IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v53y2023ics1544612322007954.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does litigation risk matter for managers’ asymmetric cost behavior?

Author

Listed:
  • Ra, Kyeongheum
  • Kim, Grace Goun

Abstract

This study examines the effect of litigation risk on firms’ asymmetric cost behavior. Using data on filings of securities class action lawsuits from 1999 to 2019, we find that firms’ asymmetric cost behavior increases with higher litigation risk. Furthermore, we find that the effect of litigation risk on cost stickiness is more pronounced in (1) labor-intensive firms, and (2) high-tech industries. Our study contributes to the literature by suggesting that litigation risk is a valuable determinant affecting firms’ asymmetric cost behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Ra, Kyeongheum & Kim, Grace Goun, 2023. "Does litigation risk matter for managers’ asymmetric cost behavior?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:53:y:2023:i:c:s1544612322007954
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2022.103619
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612322007954
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2022.103619?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark C. Anderson & Rajiv D. Banker & Surya N. Janakiraman, 2003. "Are Selling, General, and Administrative Costs “Sticky”?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 47-63, March.
    2. Agrawal, Ashwini K. & Matsa, David A., 2013. "Labor unemployment risk and corporate financing decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 449-470.
    3. Clara Xiaoling Chen & Hai Lu & Theodore Sougiannis, 2012. "The Agency Problem, Corporate Governance, and the Asymmetrical Behavior of Selling, General, and Administrative Costs," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 252-282, March.
    4. Kim, Irene & Skinner, Douglas J., 2012. "Measuring securities litigation risk," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 290-310.
    5. Kim, Jonghwan (Simon) & Ra, Kyeongheum, 2022. "Employee satisfaction and asymmetric cost behavior: Evidence from Glassdoor," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    6. Banker, Rajiv D. & Byzalov, Dmitri & Chen, Lei (Tony), 2013. "Employment protection legislation, adjustment costs and cross-country differences in cost behavior," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 111-127.
    7. Ping-Sheng Koh & Cuili Qian & Heli Wang, 2014. "Firm litigation risk and the insurance value of corporate social performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(10), pages 1464-1482, October.
    8. Durongkadej, Isarin & Wei, Siqi & Rao, Ramesh, 2021. "Shareholder litigation and the risk incentive effect of executive compensation: A re-examination," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    9. Blake Rayfield & Omer Unsal, 2021. "Institutional monitoring and litigation risk: Evidence from employee disputes," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 44(1), pages 81-119, April.
    10. Arena, Matteo P., 2018. "Corporate litigation and debt," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 202-215.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kim, Jonghwan (Simon) & Ra, Kyeongheum, 2022. "Employee satisfaction and asymmetric cost behavior: Evidence from Glassdoor," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    2. Thomas Guenther & Anja Riehl & Richard Rößler, 2014. "Cost stickiness: state of the art of research and implications," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 301-318, February.
    3. Wulung Li & Ramachandran Natarajan & Yan Zhao & Kenneth Zheng, 2021. "The effect of management control mechanisms through risk-taking incentives on asymmetric cost behavior," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 219-243, January.
    4. Zhang, Lu & Peng, Fei & Shan, Yuan George & Chen, Yiping, 2023. "CEO social capital and litigation risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    5. Thomas R. Loy & Sven Hartlieb, 2018. "Have estimates of cost stickiness changed across listing cohorts?," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 161-181, August.
    6. Li, Tongxia & Lu, Chun, 2022. "Stakeholder orientation and cost stickiness: Evidence from a natural experiment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    7. Xu, Hui & Chan, Kam C. & Na, Chaohong & Fang, Qiaoling, 2023. "The bright side of the internal labor market: Evidence from the labor cost stickiness of firms affiliated with privately owned business groups in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Cristiana Cattaneo & Gaia Bassani, 2020. "Sticky costs: le determinanti e le sfide per manager e accademici," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(Suppl. 1), pages 103-126.
    9. Li, Tongxia & Lu, Chun & Chen, Zhihua, 2023. "The unintended consequence of collateral-based financing: Evidence from corporate cost behavior," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    10. Mabel D Costa & Ahsan Habib, 2023. "Cost stickiness and firm value," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 235-273, June.
    11. Fangjun Wang & Lizhu Ma & Baojun Gao & Yang S Liu, 2024. "Does high-speed railway affect the cost behavior of tourism firms? Evidence from China," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(1), pages 212-235, February.
    12. Zhu, Bo & Chen, Yuguo & Cheng, Jia-Chi, 2023. "Business cycle and cost structure," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. Kitching, Karen & Mashruwala, Raj & Pevzner, Mikhail, 2016. "Culture and Cost Stickiness: A Cross-country Study," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 402-417.
    14. Mabel D. Costa & Ahsan Habib & Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan, 2021. "Financial constraints and asymmetric cost behavior," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 33-83, March.
    15. Lee, Eunsuh & Kim, Chaehyun & Leach-López, Maria A., 2021. "Banking competition and cost stickiness," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    16. Wu-Lung Li & Kenneth Zheng, 2017. "Product market competition and cost stickiness," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 283-313, August.
    17. SHINKAI, Takahide, 2023. "Exploratory Analysis of Cost Variation in Unlisted Companies : Focusing on Cost Stickiness and Cost Anti-stickiness," TDB-CAREE Discussion Paper Series E-2023-01, Teikoku Databank Center for Advanced Empirical Research on Enterprise and Economy, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    18. Tingyong Zhong & Fangcheng Sun & Haiyan Zhou & Jeoung Yul Lee, 2020. "Business Strategy, State-Owned Equity and Cost Stickiness: Evidence from Chinese Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, March.
    19. Jason V. Chen & Itay Kama & Reuven Lehavy, 2019. "A contextual analysis of the impact of managerial expectations on asymmetric cost behavior," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 665-693, June.
    20. Banker, Rajiv D. & Basu, Sudipta & Byzalov, Dmitri & Chen, Janice Y.S., 2016. "The confounding effect of cost stickiness on conservatism estimates," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 203-220.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Asymmetric cost behavior; Litigation risk; Labor intensity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:53:y:2023:i:c:s1544612322007954. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.