Religion and stock price crash risk

Authors Callen, Fang
Journal Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis
Year 2015
Type Published Paper
Abstract This study examines whether religiosity at the county level is associated with future stock price crash risk. We find robust evidence that firms headquartered in counties with higher levels of religiosity exhibit lower levels of future stock price crash risk. This finding is consistent with the view that religion,as a set of social norms, helps to curb bad-news-hoarding activities by managers. Our evidence further shows that the negative relation between religiosity and future crash risk is stronger for riskier firms and for firms with weaker governance mechanisms measured by shareholder takeover rights and dedicated institutional ownership.
Keywords Religion, social norms, stock crash, corporate governance
URL https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022109015000046
Tags Archival Empirical  |   Asset Pricing, Trading Volume and Market Efficiency  |   Manager / Firm Behavior