Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Fraud examination'

This thesis considers the extent to which ‘fraud unravels all’ explains the judicial response to fraudulent marine insurance claims and fraud in documentary credit transactions. The simplicity of the maxim suggests that fraud does not unduly trouble the courts and gives the impression of a uniform and deterrent approach to fraud within the civil law. The comparison made in this thesis demonstrates this impression to be misleading; the courts have conceived of fraud differently and have employed context-specific policy concerns to justify the shape of each fraud rule. The insurance discussions are dominated by deterrence with legal sanctions placed at the heart of the model. By contrast, the trade finance courts adopt a more laissez-faire attitude which prioritises the efficiency of the credit mechanism and considers deterrence an ex ante issue for the parties. Accordingly, this thesis examines the respective policy justifications and considers their continued validity in light of comparative and empirical evidence. In the insurance context, it is argued that the judicial understanding of deterrence is outdated which renders the resulting legal rule ineffective. An examination of approaches to fraud in other jurisdictions then demonstrates the possibility of constructing a more nuanced remedial framework which would balance the competing policy considerations of deterrence and proportionality. The documentary credit discussion contends that the narrow English approach to fraud is not an inevitable policy decision and moreover, has resulted in detrimental consequences for the credit mechanism. It employs empirical data to develop an explanation of deterrence for the duration of credit transactions. In both contexts, these arguments have important implications for the future development of the law. In summary, this research undermines the utility of ‘fraud unravels all’ and calls instead for courts and academics to resist instinctively attractive solutions in favour of a robust, empirically-informed approach to fraud.

Between the years 1998 and 2002, the United States suffered a time in which several large companies engaged in fraudulent behavior which eroded investor confidence in the stock market and to some extent destabilized the economy. Audits, which were conducted to assess the validity and reliability of a company's financial statements, were not detecting the material misstatements in the statements. As a result, both the US Government and the accounting profession needed to come up with a way to prevent these immense frauds from occurring in the future. As a response to these large frauds, in 2002, the US Government passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) issued Statement on Auditing Standards No. 99(SAS No. 99) to improve investor confidence and the auditing function's ability to detect material frauds. The intent of this thesis was to look at the fraudulent factors associated with several recent corporate frauds and compare them to the standards set by SAS No. 99. Through the analysis conducted, this thesis looks at the relationships between pressures, opportunities, and rationalizations made during the act of fraud.<br>B.S.B.A.<br>Bachelors<br>Business Administration<br>Accounting

Fraud risk assessment is an important audit process that has a direct impact on the effectiveness of auditors' fraud detection in an audit. However, prior literature has shown that auditors are generally poor at assessing fraud risk. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) suggests that auditors may improve their fraud risk assessment performance by adopting a fraud specialist mindset. A fraud specialist mindset is a special way of thinking about accounting records. While auditors think about the company's recorded transactions in terms of the availability of supporting documentations and the authenticity of the audit trail, fraud specialists think instead of accounting records in terms of the authenticity of the events and activities that are behind the reported transactions. Currently there is no study that has examined the effects of the fraud specialist mindset on auditors' fraud risk assessment performance. In addition, although recent studies have found that fraud specialists are more sensitive than auditors in discerning fraud risk factors in situation where a high level of fraud risk is present, it remains unclear whether the same can be said for situation where the risk of fraud is low. Thus, the purpose of my dissertation is to examine the effects of fraud specialist and audit mindsets on fraud risk assessment performance. In addition, I examined such effects on fraud risk assessment performance in both high and low fraud risk conditions. The contributions of my dissertation include being the first to experimentally examine how different mindsets impact fraud-related judgment. The results of my study have the potential to help address the PCAOB's desire to improve auditors' fraud risk assessment performance though the adoption of the fraud specialist mindset. In addition, my study contributes to the literature by exploring fraud-related problem representation as a possible mediator of mindset on fraud risk assessment performance. I executed my dissertation by conducting an experiment in which mindset (fraud specialist or audit) was induced prior to the completion of an audit case (high or low in fraud risk). A total of 85 senior-level accounting students enrolled in two separate auditing classes participated in my study. The results from my experimental provide empirical support that it is possible to improve auditors' fraud risk assessment through adapting the fraud specialist mindset. My study also provides preliminary evidence that individuals with the fraud specialist mindset developed different problem representations than those with the audit mindset.

