Assessing the Impact of Corporate Fraud on Firm Performance in Malaysian Tourism Sector: Pre- and During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

It is vital to examine the performance of listed companies, especially the tourism sector that was believed to be highly impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic. What more if the companies are suspected of corporate fraud. Hence, the purpose of this study is to determine the impact of fraudulent activities on the performance of Malaysian listed tourism companies from 2017 to 2020 based on the sample of 81 firm-year observations. The study period was partitioned to 2017 until 2019 and during in 2020. Beneish model was chosen to represent corporate fraud activity. Based on the pool effect model using STATA Software, regression analysis documents a significant positive impact of corporate fraud on the tourism sector in Malaysia for accounting and market measures. The current findings could be considered as indicators to reduce corporate fraud in improving company performance by management and stakeholders, particularly during the pandemic.