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Journal of Accounting and Economics Vol. 55 No. 2-3 2013

The spillover effect of fraudulent financial reporting on peer firms' investments

Anne Beatty1,2; Scott Liao3; Jeff Jiewei Yu4

1 Fisher College · 2 The Ohio State University · 3 University of Toronto · 4 Southern Methodist University

open access

Abstract

We investigate how high-profile accounting frauds affect peer firms' investment. We document that peers react to the fraudulent reports by increasing investment during fraud periods. We show that this finding is not driven by frauds that have a higher ex ante likelihood of detection or by an association between fraud and investment booms. In addition, we find that peers’ investments increase in fraudulent earnings overstatements, and in industries with higher investor sentiment, lower cost of capital and higher private benefits of control. We also find evidence consistent with equity analysts potentially facilitating the spillover effect.

DOI
10.1016/j.jacceco.2013.01.003
Volume
55
Issue
2-3
Pages
183-205
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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