The thesis deals with the forensic investigation whose aim is to reveal fraudulent behavior and evaluate internal control system. The first part of the thesis describes the most common types of fraud and defines key circumstances leading to fraudulent behavior. Further the forensic investigation and its output is discussed in detail. Also all the parts of the investigation are described with the specific options which can be used by an investigator to obtain enough information and achieve his goal. In conclusion, two real forensic investigations are described. Those two cases represent a check of entrusted funds usage. Finally, the outcomes of these investigations are evaluated and compared.

E-banking offers a number of advantages to financial institutions, including convenience in terms of time and money. However, criminal activities in the information age have changed the way banking operations are performed. This has made e-banking an area of interest. The growth of cybercrime - particularly hacking, identity theft, phishing, Trojans, service denial attacks and account takeover- has created several challenges for financial institutions, especially regarding how they protect their assets and prevent their customers from becoming victims of cyber fraud. These criminal activities have remained prevalent due to certain features of cyber, such as the borderless nature of the internet and the continuous growth of the computer networks. Following these identified challenges for financial institutions, this study examines e-banking fraud prevention and detection in the Nigerian banking sector; particularly the current nature, impacts, contributing factors, and prevention and detection mechanisms of e-banking fraud in Nigerian banking institutions. This study adopts mixed research methods with the aid of descriptive and inferential analysis, which comprised exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for the quantitative data analysis, whilst thematic analysis was used for the qualitative data analysis. The theoretical framework was informed by Routine Activity Theory (RAT) and Fraud Management Lifecycle Theory (FMLT). The findings show that the factors contributing to the increase in e-banking fraud in Nigeria include ineffective banking operations, internal control issues, lack of customer awareness and bank staff training and education, inadequate infrastructure, presence of sophisticated technological tools in the hands of fraudsters, negligence of banks' customers concerning their e-banking account devices, lack of compliance with the banking rules and regulations, and ineffective legal procedure and law enforcement. In addition, the enforcement of rules and regulations in relation to the prosecution of financial fraudsters has been passive in Nigeria. Moreover, the findings also show that the activities of each stage of fraud management lifecycle theory are interdependent and have a collective and considerable influence on combating e-banking fraud. The results of the findings confirm that routine activity theory is a real-world theoretical framework while applied to e-banking fraud. Also, from the analysis of the findings, this research offers a new model for e-banking fraud prevention and detection within the Nigerian banking sector. This new model confirms that to have perfect prevention and detection of e-banking fraud, there must be a presence of technological mechanisms, fraud monitoring, effective internal controls, customer complaints, whistle-blowing, surveillance mechanisms, staff-customer awareness and education, legal and judicial controls, institutional synergy mechanisms of in the banking systems. Finally, the findings from the analyses of this study have some significant implications; not only for academic researchers or scholars and accounting practitioners, but also for policymakers in the financial institutions and anti-fraud agencies in both the private and public sectors.

The major topic of this thesis is explanation of the idiom Fraud examination. It is based on comparison to standard financial audit in sense of verification of the financial statements of the company by independent auditor. There are also described the most common ways of business criminality which are divided by the principle of their commitment -- corruption, asset misappropriation and financial statement fraud. Subsequently there are described basic methods of forensic examination, requirements set on fraud examiners, tools used by examiner during his examination and conclusion of the fraud examination. Next part of the thesis introduces statistics of fraud occurrence in the USA and in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The very last part of the thesis deals with particular forensic examination which took place in Czech television in 2000.

