Collaborative Research: The Extent and Underlying Cause(s) of Corporate Malfeasance in U.S. Corporations

目前，还没有研究为美国企业的渎职行为提供系统的解释，以及为什么它没有被政府监督机构及早发现。私人投资促进机构将探讨20世纪后半叶监管法律的变化是否允许公司特征发展为鼓励和奖励违规行为。具体地说，这项研究将调查工作渎职行为是否一直在稳步增加，近年来达到了最高水平。他们将首先通过对美国最大的500家公司进行单变量和双变量分析，随着时间的推移量化企业渎职的频率和种类。其次，他们将确定企业渎职的原因(S)。采购经理人假设，多层子公司公司形式的出现及其鼓励的违规行为是有责任的。使用离散时间事件历史分析和泊松回归，PI将被用来检验几个特定的假设。这项研究具有创新性，因为它解决了公司未被调查的方面，这些方面作为渎职的根本原因具有巨大的潜在重要性。这项研究还超越了以前对公司渎职行为的研究，这些研究不成比例地侧重于个人对渎职行为的贡献，只审查那些被认定为犯罪的社会行为，或者没有审查改变多层子公司公司形式的影响。研究结果有助于帮助我们更好地理解公司渎职行为，并提供基于证据的预防性监管政策变化将成为可能。如果企业渎职行为能够大幅减少或消除，整个社会将在经济上受益。最近的公司违规行为对美国经济和个人财务安全造成的损害是巨大的。为了确保从拟议的研究中获得最大利益，将通过在会议上介绍、在同行评议的期刊上发表以及分发给相关的政府监管机构来广泛传播研究结果。教和学将是研究的一个组成部分。例如，研究结果将包括在研究人员的学术和公开讲座中，本科生和研究生都将参与数据的开发。从历史上看，在首席研究员的研究项目中，来自代表性不足群体的学生数量一直不成比例地高。这样做的目的是继续采用这种招聘方式。

Currently there is not research that provides a systematic explanation for U.S. corporate malfeasance and why it has escaped early detection by governmental oversight agencies. The PIs will explore whether changes in regulatory law during the latter half of the 20th century have allowed corporate characteristics to develop that encourage and reward malfeasance. Specifically, the research will investigate whether working malfeasance has been steadily increasing, reaching its maximum in recent years. They will first quantify over time the frequency and kinds of corporate malfeasance by conducting univariate and bivariate analyses of the largest 500 U.S. corporations. Second they will identify the cause(s) of corporate malfeasance. The PIs hypothesize that the emergence of multilayer-subsidiary corporate form and the irregularities it encourages are responsible. Using discrete time event history analysis and Possion regression the PI will be used to test several specific hypotheses. The research is innovative in that it addresses under-investigated aspects of corporations that have great potential importance as the underlying causes of malfeasance. The study also extends beyond previous studies of corporate malfeasance, which disproportionately focused on the contributions of individuals to malfeasance, examined only those social acts that have been identified as a crime, or did not examine the effects of change to the multilayer-subsidiary corporate form. Research findings can contribute to helping us better understand corporate malfeasance and provide evidence-based changes in preventive regulatory policy will become possible. Society as a whole would benefit economically if corporate malfeasance could be substantially reduced or eliminated. The damage done to the U.S. economy and the financial security of individuals as a consequence of recent corporate malfeasance has been enormous. To assure maximal benefit from the proposed studies, the results will be disseminated widely through presentation at meetings, publication in peer reviewed journals, and distribution to relevant governmental regulators. Teaching and learning will be an integral part of the research. For example, the results will be included in the investigators' scholarly and public lectures, and both undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in developing the data. Historically, the numbers of students from underrepresented groups have been disproportionately high in the principal investigator's research programs. The intent is to continue that recruitment approach.