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Off The Hook: Does The Supreme Court's Scheme Liability Ruling Benefit Firms In Litigation-Prone Industries?, Candra S. Chahyadi, Menghistu Sallehu

Candra S. Chahyadi

This study measures the impact afthe U.S. Supreme Court's 2008 ruling Stoneridge Investment Partners vs. Scientific-Atlanta on the cumulative abnormal returns and changes in bid-ask spread of firms in litigation-prone industries (computer, electronic, pharmaceuticallbiotech, and retail industries). Although we find, in general, positive CARs around the event, we posit and find that the conditional probability that a firm will commit an accounting misstatement affects both CAR and bid-ask spread The results show that firms with a higher probability of committing financial misstatements experience lower returns around the court's ruling. That is, the ruling increases information asymmetry and uncertainty, and thus …