Religion and insider trading profits
研究了当地宗教氛围如何通过社会规范抑制内幕交易者的自利行为，发现位于宗教氛围更浓厚地区的公司内幕交易利润更低，且更少基于未来盈利信息进行机会主义交易。
We use the controversial aspect of insider trading to analyze the impact of local social norms on insiders’ profits. We argue that religiosity is a source of social norms curbing self-interested behavior and, accordingly, it limits corporate insiders’ opportunistic trading on private information. Our results confirm that trades by insiders in firms located in more religious areas are followed by lower profits, those insiders are less likely to trade on future earnings news, and their trades are less likely to be opportunistic. The effect of religion on profitability of insider trading holds across different levels of disclosure environments and is more pronounced in firms with poor corporate governance. Overall, we offer new insights into the effect of social norms on individuals’ financial decisions.