Analyzing Speech to Detect Financial Misreporting

Journal of Accounting Research

Volumn 50, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 349-392

  Hobson, Jessen L ^a   Mayew, William J ^b   Venkatachalam, Mohan ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA CHAMPAIGN   (United States)

^b DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84859828114     PISSN: 00218456     EISSN: 1475679X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-679X.2011.00433.x     Document Type: Article

References (79)

1. Barth, M. E.; W. H. Beaver ; J. R. M. Hand ; and W. R. Landsman Accruals, Accounting-Based Valuation Models, and the Prediction of Equity Values. Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance 20 (2005): 311-45.
2. Beneish, M. D. Detecting GAAP Violation: Implications for Assessing Earnings Management Among Firms with Extreme Financial Performance. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 16 (1997): 271-309.
3. Boersma, P., and D. Weenink "PRAAT: Doing Phonetics by Computer (version 5.2.05)" [Computer program]. 2010. Web site,
4. Bond, C. F., and B. M. Depaulo Accuracy of Deception Judgments. Personality and Social Psychology Review 10 (2006): 214-34.
5. Brazel, J.; K. Jones ; and M. Zimbelman Using Nonfinancial Measures to Assess Fraud Risk. Journal of Accounting Research 47 (2009): 1135-66.
6. Burns, M.; K. Moffitt ; W. Felix ; and J. Burgoon Using Lexical Bundles to Discriminate Between Fraudulent and Non-fraudulent Financial Reports." Working paper, University of Arizona, 2010.
7. Cooper, J. Cognitive Dissonance: Fifty Years of a Classic Theory. Los Angeles, CA : Sage Publications, 2007.
8. Correia, M. Political Connections, SEC Enforcement and Accounting Quality." Working paper, London Business School, 2010.
9. Davis, A.; W. Ge ; D. Matsumoto ; and J. Zhang The Effect of Managerial Style on the Tone of Earnings Conference Calls." Working paper, University of Oregon, University of Washington, and University of British Columbia, 2011.
10. Davis, A.; J. Piger ; and L. Sedor Beyond the Numbers: Managers' Use of Optimistic and Pessimistic Tone in the Earnings Press Release." Contemporary Accounting Research (2011): Forthcoming.
11. Dechow, P. M.; W. Ge ; C. R. Larson ; and R. G. Sloan Predicting Material Accounting Misstatements. Contemporary Accounting Research 28 (2011): 17-82.
12. Demers, E., and C. Vega Soft Information in Earnings Announcements: News or Noise?" Working paper, INSEAD, 2008.
13. Depaulo, B. M.; J. J. Lindsay ; B. E. Malone ; L. Muhlenbruck ; K. Charlton ; and H. Cooper Cues to Deception. Psychological Bulletin 129 (2003): 74-118.
14. Dyck, A.; A. Morse ; and L. Zingales "Who Blows the Whistle on Corporate Fraud?" Journal of Finance 65 (2010): 2213-53.
15. Elkins, A. Evaluating the Credibility Assessment Capability of Vocal Analysis Software, " in Forty-Third Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii, 2010. Web site,
16. Elkins, A., and J. Burgoon Validating Vocal Analysis Software to Assess Credibility in Interpersonal Interaction: A Multilevel Factor Analytic Approach." Working paper, University of Arizona, 2010.
17. Elliot, A. J., and P. G. Devine On the Motivational Nature of Cognitive Dissonance: Dissonance as Psychological Discomfort, " Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67 (1994): 382-94.
18. Elliott, B.; F. Hodge ; and L. Sedor Using Online Video to Announce a Restatement: Influences on Investment Decisions and the Mediating Role of Trust. The Accounting Review 2011: Forthcoming.
19. Engelberg, J. Costly Information Processing: Evidence from Earnings Announcements." Working paper, Northwestern University, 2008.
20. Evans, J.; R. L. Hannan ; R. Krishnan ; and D. Moser Honesty in Managerial Reporting. The Accounting Review 76 (2001): 537-59.
21. Feldman, R.; S. Govindaraj ; J. Livnat ; and B. Segal Management's Tone Change, Post Earnings Announcement Drift and Accruals. Review of Accounting Studies 15 (2010): 915-53.
22. Festinger, L. A. Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. Stanford, CA : Stanford University Press, 1957.
23. Festinger, L., and J. M. Carlsmith Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance." Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 58 (1959): 203-10.
24. Friedman, H. Securities Regulation in Cyberspace, Third edition. New York: Aspen Publishers, 2010.
25. Gamer, M.; H. Rill ; G. Vossel ; and H. W. Godert Psychophysiological and Vocal Measures in the Detection of Guilty Knowledge. International Journal of Psychophysiology 60 (2006): 76-87.
26. Graham, R. Theory of Cognitive Dissonance as It Pertains to Morality. Journal of Scientific Psychology (2007): 20-3.
