reveals that non-trivial proportions of directors, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Chief Financial Officers in Swedish listed companies have been convicted or suspected of crimes. Based on prior literature, we argue that directors and senior executives who have been convicted or suspected of crimes are more prone to take risk. Consistent with this argument, we find that firms with more criminally convicted/suspected directors and CEOs report more volatile earnings, engage more in goodwill writeoffs due to more unsuccessful acquisitions, and recognize bad news in earnings in a less timely manner. We also find that these firms are, on average, smaller and less profitable. These findings highlight the role personal characteristics of directors and senior management play in managerial decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Eli Amir & Juha-Pekka Kallunki & Henrik Nilsson, 2014. "Criminal convictions and risk taking," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 39(4), pages 497-523, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:39:y:2014:i:4:p:497-523
    DOI: 10.1177/0312896213513276
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Raudah Siman & Rina Fadhilah Ismail* & Zanariah Aziz@ Omar & Zuraidah Mohd Zam, 2018. "Board of Directors and Environmental Reporting: Evidence From Plantation Industry," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, pages 916-925:5.
    2. Karen Benson & Peter M Clarkson & Tom Smith & Irene Tutticci, 2015. "A review of accounting research in the Asia Pacific region," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 40(1), pages 36-88, February.
    3. Jennifer Gippel & Tom Smith & Yushu Zhu, 2015. "Endogeneity in Accounting and Finance Research: Natural Experiments as a State-of-the-Art Solution," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 51(2), pages 143-168, June.
    4. Ahsan Habib & Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan, 2016. "Problem directors on the audit committee and financial reporting quality," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 121-144, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Accounting conservatism; corporate governance; criminal convictions; earnings volatility; goodwill writeoffs; risk;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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