Research

Research Interests

  • Determinants, economic consequences, and spillover effects of corporate misconduct

  • Regulatory enforcement and deterrence of corporate misconduct

Working Papers

(How) Do firms respond to rivals' corruption? Evidence from financial misstatements

(Job Market Paper - Solo Authored)

Abstract: This study examines whether the actions of corrupt firms affect peer firms’ financial misstatements. Using data on violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, I find that peer firms misstate their financial statements and increase their earnings during the years in which corrupt rivals bribe foreign officials to gain unfair performance advantages. The likelihood of such income-increasing misstatements is higher when non-bribing peers experience loss of income due to bribing rivals’ unfair gains, and when financial analysts compare bribing firms and non-bribing peers’ performance. These findings suggest that competitive disadvantage and relative performance evaluation pressure result in spillovers from one type of corporate misconduct (bribery) to another (financial misstatements). By documenting the spillover effects from corporate misconduct, I contribute to the limited evidence of externalities from corporate behavior, and provide new insights into how firms’ misconduct spreads.


  • Presentations: Accounting PhD Mini-Conference, 2020; FARS Midyear Meeting, 2019; Corporate Finance Annual Conference, 2018; XIV International Accounting Research Symposium, 2018; AAA Annual Meeting, 2018; EAA Annual Congress, 2018; EAA Doctoral Colloquium, 2018; NWSSDTP Job Market and Employability Skills Workshop, 2017; Emerging Researchers Consortium in Accounting, 2017.


How does regulatory monitoring affect contracting? Evidence from anti-bribery enforcement

(with Igor Goncharov)


  • Presentations: Swiss Accounting Research Alpine Camp, 2020; NWSSDTP Job Market and Employability Skills Workshop, 2018-2019; 1st Lancaster Alumni Conference, 2019; Emerging Researchers Consortium in Accounting, 2019.


Employees' financial wellness, productivity, and firms' myopic behavior

(with Lars Helge Haß , Paul Hribar, and Roberto Pinto)


  • Presentations: AAA Annual Meeting, 2020.

Work in Progress

Public oversight board inspections and audit quality in Europe

(Data collection and preliminary analyses)