IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/reaccs/v25y2020i3d10.1007_s11142-020-09548-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does financial reporting misconduct pay off even when discovered?

Author

Listed:
  • Dan Amiram

    (Tel Aviv University)

  • Serene Huang

    (Columbia Business School)

  • Shiva Rajgopal

    (Columbia Business School)

Abstract

Experts and popular belief contend that it pays to engage in financial misconduct. We hand-collect data on three subsamples of severe misconduct cases, between 2003 and 2016: a sample of 37 (100) SEC enforcement actions (class action lawsuits) that explicitly allege fraud and a sample of 100 restatements with the most negative stock price reaction in which investors presumably suspect fraud. We then compare estimates of the benefits from reporting misconduct to top managers against estimates of the costs of its discovery. We find that 32.9% of perpetrators experience an overall net benefit from discovered misconduct. The percentage of officers who benefit is highest for the restatement subsample (43.5%), followed by the class action lawsuit subsample (27.7%), and is the lowest for the SEC enforcement subsample (8.1%). Stated differently, if we assume that the probability of detection is 31%, as conjectured in the literature, more than half of the perpetrators in our sample would benefit from engaging in financial reporting misconduct. Hence our evidence suggests that financial reporting misconduct can pay off for perpetrators.

Suggested Citation

  • Dan Amiram & Serene Huang & Shiva Rajgopal, 2020. "Does financial reporting misconduct pay off even when discovered?," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 811-854, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:reaccs:v:25:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11142-020-09548-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11142-020-09548-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11142-020-09548-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11142-020-09548-7?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Zingales, Luigi & Shapira, Roy, 2017. "Is Pollution Value-Maximizing? The DuPont Case," CEPR Discussion Papers 12323, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Jonathan M. Karpoff & D. Scott Lee & Gerald S. Martin, 2014. "The Consequences to Managers for Financial Misrepresentation," Springer Books, in: Roberto Pietra & Stuart McLeay & Joshua Ronen (ed.), Accounting and Regulation, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 339-375, Springer.
    4. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    6. Sah, Raaj K, 1991. "Social Osmosis and Patterns of Crime," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(6), pages 1272-1295, December.
    7. Dirk Jenter & Fadi Kanaan, 2015. "CEO Turnover and Relative Performance Evaluation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(5), pages 2155-2184, October.
    8. Dichev, Ilia D. & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2013. "Earnings quality: Evidence from the field," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 1-33.
    9. Anastasia A. Zakolyukina, 2018. "How Common Are Intentional GAAP Violations? Estimates from a Dynamic Model," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 5-44, March.
    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. Raghunandan, Aneesh, 2021. "Financial misconduct and employee mistreatment: evidence from wage theft," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 109863, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Karol Marek Klimczak & Alejo José G. Sison & Maria Prats & Maximilian B. Torres, 2022. "How to Deter Financial Misconduct if Crime Pays?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 205-222, August.
    3. Eugster, Nicolas & Kowalewski, Oskar & Śpiewanowski, Piotr, 2024. "Internal governance mechanisms and corporate misconduct," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. repec:ies:wpaper:f202208 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Yunchuan Sun & Xiaoping Zeng & Ying Xu & Hong Yue & Xipu Yu, 2024. "An intelligent detecting model for financial frauds in Chinese A‐share market," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 1110-1136, July.
    6. Amar, Moty & Chen, Ester & Gavious, Ilanit & Weihs, Hagit, 2022. "Financial reporting misconduct: Evidence from the field," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    7. Aneesh Raghunandan, 2021. "Financial misconduct and employee mistreatment: Evidence from wage theft," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 867-905, September.

    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. Bradley, Daniel & Gokkaya, Sinan & Liu, Xi & Xie, Fei, 2017. "Are all analysts created equal? Industry expertise and monitoring effectiveness of financial analysts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 179-206.
    2. Harris, Oneil & Karl, J. Bradley & Lawrence, Ericka, 2019. "CEO compensation and earnings management: Does gender really matters?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-14.
    3. Call, Andrew C. & Kedia, Simi & Rajgopal, Shivaram, 2016. "Rank and file employees and the discovery of misreporting: The role of stock options," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 277-300.
    4. Xu, Wenming & Xu, Guangdong, 2020. "Understanding public enforcement of securities law in China: An empirical analysis of the enforcement actions of the CSRC and its regional offices against informational misconduct," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Quentin Dupont & Jonathan M. Karpoff, 2020. "The Trust Triangle: Laws, Reputation, and Culture in Empirical Finance Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 217-238, May.
    6. Marie Herly & Nikolaj Niebuhr Lambertsen, 2023. "Restatement costs and reporting bias," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 91-117, January.
    7. Griffin, John M. & Kruger, Samuel & Maturana, Gonzalo, 2019. "Do labor markets discipline? Evidence from RMBS bankers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(3), pages 726-750.
    8. Zaman, Rashid, 2024. "When corporate culture matters: The case of stakeholder violations," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(1).
    9. John R. Graham, 2022. "Presidential Address: Corporate Finance and Reality," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(4), pages 1975-2049, August.
    10. Dyck, Alexander & Morse, Adair & Zingales, Luigi, 2023. "How pervasive is corporate fraud?," Working Papers 327, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    11. Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar & Pensiero, Domenico & Velayutham, Eswaran, 2021. "Corruption risk and stock market effects: Evidence from the defence industry," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Daron Acemoglu & Matthew O. Jackson, 2017. "Social Norms and the Enforcement of Laws," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 245-295.
    13. Galletta, Sergio, 2017. "Law enforcement, municipal budgets and spillover effects: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in Italy," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 90-105.
    14. Douglas Cumming & Lars Hornuf & Moein Karami & Denis Schweizer, 2023. "Disentangling Crowdfunding from Fraudfunding," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(4), pages 1103-1128, February.
    15. Ahlin, Christian & Kim, In Kyung & Kim, Kyoo il, 2021. "Who commits fraud? evidence from korean gas stations," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    16. Abdul‐Rahman Khokhar & Hesam Shahriari, 2022. "Is the SEC captured? Evidence from political connectedness and SEC enforcement actions," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2725-2756, June.
    17. Galiani, Sebastian & Jaitman, Laura & Weinschelbaum, Federico, 2020. "Crime and durable goods," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 146-163.
    18. Wang, Tracy Yue & Winton, Andrew, 2021. "Industry informational interactions and corporate fraud," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    19. Liu, Xiaodong & Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves & Lee, Lung-Fei, 2011. "Criminal Networks: Who is the Key Player?," Research Papers in Economics 2011:7, Stockholm University, Department of Economics.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Misconduct; Fraud; Misreporting; Penalty; Cost benefit; SEC; Restatements; Class action lawsuits;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • M40 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - General
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:spr:reaccs:v:25:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11142-020-09548-7. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.