CANTON -- A research paper written by SUNY Canton's Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Brian K. Harte, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Finance Umesh Kumar was recently awarded "Best Paper in [the] Financial Economics Session" at the Academy of Business Research Fall International Conference in Atlantic City, N.J.

Their paper titled, "The Regulation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Investor Response," which analyzes investors' response to firms that were convicted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977, was presented at the September conference.

Their study analyzes 52 firms convicted for violations of the FCPA during 2006-2011. "Our research shows that investors are wary in making more investments in a convicted firm," Kumar noted. "In fact, consumer confidence also suffers for these firms as sales growth becomes sluggish."

The paper has not been published in its entirety yet. Their research paper "Corporate Social Responsibility and Investor Response in the Post-SOX Era" was also recognized as the Southern Journal of Business and Economics Best Paper in Economics at the Academy of Business Research Fall International Conference last year.