Une étude universitaire récente a analysé s’il y avait une association (corrélation et non pas une relation de cause à effet) entre le comportement des hauts dirigeants, à l’extérieur de leur vie professionnelle, et la manipulation des données financières . 2 variables ont été étudiée à partir des données publiées sur les fraudes de corporations publiques au États-Unis.
En premier, les infractions légales telles que conduite en état d’ébriété, usage de drogue, violence domestique, billets de vitesse, etc., ce qui démontreraient une opinion peu élevée des lois et un manque de contrôle.
En deuxième, le goût du luxe (a possession d’une auto de luxe, bateau de luxe, avion) qui est un symptôme d’une frugalité faible.
Les conclusions:
CEOs (and CFOs) with prior legal infractions have a relatively high propensity to perpetrate fraud (i.e. named in the fraud), but no evidence that such CEOs are associated with changes in the corporate culture. In contrast, while unfrugal CEOs, as measured by the ownership of luxury goods, are not more likely than frugal CEOs to be named in fraud, the risk of fraudulent corporate reporting, the risk that other insiders are
named in fraud, and the risk of restatements caused by reporting errors all increase significantly over the tenure of unfrugal CEOs, consistent with the hypothesized loosening of the corporate culture during the reign of unfrugal CEOs (culture channel). Further, cultural factors associated with relatively high fraud
risk in the firms run by unfrugal CEOs increase significantly during the tenure of unfrugal CEOs. Specifically, over the tenure of unfrugal CEOs, we detect a significant increase in executives’ equitybased incentives, a significant decrease in board monitoring (as measured by stock compensation of outside directors and social connections between outside directors and the CEO), and a tendency to appoint an unfrugal CFO, consistent with the “loosening” of the culture. Further, we find the positive relation between fraud and the presence of a CFO with a record is significantly higher in firms run by unfrugal CEOs than in other firms.
Étude: Executives “Off-the-Job” Behavior, Corporate Culture, and financial reporting Risk