In recent years, the accounting profession has faced increased scrutiny because of scandals involving management fraud (e.g., Enron, WorldCom). In response, Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) #99 has expanded auditors' responsibility for detecting fraud, requiring auditors to gather significantly more information in their assessment of fraud. In addition, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) will focus on fraud detection through their inspections of registered accounting firms. In light of the increased emphasis on auditors' responsibility for detecting fraud, public accounting firms face the challenge of improving their fraud detection process, including their assessment of management fraud risk. Decision aids are one way for auditors to improve their assessment of management fraud risk. In fact, several studies from the decision aid literature suggest that aids are useful tools for a variety of tasks, including fraud risk assessment. At the same time, another stream of the decision aid reliance literature, which looks at people's willingness to rely on decision aids, suggests that individuals tend to be reluctant to accept the output given by an aid. Thus, the primary focus of this paper is on uncovering factors that would encourage one to voluntarily use and rely upon a decision aid. Toward that end, 132 senior-level auditors participated in an experiment that examined how several factors (confidence, perceived usefulness, client size, and conformity pressure) affect decision aid usage and reliance. The results show that perceived usefulness and decision aid reliance are significantly related. Further, the results suggest that perceived usefulness affects reliance more than variables examined in prior studies (e.g., confidence). Finally, the results suggest that decision aid usage mediates the relationship between perceived usefulness and reliance. The results of the current study have important implications for research in both the information systems and decision aid reliance areas. First, the study shows that perceived usefulness, a significant construct from the technology acceptance model (TAM) literature, is also a significant factor in determining decision aid usage and reliance. Second, the study further delineates how certain factors affect decision aid reliance.

Since the start of the 21st century the terms identity theft and identity fraud have been used to describe a variety of crimes which appear both new and unique to the 21st century. So much so, that the government is in the process of re-introducing a National Identity Card Scheme to tackle the problem. But are identity theft and identity fraud uniquely 21st century problems, and is a new Identity Card Scheme going to prevent these crimes? The study seeks to examine identity theft and identity fraud and determine what these crimes are, and to distinguish between the two. In order to do this, the study will examine the different definitions used in America, Australia and the U.K. as well as the history of identity related crime. The use of identity theft and identity fraud by organised crime, illegal immigration and terrorism will also be discussed. This examination of identity theft and identity fraud includes an explanation of the differences between modern and traditional identity related crimes and the various methods used to gather information on people's identities. The study also looks at ways of researching identity related crime. As part of the research process, simulated identity theft was developed as a research approach. The use of this research method and the ethical and legal consideration associated with it are discussed at length as is the use of the internet as a source of information. The study concludes with an analysis of the role of the National Identity Card Scheme in preventing identity related crime, and the potential benefits and drawbacks of reintroducing a National Identity Card Scheme.

It is a well-known fact that international trade contracts bear inherently more risk than the trade contracts entered by the parties from the same country. This is due to the differences in business methods and practices used, trade cultures of the parties involved, laws and regulations in the respective jurisdictions. Under these circumstances, it is very important for the seller to have the assurance of that he receives the payment for the goods dispatched and for the buyer to receive the goods what has been ordered. One effective way of having such an assurance is to rely on a letter of credit as an international payment method. But for exporters in particular, this payment method has presented difficulties in meeting the compliance requirements necessary for the payment to be triggered. The UCP 600 published by the International Chamber of Commerce provide the rules that govern letters of credit transactions. At the introduction of the UCP 600, it was aimed to remove wording that could lead to inconsistent application and interpretation, as against the language and style used in the previous version, namely the UCP 500. Highlighting the experiences under UCP 500, the ultimate focus of the revision of the UCP was to minimise the level of litigations that had arisen under the rules provided in the UCP. In several surveys, it has been reported that, nearly 50% of the first presentation for payment under letters of credit are rejected by the banks. This situation implies the fact that the provisions which cover letters of credit transactions are not either clear enough or well understood by the parties involved. Similarly, the decisions made by Courts around the world on issues related to letters of credit have taken different approaches when applying and interpreting the rules. This can clearly be seen by a myriad of controversial judicial standards which have been applied to similar mistakes in documents presented to the bank for payment. This thesis is an investigation into those issues to find out the optimal standards that could be applied to solve the said problems. In doing so, this thesis will strive to ascertain what remedial measures could be taken to address the issues related to examination of documents, the rejection of payment and fraud exception. Key words: International Trade, International Trade Law, Law of Letters of Credit, Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credit 600, Examination of Documents and communicating the decision.

