Public Certification, Information Asymmetry, and Investment

Public Certification, Information Asymmetry, and Investment | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Public Certification, Information Asymmetry, and Investment Antonio Acconcia, Maria Rosaria Alfano, Anna Laura Baraldi, Claudia Cantabene This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7768060/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In Italy, creditworthy firms not involved in corruption, accounting frauds, and connections with organized crime benefit of cheaper loan interest rates thanks to the Legality Rating. We provide evidence that, upon receiving this public certification, firms increase their tangible capital expenditure by about 3-5% of the median capital-to-total asset ratio. The effect is stronger in provinces where it is more difficult for the banks to assess firms’ creditworthiness. This latter finding brings out the potential role of public signal for local development. JEL Classification: G14, G21, H40, H81, R38 Public Certification Creditworthiness Investment Organized Crime Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 03 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 20 Jan, 2026 Reviews received at journal 05 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Oct, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 23 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 21 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 06 Oct, 2025 First submitted to journal 02 Oct, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7768060","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":535158174,"identity":"a42dce20-7c66-4a6b-a462-c0a947a16e57","order_by":0,"name":"Antonio Acconcia","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Naples Federico II","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Antonio","middleName":"","lastName":"Acconcia","suffix":""},{"id":535158175,"identity":"19d0c5ce-2da2-4b11-a203-7581b6d4fb9d","order_by":1,"name":"Maria Rosaria Alfano","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Campania \"Luigi 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