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Anchored by reliability, swayed by institutional forces: Cybersecurity risk deviance from industry norms and its contingencies on risk and volatility

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  • Patel, Pankaj C.

Abstract

Drawing on institutional theory and high reliability theory we address the critical yet underexplored research question: How does a firm’s deviation from industry norms in cybersecurity risk influence its future cybersecurity risk exposure, and to what extent is this relationship moderated by non-political risk, political risk, and implied volatility? Using fixed-effects regressions, results show that (i) there is a negative relationship between cybersecurity risk deviance and future cyber risk scores; (ii) a firm’s exposure to higher political risk or lower implied volatility enhances the negative effect of deviance on future cyber risk; and (iii) however, the higher nonpolitical risk does not exhibit a significant moderating effect on the relationship between deviance and future cyber risk scores. The robustness of these findings is substantiated through various checks, including corrections for potential endogeneity.This study contributes to the current body of knowledge on cybersecurity and/or strategic management.

Suggested Citation

  • Patel, Pankaj C., 2025. "Anchored by reliability, swayed by institutional forces: Cybersecurity risk deviance from industry norms and its contingencies on risk and volatility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:199:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325003662
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115543
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    References listed on IDEAS

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