This study seeks primarily to examine three Scandinavian examples of the documentary novel. Initially I endeavour to isolate certain purported characteristics of the genre as a whole by considering which aspects of a narrative have prompted the critics to call it a 'documentary novel'. I then examine the three works in detail, applying standard techniques of literary criticism and comparing the facts on which the novels are based with the novels themselves to determine what makes them 'documentary' and what makes them 'novels'. The three novels share common techniques and all deal with the subject of Scandinavian polar exploration, but the author's relationship and attitude to the facts he has at hand are sufficiently different in each instance to permit a discussion of the literary form, ambitions and potential of the 'documentary novel'. The evidence suggests that the documentary novel uses authentic historical material but presents it through the techniques and forms of creative literature: the novelists adapt documented facts to support a view of a history which typically differs from accepted tradition. I then show that the conclusions to which this unorthodox view points, however, are invariably the same as those the authors draw about life in their other, non-documentary fictional works. Finally I demonstrate how the documentary novel is a fluid form which can be used in the service of fact, fiction or fraudulent propaganda, and I suggest a definition that embraces the three novels examined and the three kinds of documentary fiction that they represent.

Over the last 250 years, insurance law has become insurer biased to the detriment of consumers and modern business. Codification of judicial precedents and business practices resulted in the Marine Insurance Act 1906. There have been two attempts since the late 1950s to recommend changes, with reviews made by the English Law Reform Committee and the Law Commission in 1980. In the late 1970s, the insurance industry bought itself out of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977. In 1981, non-legal changes came gradually with the introduction of the Insurance Ombudsman Bureau, which took account of the law but followed best practice. With each decade that has passed, changes in practice have deviated away from the strict legal position. The insurer no longer has an agent to arrange policies, collect premiums and complete claims forms. The late 1980s and early to mid-1990s saw the introduction of distance selling via the telephone. The late 1990s, and early into 2000, saw the massive boom in Internet sales, with search engines focused on finding the best competitively priced quotes from insurers; however, the reforms that were needed still did not occur. The Marine Insurance Act 1906 still applied and formed the basis of insurance law for many common law countries which copied the statue verbatim. As a result, these countries also had similar problems as those suffered by the insured in the UK; however, some have undergone bold reforms, as in the case of Australia, unlike the UK, which has lagged behind significantly. The Scottish Law Commission and the Law Commission instigated a joint root-andbranch review of insurance law in 2006, as a result of a British Insurance Law Association paper (Insurance Contract Law Reform and Recommendations to the Law Commission (2002)) that highlighted the discrepancies in the law towards the insured. Unfortunately, however, the Commissions chose to focus on only certain areas. This thesis does not cover these aspects. It is concerned, however, with what could broadly be termed 'good faith', the corresponding duties vis-à-vis the insured and the insurer pre- and post-contract where the insured suffers disproportionately due to the way the law has developed pro-insurer biased. This body of work supporting the award of a PhD examines these corresponding duties where the articles form a basis of a contemporary, critical examination of these duties, and develops suggestions as to how the joint Law Commissions of England and Scotland should have approached changes.

This thesis aims to describe a process framework suitable for conducting digital forensics investigation projects as support for forensic audit. Selection of existing digital forensics investigation framework was a subject of criterial comparison. Described new framework is a result of combination and enhancement of those frameworks, which were suitable for the characteristics of forensic audit. Thesis also discusses digital forensics methods for fraud examination and risk assessment as a part of external audit.

