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A sentiment approach to the examination of corporate fraud. / CUHK electronic theses & dissertations collection

違規給企業帶來的主要後果是企業名譽的損失。然而,我們對以下問題卻知之甚少:企業在違規事件中是怎樣損失名譽的?為什麼同樣程度的違規給不同企業帶來的名譽損失卻不同?等等。本文綜合了來自犯罪學、財務學和社會心理學方面的文獻,把企業名譽定義為利益相關者對企業的情感,同時把違規事件看成是導致這種情感變化的誘因。 / 本文構建了一個綜合的理論模型,研究企業股東和企業自身的情感和情感變化。首先,本文提出,企業違規違反了股東對企業的道德期望和基本情感,使股東的情感發生偏移,並最終導致企業名譽的損失。在情感偏移的形成過程中,股東傾向于根據違規線索的診斷性特徵,把他們的基本情感用作透視鏡或者參照點來評價違規企業。第二,本文認為,違規企業通過在致歉公告中列出恢復性行動或語言,可以恢復股東對企業的基本情感並且減少企業名譽的損失。然而在情感恢復過程中,股東傾向于將恢復性行動或語言的心理距離與違規線索的心理距離進行比較,並據此調整他們對企業的評價和情感。第三,與其他違規企業相比,那些表達了愧疚感的違規企業在未來會約束自己的行為,降低了反復違規的傾向。但是隨著本次懲罰強度的不同,以及企業直接或間接地被懲罰經歷的不同,違規企業對本次懲罰的目的和道德意義的評價也會不同,並由此影響企業表達愧疚感的傾向。 / 本文的貢獻主要集中在以下四個方面。首先,通過強調情感在企業和股東關係中的重要性,豐富了關於公司治理的研究。第二,本文從情感視角去探討存在于股東和企業在資訊評價中各種的偏見,而這些偏見會影響他們對違規事件的情感和行為反應,以此拓展了集中於經濟視角的企業違規研究。第三,本文通過借鑒解釋層次理論中的觀點來研究企業恢復性行動和語言的特徵以及他們在股東情感恢復和企業榮譽恢復過程中的作用,這豐富了關於企業層的影像管理和危機管理研究。第四,本文通過強調企業內化懲罰在約束企業違規行為方面的作用,這對補充了關於懲罰的研究,並具有現實意義。 / A consequence of corporate fraud studied in the literature is reputational penalty on the fraud firm. However, little is known about how a fraud firm loses its reputation after the fraud incident and why firms receive different levels of reputational penalty given the same level of fraud severity. Integrating literatures from criminology, finance, and social psychology, this dissertation conceptualizes firm reputation as stakeholders’ (mainly shareholders here) sentiment toward the firm and a fraud incident as a trigger of shareholders’ sentiment changes. / In this dissertation, I develop an integrated model that examines the sentiment changes of shareholders and sentiment restoration efforts made by the fraud firms. In the first study, I propose that corporate fraud violates shareholders’ normative expectations and fundamental sentiments toward the fraud firm, which leads to shareholders’ sentiment deflection and subsequently propels them to implement behavioral penalty on the fraud firm, that is, reputational penalty. During the process of sentiment deflection, shareholders tend to use the fundamental sentiment that they have adapted to as reference points to evaluate the fraud firm, depending on the salience of the fraud incident and the salience of the fraud firm. In the second study, I argue that the fraud firm can restore shareholders’ sentiment and minimize its reputation loss by expressing restorative actions in public apology announcement. However, during the process of sentiment restoration, shareholders tend to adjust their evaluation of the firm based on the relative psychological distance of the restorative actions compared with that of the fraud cues and sentiment cues. The third study focuses on guilt sentiments of the fraud firm, which have been found to have long-term impact on the fraud firm by transforming their future behaviors. I propose that fraud firms that express guilt sentiments after fraud punishment are more likely to restrain from repeated fraudulent behaviors in the future. However, variations in punishment intensity, together with the fraud firms’ direct and indirect punishment experiences, will influence their tendency to express guilt sentiments. / This dissertation aims to offer several contributions. First, by underscoring the importance of sentiment in the firm-shareholder relationship, it contributes to the corporate governance literature that mainly uses cognitive frameworks in the analysis. Second, it takes a sentiment approach to explore various biases embedded in shareholders’ and the firm’s evaluation of the informational cues that could influence their sentimental and behavioral reactions to the fraud incident, thus extending the corporate fraud literature that predominantly focuses on economics perspectives. Third, by examining the characteristics of firms’ restorative actions and languages and their effects on shareholders’ sentiment restoration and firm reputational repair, this dissertation contributes to the literatures of corporate turnaround and organizational-level impression management. Finally, it also contributes to the punishment literature by highlighting the internal transformation of the fraud firms, thus providing implications to stock exchange regulator and policy-makers in emerging economies. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Xu, Yuehua. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-137). