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The Geography of Financial Misconduct

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  • Christopher A. Parsons
  • Johan Sulaeman
  • Sheridan Titman

Abstract

We find that a firm's tendency to engage in financial misconduct increases with the misconduct rates of neighboring firms. This appears to be caused by peer effects, rather than exogenous shocks like regional variation in enforcement. Effects are stronger among firms of comparable size, and among CEOs of similar age. Moreover, local waves of financial misconduct correspond with local waves of non-financial corruption, such as political fraud.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher A. Parsons & Johan Sulaeman & Sheridan Titman, 2014. "The Geography of Financial Misconduct," NBER Working Papers 20347, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20347
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Irena Hutton & Danling Jiang & Alok Kumar, 2015. "Political Values, Culture, and Corporate Litigation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(12), pages 2905-2925, December.
    2. Zhu, Jigao & Ye, Kangtao & Tucker, Jennifer Wu & Chan, Kam (Johnny) C., 2016. "Board hierarchy, independent directors, and firm value: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 262-279.
    3. Chunhua Chen & Dequan Jiang & Weiping Li, 2023. "Keeping up with the CSR Joneses: The impact of industry peers on focal firms’ CSR performance," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Ding, David K. & Ferreira, Christo & Wongchoti, Udomsak, 2019. "The geography of CSR," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 265-288.
    5. Carosi, Andrea, 2016. "Do local causations matter? The effect of firm location on the relations of ROE, R&D, and firm SIZE with MARKET-TO-BOOK," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 388-409.
    6. Smith, Jared D., 2016. "US political corruption and firm financial policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 350-367.
    7. Ying Hao & Danni Han & Chong Ning & Jianhui Liao, 2021. "Culture from overseas and corporate transparency: Evidence from China," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 2491-2516, April.
    8. Sun, Fangcheng & Dutta, Shantanu & Zhu, Pengcheng & Ren, Wentao, 2021. "Female insiders' ethics and trading profitability," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    10. Kwon, Tae Yeon & Lee, Yoonjung, 2018. "Industry specific defaults," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 45-58.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G0 - Financial Economics - - General
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • R0 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General

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