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Stock Price Manipulation: Prevalence and Determinants

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  • Carole Comerton-Forde
  • Tālis J. Putniņš

Abstract

We empirically analyze the prevalence and economic underpinnings of closing price manipulation and its detection. We estimate that ∼1% of closing prices are manipulated, of which only a small fraction is detected and prosecuted. We find that stocks with high levels of information asymmetry and mid to low levels of liquidity are most likely to be manipulated. A significant proportion of manipulation occurs on month/quarter-end days. Manipulation on these days is more likely in stocks with high levels of institutional ownership. Government regulatory budget has a strong effect on both manipulation and detection.

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  • Carole Comerton-Forde & Tālis J. Putniņš, 2014. "Stock Price Manipulation: Prevalence and Determinants," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(1), pages 23-66.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:revfin:v:18:y:2014:i:1:p:23-66.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rof/rfs040
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    3. Cumming, Douglas & Dannhauser, Robert & Johan, Sofia, 2015. "Financial market misconduct and agency conflicts: A synthesis and future directions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 150-168.
    4. Cumming, Douglas & Ji, Shan & Peter, Rejo & Tarsalewska, Monika, 2020. "Market manipulation and innovation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    5. Atanasov, Vladimir & Davies, Ryan J. & Merrick, John J., 2015. "Financial intermediaries in the midst of market manipulation: Did they protect the fool or help the knave?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 210-234.
    6. Eray GEMICI & Mehmet CIHANGIR & Emre YAKUT, 2017. "Islem Bazli Manipulasyon: Turkiye Ornegi," Ege Academic Review, Ege University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, vol. 17(3), pages 369-380.
    7. Kruse, Timothy A. & Todd, Steven K., 2013. "Price manipulation at the NYSE and the 1899 battle for Brooklyn Rapid Transit shares," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 279-303, December.
    8. Robert Jarrow & Scott Fung & Shih-Chuan Tsai, 2018. "An empirical investigation of large trader market manipulation in derivatives markets," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 331-374, October.
    9. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Smyth, Russell, 2013. "Has political instability contributed to price clustering on Fiji's stock market?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 125-130.
    10. Aitken, Michael & Cumming, Douglas & Zhan, Feng, 2015. "High frequency trading and end-of-day price dislocation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 330-349.
    11. Cline, Brandon N. & Posylnaya, Valeriya V., 2019. "Illegal insider trading: Commission and SEC detection," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 247-269.
    12. Esen Onur & David Reiffen, 2018. "The effect of settlement rules on the incentive to Bang the Close," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(8), pages 841-864, August.
    13. Marta Khomyn, 2020. "Essays on Modern Market Structure," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 2-2020.
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    17. Foley, Sean & Kwan, Amy & Low, Siyuan Adrian & Svec, Jiri, 2018. "The rise before the close: Underwriter trading around SEOs," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 221-235.

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