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Shareholder litigation rights and stock price crash risk

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  • Obaydin, Ivan
  • Zurbruegg, Ralf
  • Hossain, Md Noman
  • Adhikari, Binay Kumar
  • Elnahas, Ahmed

Abstract

We study the impact of shareholder-initiated litigation risk on a firm's stock price crash risk. Our empirical analysis takes advantage of the staggered adoption of universal demand laws, which led to an exogenous decline in derivative litigation risk. We find that a decline in the threat of derivative litigation reduces crash risk and that information hoarding associated with earnings management is a channel through which litigation risk affects crash risk. The relationship is also moderated by how exposed firms are to the other primary form of shareholder litigation, namely securities class-action lawsuits.

Suggested Citation

  • Obaydin, Ivan & Zurbruegg, Ralf & Hossain, Md Noman & Adhikari, Binay Kumar & Elnahas, Ahmed, 2021. "Shareholder litigation rights and stock price crash risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:66:y:2021:i:c:s0929119920302704
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2020.101826
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Shareholder litigation risk; Derivative lawsuits; Universal demand; Stock price crash risk; Securities class action lawsuits; Judge ideology;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law

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