Abstract

Following the global financial crisis wrought by fraudulent activities of prominent US companies and considering the field’s lack of understanding about precursors to such vast corporate illegalities, this study measured firm prominence and financial conditions to identify corporate-organizational factors related to twenty-first century corporate financial fraud. We compiled data on 250+ US public companies involved in corporate securities frauds identified in 1,000+ Securities and Exchange Commission filings over 2005–2013; we randomly selected a comparable control group of 500+ US public companies from Compustat. Based on logistic multivariate regression analyses, marginal profitability, a strong growth imperative, and firm prominence were significant fraud risk factors. Prominent Fortune 500 firms were more susceptible to marginal profitability and/or strong growth-opportunities as risk factors. Findings were robust to various empirical measures and additional controls for undetected fraud. Anomic growth pressures and profit constraints, especially among America’s most prestigious firms, were linked to corporate securities fraud.

摘要

继美国知名公司的欺诈活动引发全球金融危机之后，考虑到该领域对如此巨大的公司违法行为的前兆缺乏了解，本研究衡量了公司的知名度和财务状况，以确定与 21 世纪公司财务相关的公司组织因素欺诈罪。我们汇编了 250 多家美国上市公司的数据，这些公司在 2005 年至 2013 年的 1,000 多份证券交易委员会文件中发现了涉及公司证券欺诈行为；我们从 Compustat 中随机选择了一个由 500 多家美国上市公司组成的可比对照组。根据逻辑多元回归分析，边际盈利能力、强劲的增长需求和公司的突出地位是重要的欺诈风险因素。著名的财富 500 强公司更容易受到边际盈利能力和/或强劲增长机会作为风险因素的影响。调查结果对各种经验措施和未发现欺诈的额外控制是稳健的。异常增长压力和利润限制，尤其是在美国最负盛名的公司中，与公司证券欺诈有关。