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Journal of Corporate Finance Vol. 51 2018

Does crackdown on corruption reduce stock price crash risk? Evidence from China

Yunsen Chen1; Yuan Xie2; Hong You1; Yanan Zhang1

1 Central University of Finance and Economics · 2 Fordham University

Abstract

This study examines whether crackdown on political corruption in China affects future stock price crashes. Using data from corruption-related prosecutions, we find that firms under prosecuted official jurisdictions experience a significant decrease in crash risk after the crackdown. Cross-sectional tests show that results are more pronounced for firms with higher political dependence on governments and for firms with worse information environment. Moreover, channel tests provide direct evidence that crackdown decreases crash risk by reducing political risk and bad news hoarding. Overall, our study offers novel evidence on how crackdown on corruption benefits firms.

DOI
10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2018.05.005
Volume
51
Pages
125-141
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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