27. Greene, W. H. Econometric Analysis, Fourth edition. New Jersey : Pearson Education Inc., 1993.
28. Hales, J.; J. Hobson ; and R. Resutek The Dark Side of Socially Mediated Rewards: How Social Status and Narcissism Affect Managerial Reporting." Working paper, Georgia Tech University, 2011.
29. Han, Y., and J. Nunes Please Read the Signal but Don't Mention It: How Acknowledging Identity Signals Leads to Embarrassment, " in Advances in Consumer Research 37, edited by M. C. Campbell, J. Inman, and R. Pieters. Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, 2010: 4-5.
30. Harmon-Jones, E. Contributions from Research on Anger and Cognitive Dissonance to Understanding the Motivational Function of Asymmetrical Frontal Brain Activity. Biological Psychology 67 (2004): 51-76.
31. Harmon-Jones, E., and J. Mills Cognitive Dissonance: Progress on a Pivotal Theory in Social Psychology. Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, 1999.
32. Hennes, K.; A. Leone ; and B. Miller The Importance of Distinguishing Errors from Irregularities in Restatement Research: The Case of Restatements and CEO/CFO Turnover. The Accounting Review 83 (2008): 1487-1519.
33. Henry, E. Are Investors Influenced by How Earnings Press Releases Are Written?" Journal of Business Communication 45 (2008): 363-407.
34. Hirschberg, J. Deceptive Speech: Clues from Spoken Language, " in Speech Technology, edited by F. Chen and K. Jokinen New York: Springer Science + Business Media LLC, 2010: 79-88.
35. Hollander, S.; M. Pronk ; and E. Roelofsen Does Silence Speak? An Empirical Analysis of Disclosure Choices During Earnings Conference Calls. Journal of Accounting Research 48 (2009): 531-63.
36. Horvath, F. S. Effect of Different Motivational Instructions on Detection of Deception with the Psychological Stress Evaluator and the Galvanic Skin Response.' Journal of Applied Psychology 64 (1979): 323-30.
37. Hosmer, D., and S. Lemeshow Applied Logistic Regression. New York : Wiley-Interscience Publication, 2000.
38. Humpherys, S. L.; K. Moffitt ; M. Burns ; J. Burgoon ; and W. Felix Identification of Fraudulent Financial Statements Using Linguistic Credibility Analysis. Decision Support Systems 50 (2011): 585-94.
39. Javers, E. Broker, Trader, Lawyer, Spy: The Secret World of Corporate Espionage. New York : HarperCollins Publishers, 2010.
40. Jensen, M.; T. Meservy ; J. Burgoon ; and J. Nunamaker Video-Based Deception Detection, " in Intelligence and Security Informatics Techniques and Applications, edited by H. Chen and C. C. Yang. Hillsdale, NJ : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg, 2008: 233-59.
41. Juslin, P. N., and P. Laukka Communication of Emotions in Vocal Expression and Music Performance: Different Channels, Same Code? Psychological Bulletin 129 (2003): 770-814.
42. Juslin, P. N., and K. R. Scherer Vocal Expression of Affect, " in The New Handbook of Methods in Nonverbal Behavior Research, edited by J. A. Harrigan, R. Rosenthal and K. R. Scherer Oxford : Oxford Press, 2005: 65-135.
43. Kothari, S. P.; X. Li ; and J. Short The Effect of Disclosures by Management, Analysts, and Financial Press on Cost of Capital, Return Volatility, and Analyst Forecasts: A Study Using Content Analysis. The Accounting Review 84 2009: 1639-74.
44. Lacerda, F. LVA Technology-The Illusion of Lie Detection, " in Fonetik, edited by P. Branderud and H. Traunmuller. Stockholm : Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, 2009: 220-25.
45. Larcker, D., and A. Zakolyukina Detecting Deceptive Discussion in Conference Calls." Working paper, Stanford University, 2011.
46. Li, F. Annual Report Readability, Current Earnings and Earnings Persistence. Journal of Accounting and Economics 45 (2008): 221-47.
47. Li, F. The Determinants and Information Content of the Forward-Looking Statements in Corporate Filings-A Naïve Bayesian Machine Learning Approach. Journal of Accounting Research 48 (2010): 1049-1102.
48. Loughran, T., and B. McDonald Barron's Red Flags: Do They Actually Work? Journal of Behavioral Finance 12 (2011a): 90-7.
49. Loughran, T., and B. McDonald When Is a Liability Not a Liability? Textual Analysis, Dictionaries and 10-Ks. Journal of Finance 66 (2011b): 35-65.
50. Malmendier, U., and G. Tate CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment. Journal of Finance 60 (2005): 2660-2700.
51. Malmendier, U.; G. Tate ; and J. Yan. Overconfidence and Early-life Experiences: The Effect of Managerial Traits on Corporate Financial Policies. Journal of Finance 66 (2011): 1687-1733.
52. Matsumoto, D. A.; M. Pronk ; and E. Roelofsen Managerial Disclosure vs. Analyst Inquiry: An Empirical Investigation of the Presentation and Discussion Portions of Earnings-Related Conference Calls. The Accounting Review (2011): Forthcoming.
