Anand Jha's Research has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Banking & Finance

Anand Jha, Chair of the Department of Finance at the Mike Ilitch School of Business has had his paper, "US Political Corruption and Quarterly Conference Calls" accepted for publication in the Journal of Banking & Finance.

The research explores how managers in politically corrupt states use obfuscation during conference calls to protect assets from corrupt officials, especially in higher expropriation risk scenarios.

Abstract:

We find that managers obfuscate during conference calls when their firm's headquarters is in a politically corrupt state, and they do so to shield assets from corrupt officials. The positive association between corruption and obfuscation by managers is much stronger when the expropriation risks are higher, such as when the firm (a) does not pay dividends, (b) is making a profit, (c) has more cash, (d) has fewer subsidiaries, and (e) is not making any political contributions. We do not find evidence that managers obfuscate during conference calls to hide their self-dealing.

- Fahmida Khanom