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.I / CHINESE ABSTRACT --- p.III / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.V / LIST OF TABLES --- p.IX / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.X / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Motivation and Research Questions --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Theoretical Framework and Premise --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3 --- Contributions --- p.9 / Chapter 1.4 --- Organization of the Dissertation --- p.11 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- STUDY ONE: A SENTIMENT MODEL OF FIRM REPUTATIONAL PENALTY FOLLOWING CORPORATE FRAUD --- p.13 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2 --- Theoretical Background --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Corporate Fraud and Reputational Penalty --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Sentiment --- p.19 / Chapter 2.3 --- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Re-conceptualization of Firm Reputation and Theoretical Framework --- p.21 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Stimuli - Sentimental Reaction - Behavior: The Process from Fraud Detection to Reputational Penalty --- p.26 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Adaptive Levels of Moral Sentiment and Sentiment Rigidity --- p.28 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- The Moderating Effects of Cue Diagnosticity and Firm Visibility --- p.30 / Chapter 2.4 --- Methods --- p.34 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Empirical Setting --- p.34 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.35 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Measurement --- p.37 / Chapter 2.5 --- Results --- p.45 / Chapter 2.6 --- Discussion --- p.56 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- STUDY TWO: FIRM RESTORATIVE EFFORTS AND REPUTATIONAL REPAIR AFTER CORPORATE FRAUD --- p.59 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.59 / Chapter 3.2 --- Theoretical Background --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Firm Efforts to Turn Around from Fraud Incidents --- p.61 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Apology --- p.63 / Chapter 3.3 --- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses --- p.65 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Sentiment Restoration and Pragmatic Attitudes toward Restorative Efforts --- p.65 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- The Construal Level of Restorative Cues --- p.68 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- The Distance of Problem Cues: The Delay of Punishment --- p.70 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Shareholders’ Negative Sentimental Reaction: Media Negative Comments --- p.72 / Chapter 3.4 --- Methods --- p.74 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.74 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Measurement --- p.75 / Chapter 3.5 --- Results --- p.79 / Chapter 3.6 --- Discussion --- p.84 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- STUDY THREE: THE EFFECTS OF PUNISHMENT ON FRAUD FIRMS’ GUILT SENTIMENT EXPRESSION --- p.86 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.86 / Chapter 4.2 --- Theoretical Background: Punishment --- p.88 / Chapter 4.3 --- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses --- p.90 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- The Expression of Guilt Sentiment and Repeated Fraud --- p.91 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Punishment Intensity and Guilt Sentiment --- p.93 / Chapter 4.3.3 --- Normalization: The Moderating Effects of Direct and Indirect Punishment Experience --- p.95 / Chapter 4.4 --- Methods --- p.98 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.98 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Measurement --- p.99 / Chapter 4.5 --- Results --- p.102 / Chapter 4.6 --- Discussion --- p.110 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.111 / Chapter 5.1 --- Conclusion --- p.111 / Chapter 5.2 --- Contributions to Theory and Practice --- p.112 / Chapter 5.3 --- Limitations and Implications for Future Research --- p.115 / REFERENCES --- p.117

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:cuhk.edu.hk/oai:cuhk-dr:cuhk_328306
Date January 2012
ContributorsXu, Yuehua, Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School. Division of Business Administration.
Source SetsThe Chinese University of Hong Kong
LanguageEnglish, Chinese
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, bibliography
Formatelectronic resource, electronic resource, remote, 1 online resource (x, 137 leaves) : ill.
RightsUse of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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