This article closely examines the Sunbeam Corporation's path to failure and explores the reasons for its singularity. From the analysis of US fraud cases included in the UCLA-LoPucki Bankruptcy Research Database, this corporate case appears as an outlier. For Sunbeam, the time-lapse between fraud disclosure and its final bankruptcy is the longest of the entire sample; it is unique because of its length. This article uses a historical microanalysis to evaluate different hypotheses about the Sunbeam Corporation's path to failure. The relationships between acquisitions and fraud, scapegoat dynamics' and creative auditing' are identified as the most relevant issues to be examined against a changing institutional context. The resulting reconstruction of the events provides unexpected insights and recommendations for future research on auditing and accounting fraud.

Accounting fraud, business failure and creative auditing: A microanalysis of the strange case of the Sunbeam Corporation

AGOSTINI, Marisa
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;
FAVERO, Giovanni
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2017-01-01

Abstract

This article closely examines the Sunbeam Corporation's path to failure and explores the reasons for its singularity. From the analysis of US fraud cases included in the UCLA-LoPucki Bankruptcy Research Database, this corporate case appears as an outlier. For Sunbeam, the time-lapse between fraud disclosure and its final bankruptcy is the longest of the entire sample; it is unique because of its length. This article uses a historical microanalysis to evaluate different hypotheses about the Sunbeam Corporation's path to failure. The relationships between acquisitions and fraud, scapegoat dynamics' and creative auditing' are identified as the most relevant issues to be examined against a changing institutional context. The resulting reconstruction of the events provides unexpected insights and recommendations for future research on auditing and accounting fraud.
2017
22
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
bozze corrette ACH718871 ok.pdf

accesso aperto

Descrizione: bozza di stampa corretta
Tipologia: Documento in Post-print
Licenza: Accesso gratuito (solo visione)
Dimensione 319.29 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
319.29 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
2017 - Agostini-Favero - accounting history.pdf

non disponibili

Tipologia: Documento in Post-print
Licenza: Accesso chiuso-personale
Dimensione 856.32 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
856.32 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in ARCA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/3691909
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 10
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 8
social impact