[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/germec/v19y2018i3p309-329.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Benford and the Internal Capital Market: A Useful Indicator of Managerial Engagement

Author

Listed:
  • El Mouaaouy Florian

    (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München,Munich, Bavaria, Germany)

  • Riepe Jan

    (Eberhard-Karls University Tübingen,Tübingen, Germany)

Abstract
We propose the application of digit analysis using the Benford law to indicate managerial engagement in the capital allocation process. First, we motivate the potential of the Benford digit analysis to identify allocation outcomes that are shaped by human engagement instead of fixed decision rules. Second, we provide a case study to illustrate how the Benford digit analysis can be used to detect allocations affected by managerial interventions. We are unaware of any study applying the Benford test to internal capital markets, while this approach appears very useful in this context. It is commonly used in the auditing, financial accounting, and fraud detection literature.

Suggested Citation

  • El Mouaaouy Florian & Riepe Jan, 2018. "Benford and the Internal Capital Market: A Useful Indicator of Managerial Engagement," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 19(3), pages 309-329, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:19:y:2018:i:3:p:309-329
    DOI: 10.1111/geer.12129
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/geer.12129
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/geer.12129?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. Karl‐Heinz Tödter, 2009. "Benford's Law as an Indicator of Fraud in Economics," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 10(3), pages 339-351, August.
    2. Bernhard Rauch & Max Göttsche & Gernot Brähler & Stefan Engel, 2011. "Fact and Fiction in EU‐Governmental Economic Data," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 12(3), pages 243-255, August.
    3. Berger, Allen N. & Kick, Thomas & Koetter, Michael & Schaeck, Klaus, 2013. "Does it pay to have friends? Social ties and executive appointments in banking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2087-2105.
    4. Amiyatosh Purnanandam, 2011. "Originate-to-distribute Model and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(6), pages 1881-1915.
    5. Markus Glaser & Florencio Lopez-De-Silanes & Zacharias Sautner, 2013. "Opening the Black Box: Internal Capital Markets and Managerial Power," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(4), pages 1577-1631, August.
    6. Gopalan, Radhakrishnan & Nanda, Vikram & Seru, Amit, 2007. "Affiliated firms and financial support: Evidence from Indian business groups," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 759-795, December.
    7. Glaser, Markus & Riepe, Jan, 2014. "Internal capital market studies in empirical banking: Biases due to usage of assets instead of risk capital?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 47-53.
    8. Raghuram Rajan & Henri Servaes & Luigi Zingales, 2000. "The Cost of Diversity: The Diversification Discount and Inefficient Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 35-80, February.
    9. repec:bla:germec:v:10:y:2009:i::p:339-351 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. repec:bla:germec:v:11:y:2010:i::p:397-401 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Philipp Krüger & Augustin Landier & David Thesmar, 2015. "The WACC Fallacy: The Real Effects of Using a Unique Discount Rate," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(3), pages 1253-1285, June.
    12. Diekmann Andreas & Jann Ben, 2010. "Benford’s Law and Fraud Detection: Facts and Legends," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 11(3), pages 397-401, August.
    13. Dmytro Holod & Joe Peek, 2010. "Capital Constraints, Asymmetric Information, and Internal Capital Markets in Banking: New Evidence," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(5), pages 879-906, August.
    14. Comerton-Forde, Carole & Putnins, Talis J., 2011. "Measuring closing price manipulation," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 135-158, April.
    15. Güth Werner & Pull Kerstin & Stadler Manfred & Zaby Alexandra K., 2017. "Blindfolded vs. Informed Ultimatum Bargaining – A Theoretical and Experimental Analysis," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 18(4), pages 444-467, December.
    16. Stoughton, Neal & Zechner, Josef, 1999. "Optimal Capital Allocation Using RAROC And EVA," CEPR Discussion Papers 2344, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein, 2000. "The Dark Side of Internal Capital Markets: Divisional Rent‐Seeking and Inefficient Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(6), pages 2537-2564, December.
    18. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R., 2001. "The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2-3), pages 187-243, May.
    19. Christoph Watrin & Ralf Struffert & Robert Ullmann, 2008. "Benford’s Law: an instrument for selecting tax audit targets?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 219-237, November.