53. Mayew, W. J. Evidence of Management Discrimination Among Analysts During Earnings Conference Calls. Journal of Accounting Research 46 (2008): 627-59.
54. Mayew, W. J., and M. Venkatachalam The Power of Voice: Managerial Affective States and Future Firm Performance. The Journal of Finance 67 (2012): Forthcoming.
55. Mazar, N.; O. Amir ; and D. Ariely The Dishonesty of Honest People: A Theory of Self-Concept Maintenance. Journal of Marketing Research 45 (2008): 633-44.
56. Meservy, T.; M. Jensen ; J. Kruse ; J. Burgoon ; and J. Nunamaker Automatic Extraction of Deceptive Behavioral Cues from Video. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 3495 (2005): 219-27.
57. Murphy, P. The Attitude Toward and Rationalization of Fraudulent Financial Reporting." Working paper, Queen's University, 2010.
58. Newman, M. L.; J. W. Pennebaker ; D. S. Berry ; and J. M. Richards Lying Words: Predicting Deception from Linguistic Styles. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 29 (2003): 665-75.
59. Owren, M. J. GSU PRAAT Tools: Scripts for Modifying and Analyzing Sounds Using PRAAT Acoustics Software. Behavior Research Methods 40 (2008): 822-29.
60. Palmatier, J. J. Assessing Credibility: ADVA Technology, Voice and Voice Stress Analysis, " in Corporate Investigations, edited by R. J. Montgomery and W. J. Majeski Tucson, AZ : Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company Inc., 2005: 37-60.
61. Patel, S.; K. Scherer ; E. Bjorkner ; and J. Sundberg Mapping Emotions into Acoustic Space: The Role of Voice Production. Biological Psychology 87 2001): 93-98.
62. Price, R.; N. Sharp ; and D. Wood Detecting and Predicting Accounting Irregularaties: A Comparison of Commercial and Academic Risk Measures. Accounting Horizons (2011): Forthcoming.
63. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Observations on Auditors' Implementation of PCAOB Standards Relating to Auditors' Responsibilities with Respect to Fraud. In PCAOB Release No. 2007-001, 2007.
64. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Auditing Standards Related to the Auditor's Assessment of and Response to Risk and Related Amendments to PCAOB Standards. In PCAOB Release No. 2010-004, 2010.
65. Purda, L., and D. Skillicorn Reading Between the Lines: Detecting Fraud from the Language of Financial Reports." Working paper, Queen's University, 2011. Web site,
66. Salterio, S. E., and A. Webb Honesty in Accounting and Control: A Discussion of "The Effect of Information Systems on Honesty in Managerial Reporting: A Behavioral Perspective. Contemporary Accouning Research 23 (2006): 919-32.
67. Scheibe, S., and F. Blanchard-Fields Effects of Regulating Emotions on Cognitive Performance: What Is Costly for Young Adults Is Not So Costly for Older Adults. Psychology and Aging 24 (2009): 217-33.
68. Scherer, K. R. Vocal Affect Expression-A Review and a Model for Future Research. Psychological Bulletin 99 (1986): 143-65.
69. Schuller, B. On the Acoustics of Emotion in Speech: Desperately Seeking a Standard. Journal of Acoustical Society of America 127 (2010): 1995.
70. Schuller, B.; A. Batliner ; S. Steidl ; and D. Seppi Recognising Realistic Emotions and Affect in Speech: State of the Art and Lessons Learnt from the First Challenge. Speech Communication 2011: Forthcoming.
71. Stice, E. The Similarities Between Cognitive Dissonance and Guilt: Confession as a Relief of Dissonance. Current Psychology 11 (1992): 69-77.
72. Tetlock, P. Giving Content to Investor Sentiment: The Role of Media in the Stock Market. Journal of Finance 62 (2007): 1139-68.
73. Tetlock, P.; M. Saar-Tsechansky ; and S. Macskassy More Than Words: Quantifying Language to Measure Firm's Fundamentals. Journal of Finance 63 (2008): 1437-67.
74. Vrij, A. Detecting Lies and Deceit: Pitfalls and Opportunities. Chichester, UK : Wiley, 2008.
75. Vrij, A.; K. Edward ; K. P. Roberts ; and R. Bull Detecting Deceit via Analysis of Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 24 (2000): 239-64.
76. Yu, F. Analyst Coverage and Earnings Management. Journal of Financial Economics 88 (2008): 245-71.
77. Zhou, X. H.; N. A. Obuchowski ; and D. M. Obuchowski Statistical Methods in Diagnostic Medicine. New York : John Wiley and Sons, 2002.
78. Zuckerman, M.; B. M. DePaulo ; and R. Rosenthal Verbal and Nonverbal Communication of Deception, " in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, edited by L. Berkowitz New York : Academic Press, 1981: 1-59.
79. Zuckerman, M., and R. Driver Telling Lies: Verbal and Nonverbal Communication of Deception, " in Multichannel Integrations of Nonverbal Behavior, edited by A. W. Siegman and S. Feldstein. Hillsdale, NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum, 1985: 129-147.