Assessing four decades of global research studies on stock market manipulations: a sceintometric analysis
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-08-2020-0163 |
| Published date | 10 May 2021 |
| Date | 10 May 2021 |
| Pages | 940-962 |
| Subject Matter | Accounting & finance,Financial risk/company failure,Financial crime |
| Author | Tooba Akram,Suresh A.L. RamaKrishnan,Muhammad Naveed |
Assessing four decades of
global research studies on stock
market manipulations:
a sceintometric analysis
Tooba Akram
Azman Hashim International Business School,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Malaysia and
Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Suresh A.L. RamaKrishnan
Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,
Skudai, Malaysia, and
Muhammad Naveed
Faculty of Management Sciences,
Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to diagnose the global key contributors in the stock market manipulation
studiesduring the past four decades.
Design/methodology/approach –The database search is based on the termsused in the existing body
of knowledge. Using the bibliometric tools and techniqueson the Scopus database, the study assessed and
analysed the productivity of research studies, as well as the influence of the authors, publications, journals,
affiliatedinstitutions and countries.
Findings –This paper finds the USA as the leadingcountry investigating this area, almost capturing40%
of the research studies in finance, moreover,a huge number of co-authors. Financial crises in the late1990s
and 2008 is observed as one of the main reasons for this intriguingresearch. The Journal of Finance is spotted
as the most persuasive journal with the highest cite score and an unprecedented number of citations. The
analysis of keywordsengendered that most of the stock market manipulation studiesare event-based studies.
Seminally unique scientometric analysis revealed that the significance of stock market manipulation was
mainly captured by event-based studies, insider trading and pump and dump schemes studies. However,
much remained untapped to articulate the bridging scope of technology and media with stock market
behaviourand manipulations.
Research limitations/implications –The research only includes the Scopus database, however,
incorporates81% relevant study.
Practical implications –This study reckons thattechnology-based manipulations are emerging themes
in this researchfield which invites the applied research to have productiveoutcomes.
The first author thankfully acknowledges the support and guidance of Associate Prof. Dr Noorhayati
and Dr Jauharah Md Khudzari for her assistance in teaching the use of bibliometric tools. Further,
would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, assisting us to
significantly improve the eminence of the paper. First author is also grateful to his research mates for
their guidance and utmost support.
JFC
28,3
940
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.28 No. 3, 2021
pp. 940-962
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-08-2020-0163
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1359-0790.htm
Originality/value –The intriguing study incorporatesa maximum number of the relevant literature and
used a comprehensivetechnique for the selection of dataset in Scopus.
Keywords Financial crime, Insider trading, Bibliometric anlaysis, Pump and dump,
Stock market manipulation, VoS viewer
Paper type Literature review
1. Introduction
The technical analysis of stock trends and past research studies strongly advocates that
stock markets precisely reflect the overall situation of an economy; the trends, the
developments and its perspectives.In developed countries such as the USA, Australia, Japan
and Germany investing in the stock market are deliberated as the optimal way to beat
inflation over time ergo, the stock market is measured as an excellent economic indicator
(Lucey and Dowling, 2014). Consequently, the investors’wealth grows over time, which
allows them to contribute more to the economy (Thalassinos, Pintea and Ratiu, 2015).
However, manipulations in the stockmarket always appear to be a hindrance to the growth
of the economy (Mukhamedov, 2019). Movements inthe stock market can have a profound
economic impact on the economy and individual consumers. A collapse in share prices has
the potential to cause widespread economic disruption especially in developed markets like
the USA (Shi et al.,2018),followed by the newly emerging markets.
1.1 Stock market manipulation
In the new global economy, stock market manipulation (SMM) has been much evolved,
whereas, the traditional manipulators have also taken a new role along with advanced
technologies (Vlad, 2014). Therefore, many of the financial crimes in the stock market has
been designated as a criminal offense rather civil offense. A vast literature is available on
stock market returns, volatility, determinants (Chitenderu et al., 2014;Ghufran et al., 2016;
Farias Naz
ario et al.,2017;Danıso
glu and Güner, 2018); abuses in the market
(Withanawasam et al.,2013;Huang and Cheng, 2015;Neupane et al., 2017;Riyanto and
Arifin, 2018); its detection (Caoet al., 2013;Golmohammadi et al.,2014;Golmohammadi and
Zaiane, 2015;Martínez-Mirandaet al., 2016;Zhai et al., 2017;Kasgari et al.,2019;Leangarun
et al.,2019;Shi et al., 2019) and the stock market enforcement and regulations (Comerton-
Forde and Putninš, 2014;Plachouras and Leidner, 2015;Shi et al.,2018;Jordan and Rand,
2019;Kwabi et al.,2019).
Before the analysis, it is pertinent to clarify the term “stock market manipulation”.
Manipulation, in Black’sLawDictionary,isdefined as an “illegal practice in an attempt to
raise or lower stock prices by creating an active trading appearance”(Riyanto and Arifin,
2018). Few researchers in the literature shed light on “market abuses”at stock exchanges
(Aussenegg et al., 2018) and elaborate on these fraudulent activities as “market manipulation”.
Öˇ
güt et al. (2009),Vlad (2014),Maxim and Ashif (2017),Shah et al. (2019) The traditional
manipulation is defined in numerous research papers, review articles, case studies, laws, etc.,
as “pump and dump”schemes (Huang and Cheng, 2015;Neupane et al., 2017;Riyanto and
Arifin, 2018;Lee et al., 2019)and“insider trading”(Benabou and Laroque, 1992;John and
Narayanan, 1997;Austin, 2016;Kan, 2018;Brochet, 2019). For no less than a decade, market
manipulation, stock marketabuses have been associatedwith “social media”or “internet”in
various research studies. Affuso and Lahtine n (2019),Cwynar et al. (2019),Rosati et al. (2019),
Strauss and Smith (2019),Teti et al. (2019). While searching for bibliographic records, the
stock price manipulation appears to be dealt with various facets in the market such as trading
frequency (Viljoen et al., 2015), trading volume (Huang and Cheng, 2015;Adams et al., 2018),
Stock market
manipulations
941
To continue reading
Request your trial