    20. Stoughton, Neal M. & Zechner, Josef, 2007. "Optimal capital allocation using RAROC(TM) and EVA(R)," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 312-342, July.
    21. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Puri, Manju, 2015. "Capital allocation and delegation of decision-making authority within firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 449-470.
    22. Das, Somnath & Zhang, Huai, 2003. "Rounding-up in reported EPS, behavioral thresholds, and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 31-50, April.
    23. K. J. Martijn Cremers & Rocco Huang & Zacharias Sautner, 2011. "Internal Capital Markets and Corporate Politics in a Banking Group," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(2), pages 358-401.
    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. Florian El Mouaaouy & Jan Riepe, 2018. "Benford and the Internal Capital Market: A Useful Indicator of Managerial Engagement," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 19(3), pages 309-329, August.
    2. Gatzer, Sebastian & Hoang, Daniel & Ruckes, Martin, 2015. "Internal Capital Markets and Diversified Firms: Theory and Practice," EconStor Preprints 169432, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    3. Hoang, Daniel & Gatzer, Sebastian & Ruckes, Martin E., 2018. "The economics of capital allocation in firms: Evidence from internal capital markets," Working Paper Series in Economics 115, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    4. Kim, Sehoon, 2020. "Disappearing Discounts: Hedge Fund Activism in Conglomerates," MPRA Paper 100876, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Li, Xinyu & Wang, Huacheng & Li, Rong, 2023. "A hidden channel of “blood transfusion”: Internal capital market subsidies and zombie firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(6).
    6. Qian, Xuesong & Kong, Dongmin & Du, Li, 2019. "Proximity, information, and loan pricing in internal capital markets: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 434-456.
    7. Marius Guenzel & Ulrike Malmendier, 2020. "Behavioral Corporate Finance: The Life Cycle of a CEO Career," NBER Working Papers 27635, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Malmendier, Ulrike M. & Guenzel, Marius, 2020. "Behavioral Corporate Finance: The Life Cycle of a CEO Career," CEPR Discussion Papers 15103, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Mazur, Mieszko & Salganik-Shoshan, Galla, 2019. "The effect of executive stock option delta and vega on the spin-off decision," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 132-144.
    10. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Puri, Manju, 2015. "Capital allocation and delegation of decision-making authority within firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 449-470.
    11. Ly, Kim Cuong & Liu, Frank Hong & Opong, Kwaku, 2018. "Can parents protect their children? Risk comparison analysis between affiliates of multi- and single-bank holding companies," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-10.
    12. Ulrike Malmendier, 2018. "Behavioral Corporate Finance," NBER Working Papers 25162, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Becker, Chris & Ossandon Busch, Matias & Tonzer, Lena, 2021. "Macroprudential policy and intra-group dynamics: The effects of reserve requirements in Brazil," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Schneider, C.A.R. & Spalt, Oliver, 2016. "Conglomerate investment, skewness, and the CEO long shot bias," Other publications TiSEM 5d9321e2-35ea-40f9-9eae-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    15. Philipp Krüger & Augustin Landier & David Thesmar, 2015. "The WACC Fallacy: The Real Effects of Using a Unique Discount Rate," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(3), pages 1253-1285, June.
    16. Tarun Mukherjee & Elisabeta Pana, 2018. "The distribution of the Capital Purchase Program funds: Evidence from bank internal capital markets," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 125-143, November.
    17. John R. Busenbark & Matthew Semadeni & Mathias Arrfelt & Michael C. Withers, 2022. "Corporate‐level influences on internal capital allocation: The role of financial analyst performance projections," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 180-209, January.
    18. Zhe Li & Oksana Pryshchepa & Bo Wang, 2023. "Financial experts on the top management team: Do they reduce investment inefficiency?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 198-235, January.
    19. Philipp Krüger & Augustin Landier & David Thesmar, 2015. "The WACC Fallacy: The Real Effects of Using a Unique Discount Rate," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(3), pages 1253-1285, 06.
    20. Randall Morck, 2011. "Finance and Governance in Developing Economies," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 375-406, December.

    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:bpj:germec:v:19:y:2018:i:3:p:309-329. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    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.