Investigating Some of Effective Factors on Spoofing Manipulation in Iranian Stock Market

Objective: There is a large theoretical literature regarding stock market manipulation. However, empirical evidence of manipulation remains scare especially in emerging markets like Iran. So, it is vital to detect and prevent. Manipulation distorts prices, thereby reducing market efficiency and harms public confidence. Distorted prices increase market volatility and risk. This study empirically investigates which firms are more susceptible to successful deceptive manipulation. Methods: We collect the data set consisting of manipulation cases of entering spoofing order in Iranian stock market in two periods. In the first three-month period, the index was downward and in the second one, it was upward. Panel Logit regression was used to determine and interpret results. Results: The regression results showed that small firms, with high trade volume, low information transparency, high information asymmetry and high volatility are more prone to stock price manipulation. Indeed, there is an inverse relationship between manipulation and fluctuation index. Conclusion: Index change is an effective variable on stock manipulation. Manipulation is more probable in bear market, because most of the stocks are upward in bullish markets and there are fewer motives for stock manipulation.