L’économie des contrats complets prédit qu’au sein d’une relation d’agence d’une organisation productive, en présence d’aléa moral, un dispositif de vérification de l’information permet de répondre à la fois à un problème de coopération entre les individus et à un problème de coordination des activités. Cependant, au lieu de discipliner des comportements opportunistes, ce dispositif peut engendrer des coûts cachés et réduire la motivation intrinsèque des agents à réaliser une activité qui leur a été attribuée. Sous certaines conditions, il génère une réduction de l’activité, et une perte en termes d’allocation ce qui nuit à l’efficacité.Dans cette thèse de doctorat, nous avons conduit trois expérimentations contrôlées de terrain avec assignation aléatoire qui visaient à modifier les configurations du dispositif de vérification de l’information afin de résoudre un problème organisationnel propre à trois relations d’agence particulières.Dans notre premier chapitre, nous avons testé l’effet de la variation de la quantité d’informations détenues par les cotisants sur le dispositif de vérification de la déclaration sociale grâce à des messages ciblés contenant des explications sur le pouvoir de contrôle de l’Agence centrale des organismes de sécurité sociale (Acoss) afin de réduire la fraude sociale.Dans notre deuxième chapitre, nous avons testé la réduction de l’intensité de la surveillance électronique de la performance des conseillers d’un centre d’appels sous-traitants afin d’améliorer leur qualité de vie au travail.Enfin, dans notre troisième chapitre, nous avons testé l’effet de la négociation contractuelle du dispositif d’évaluation de la participation des étudiants de licence pendant les travaux dirigés afin d’améliorer leur réussite à l’université<br>Economics of complete contracts foresees that within an agency relationship of a productive organization, in the presence of moral hazard, an information check device can address both a problem of cooperation between individuals and a problem of coordination of activities. However, instead of disciplining opportunistic behaviours, this device can generate hidden costs and reduce the intrinsic motivation of agents to perform an activity that has been assigned to them. Under certain conditions, it generates a reduction of the outcome, and a loss in terms of allocation, which is detrimental to efficiency.In this Ph.D. thesis, we conducted three randomized controlled field trials that aimed at modifying the configurations of the information check device to solve an organizational problem specific to three specific agency relationships.In our first chapter, we tested the effect of varying the amount of information held by contributors on the social reporting verification device through targeted messages containing explanations of the control power of the Agence centrale des organisations de sécurité sociale (Acoss) in order to reduce social fraud.In our second chapter, we tested the reduction in the intensity of the electronic monitoring of the performance of advisors of an outsourced call centre in order to improve their quality of life at work.Finally, in our third chapter, we tested the effect of the contractual negotiation of the device which evaluate the participation of undergraduate students during the tutorials in order to improve their success at the university

Bibliography: pages 143-163.<br>The general aim of this thesis is to provide an exposition and critical analysis of aspects of the political philosophy of Erich Fromm. As such it is a study in systematic political theory. The specific objective of the thesis is an investigation of the way in which Fromm redefines Marx's historical materialism by recourse to Freud's psychological theory in an effort to comprehend the relationship between the economic substructure (base) and the ideological and cultural superstructure more adequately. In so doing, it critically examines the following problematic: In what way did Fromm synthesize Freudian psychological insights with a Marxist sociology, and how were the concepts of both Marx and Freud transformed in the process? In chapter 1 the origins and background to Fromm's synthesis is examined. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with Fromm's concept of social character and the social unconscious as an attempted synthesis of Marx and Freud. Chapter 4 is a close examination of Fromm's concept of human nature. The main focus of the thesis is on Fromm's thought as an unorthodox amalgamation of Marx and Freud. It indicates how Fromm, working from an initial Freudian position reworked and revised Freud so as to better accommodate his psychoanalytical insights within a basically Marxian sociology. With respect to the Marxian component of Fromm's synthesis the thesis contrasts Fromm's use of Marx with that of the then prevailing theories of the Second and Third Internationals. It demonstrates how Fromm's emphasis and use of the Hegelian elements in the works of the younger Marx distinguish him from these theorists and how it was also due to these Hegelian elements that Fromm could make a connection with Freud. The thesis takes the form of a critical exegesis of extracts of Fromm's own work while at the same time distilling elements from the prevailing secondary literature. The thesis in no way attempts to be a thorough intellectual history but rather seeks to be an explication and in-depth analysis of the elements of Fromm's work crucial to his Marx-Freud synthesis.

