We find that managers obfuscate during conference calls when their firm's headquarters is in a politically corrupt state, and they do so to shield assets from corrupt officials. The positive association between corruption and obfuscation by managers is much stronger when the expropriation risks are higher, such as when the firm (a) does not pay dividends, (b) is making a profit, (c) has more cash, (d) has fewer subsidiaries, and (e) is not making any political contributions. We do not find evidence that managers obfuscate during conference calls to hide their self-dealing.

中文翻译：

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美国政治腐败和季度电话会议

我们发现，当公司总部处于政治腐败状态时，经理们会在电话会议上混淆视听，他们这样做是为了保护资产免受腐败官员的侵害。当征收风险较高时，例如当公司 (a) 不支付股息、(b) 正在盈利、(c) 拥有更多现金、(d)子公司较少，并且 (e) 没有提供任何政治捐款。我们没有发现任何证据表明管理者在电话会议期间混淆视听以隐藏他们的自我交易。