Family Matters: Exploring the Link Between Parental and Executive Financial Misconduct
利用芬兰CEO和董事及其父母的财务不当行为记录，研究发现若父母有不当行为史，高管更可能从事会计、税务等财务违规，且关联强度随父母行为严重性增加。
ABSTRACT Using a novel data set of misconduct records for Finnish CEOs and directors and their parents, we explore whether corporate executives’ financial misconduct is associated with similar behavior by their parents. Controlling for various other factors of executive financial misconduct, we find that executives are significantly more likely to engage in financial misconduct, including accounting, tax, and other financial offenses, if their parents have a history of financial misconduct. This intergenerational association is stronger when the parental misconduct is more severe. Additional findings reveal that growing up in high‐misconduct municipalities and cohabiting with spouses who engage in financial misconduct are also associated with a higher likelihood of executive misconduct, indicating that such behaviors may be shaped by broader socialization processes that extend beyond the immediate family. Although our analyses do not establish causal relationships, the collective evidence presented in this study offers insights into why some corporate executives engage in misconduct while others do not.