Considered to be the original creator of psychoanalysis as well as the father of psychology, it is likely that the name “Sigmund Freud” has come up at some point in time in many people’s lives. He is undoubtedly the most popular man in the field of psychology, but he also is the most controversial. It is plain to see that there are many limitations in his work, but as a result, he is considered to be outdated by some and no longer relevant in the field at all. This paper will explore the kind of man that Sigmund Freud really was in order to see what specifically influenced his theories and ideas. Further, his works will be compared alongside some of the contributions from fellow psychoanalysts Karen Horney and Melanie Klein in order to show how the field of psychoanalysis has evolved over time, and that many of Freud’s faults were merely a result of his upbringing and the time period that he came from.

The issue of welfare fraud has received much attention throughout Canada in recent years. Many provinces now have anti-fraud measures, such as investigation units, to deal with what has been perceived to be an increasing problem within modern welfare systems. Recently, the current Manitoba government instituted two such anti-fraud measures: an investigation unit and a welfare fraud phone hot-line. It is the purpose of this thesis to examine the necessity of these policing measures and the impact they have had thus far on welfare recipients, the public and the government. This is done, first, through an examination of available statistics and information on the extent of welfare fraud in Manitoba. Second, each measure is examined in terms of it's staff structure, procedures, start-up costs and reported savings. Third, the impact of the measures will be explored to determine whether they have had a beneficial or harmful effect for welfare recipients, the public and the government. Upon completion of this investigation, it was found that, while measuring the precise extent of welfare fraud is impossible, available statistics in Manitoba and other provinces suggest that welfare fraud is not as serious a problem as previously thought. In actuality, statistics in Manitoba suggest that welfare fraud occurs in less than one percent of the total provincial welfare caseload. With regards to the welfare policing measures, it was found that the savings attributed to each are relatively insignificant while the impact they have had on welfare recipients has been harmful. It is recommended that the welfare fraud phone hot-line be dismantled. However, the investigation unit was found to be necessary to prevent possible future growth of welfare fraud. It is recommended that the investigation unit be revamped to address the negative impact it has been found to have on welfare recipients.

違規給企業帶來的主要後果是企業名譽的損失。然而，我們對以下問題卻知之甚少：企業在違規事件中是怎樣損失名譽的？為什麼同樣程度的違規給不同企業帶來的名譽損失卻不同？等等。本文綜合了來自犯罪學、財務學和社會心理學方面的文獻，把企業名譽定義為利益相關者對企業的情感，同時把違規事件看成是導致這種情感變化的誘因。<br>本文構建了一個綜合的理論模型，研究企業股東和企業自身的情感和情感變化。首先，本文提出，企業違規違反了股東對企業的道德期望和基本情感，使股東的情感發生偏移，並最終導致企業名譽的損失。在情感偏移的形成過程中，股東傾向于根據違規線索的診斷性特徵，把他們的基本情感用作透視鏡或者參照點來評價違規企業。第二，本文認為，違規企業通過在致歉公告中列出恢復性行動或語言，可以恢復股東對企業的基本情感並且減少企業名譽的損失。然而在情感恢復過程中，股東傾向于將恢復性行動或語言的心理距離與違規線索的心理距離進行比較，並據此調整他們對企業的評價和情感。第三，與其他違規企業相比，那些表達了愧疚感的違規企業在未來會約束自己的行為，降低了反復違規的傾向。但是隨著本次懲罰強度的不同，以及企業直接或間接地被懲罰經歷的不同，違規企業對本次懲罰的目的和道德意義的評價也會不同，並由此影響企業表達愧疚感的傾向。<br>本文的貢獻主要集中在以下四個方面。首先，通過強調情感在企業和股東關係中的重要性，豐富了關於公司治理的研究。第二，本文從情感視角去探討存在于股東和企業在資訊評價中各種的偏見，而這些偏見會影響他們對違規事件的情感和行為反應，以此拓展了集中於經濟視角的企業違規研究。第三，本文通過借鑒解釋層次理論中的觀點來研究企業恢復性行動和語言的特徵以及他們在股東情感恢復和企業榮譽恢復過程中的作用，這豐富了關於企業層的影像管理和危機管理研究。第四，本文通過強調企業內化懲罰在約束企業違規行為方面的作用，這對補充了關於懲罰的研究，並具有現實意義。<br>A consequence of corporate fraud studied in the literature is reputational penalty on the fraud firm. However, little is known about how a fraud firm loses its reputation after the fraud incident and why firms receive different levels of reputational penalty given the same level of fraud severity. Integrating literatures from criminology, finance, and social psychology, this dissertation conceptualizes firm reputation as stakeholders’ (mainly shareholders here) sentiment toward the firm and a fraud incident as a trigger of shareholders’ sentiment changes.<br>In this dissertation, I develop an integrated model that examines the sentiment changes of shareholders and sentiment restoration efforts made by the fraud firms. In the first study, I propose that corporate fraud violates shareholders’ normative expectations and fundamental sentiments toward the fraud firm, which leads to shareholders’ sentiment deflection and subsequently propels them to implement behavioral penalty on the fraud firm, that is, reputational penalty. During the process of sentiment deflection, shareholders tend to use the fundamental sentiment that they have adapted to as reference points to evaluate the fraud firm, depending on the salience of the fraud incident and the salience of the fraud firm. In the second study, I argue that the fraud firm can restore shareholders’ sentiment and minimize its reputation loss by expressing restorative actions in public apology announcement. However, during the process of sentiment restoration, shareholders tend to adjust their evaluation of the firm based on the relative psychological distance of the restorative actions compared with that of the fraud cues and sentiment cues. The third study focuses on guilt sentiments of the fraud firm, which have been found to have long-term impact on the fraud firm by transforming their future behaviors. I propose that fraud firms that express guilt sentiments after fraud punishment are more likely to restrain from repeated fraudulent behaviors in the future. However, variations in punishment intensity, together with the fraud firms’ direct and indirect punishment experiences, will influence their tendency to express guilt sentiments.<br>This dissertation aims to offer several contributions. First, by underscoring the importance of sentiment in the firm-shareholder relationship, it contributes to the corporate governance literature that mainly uses cognitive frameworks in the analysis. Second, it takes a sentiment approach to explore various biases embedded in shareholders’ and the firm’s evaluation of the informational cues that could influence their sentimental and behavioral reactions to the fraud incident, thus extending the corporate fraud literature that predominantly focuses on economics perspectives. Third, by examining the characteristics of firms’ restorative actions and languages and their effects on shareholders’ sentiment restoration and firm reputational repair, this dissertation contributes to the literatures of corporate turnaround and organizational-level impression management. Finally, it also contributes to the punishment literature by highlighting the internal transformation of the fraud firms, thus providing implications to stock exchange regulator and policy-makers in emerging economies.<br>Detailed summary in vernacular field only.<br>Detailed summary in vernacular field only.<br>Detailed summary in vernacular field only.<br>Xu, Yuehua.<br>Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012.<br>Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-137).<br>Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.<br>Abstract also in Chinese.<br>ABSTRACT --- p.I<br>CHINESE ABSTRACT --- p.III<br>ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.V<br>LIST OF TABLES --- p.IX<br>LIST OF FIGURES --- p.X<br>Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1<br>Chapter 1.1 --- Motivation and Research Questions --- p.1<br>Chapter 1.2 --- Theoretical Framework and Premise --- p.4<br>Chapter 1.3 --- Contributions --- p.9<br>Chapter 1.4 --- Organization of the Dissertation --- p.11<br>Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- STUDY ONE: A SENTIMENT MODEL OF FIRM REPUTATIONAL PENALTY FOLLOWING CORPORATE FRAUD --- p.13<br>Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.13<br>Chapter 2.2 --- Theoretical Background --- p.15<br>Chapter 2.2.1 --- Corporate Fraud and Reputational Penalty --- p.15<br>Chapter 2.2.2 --- Sentiment --- p.19<br>Chapter 2.3 --- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses --- p.21<br>Chapter 2.3.1 --- Re-conceptualization of Firm Reputation and Theoretical Framework --- p.21<br>Chapter 2.3.2 --- Stimuli - Sentimental Reaction - Behavior: The Process from Fraud Detection to Reputational Penalty --- p.26<br>Chapter 2.3.3 --- Adaptive Levels of Moral Sentiment and Sentiment Rigidity --- p.28<br>Chapter 2.3.4 --- The Moderating Effects of Cue Diagnosticity and Firm Visibility --- p.30<br>Chapter 2.4 --- Methods --- p.34<br>Chapter 2.4.1 --- Empirical Setting --- p.34<br>Chapter 2.4.2 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.35<br>Chapter 2.4.3 --- Measurement --- p.37<br>Chapter 2.5 --- Results --- p.45<br>Chapter 2.6 --- Discussion --- p.56<br>Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- STUDY TWO: FIRM RESTORATIVE EFFORTS AND REPUTATIONAL REPAIR AFTER CORPORATE FRAUD --- p.59<br>Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.59<br>Chapter 3.2 --- Theoretical Background --- p.61<br>Chapter 3.2.1 --- Firm Efforts to Turn Around from Fraud Incidents --- p.61<br>Chapter 3.2.2 --- Apology --- p.63<br>Chapter 3.3 --- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses --- p.65<br>Chapter 3.3.1 --- Sentiment Restoration and Pragmatic Attitudes toward Restorative Efforts --- p.65<br>Chapter 3.3.2 --- The Construal Level of Restorative Cues --- p.68<br>Chapter 3.3.3 --- The Distance of Problem Cues: The Delay of Punishment --- p.70<br>Chapter 3.3.4 --- Shareholders’ Negative Sentimental Reaction: Media Negative Comments --- p.72<br>Chapter 3.4 --- Methods --- p.74<br>Chapter 3.4.1 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.74<br>Chapter 3.4.2 --- Measurement --- p.75<br>Chapter 3.5 --- Results --- p.79<br>Chapter 3.6 --- Discussion --- p.84<br>Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- STUDY THREE: THE EFFECTS OF PUNISHMENT ON FRAUD FIRMS’ GUILT SENTIMENT EXPRESSION --- p.86<br>Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.86<br>Chapter 4.2 --- Theoretical Background: Punishment --- p.88<br>Chapter 4.3 --- Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses --- p.90<br>Chapter 4.3.1 --- The Expression of Guilt Sentiment and Repeated Fraud --- p.91<br>Chapter 4.3.2 --- Punishment Intensity and Guilt Sentiment --- p.93<br>Chapter 4.3.3 --- Normalization: The Moderating Effects of Direct and Indirect Punishment Experience --- p.95<br>Chapter 4.4 --- Methods --- p.98<br>Chapter 4.4.1 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.98<br>Chapter 4.4.2 --- Measurement --- p.99<br>Chapter 4.5 --- Results --- p.102<br>Chapter 4.6 --- Discussion --- p.110<br>Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION --- p.111<br>Chapter 5.1 --- Conclusion --- p.111<br>Chapter 5.2 --- Contributions to Theory and Practice --- p.112<br>Chapter 5.3 --- Limitations and Implications for Future Research --- p.115<br>REFERENCES --- p.117