Does Tax Aggressiveness Lead to More Earnings Management: the Case of Tunisian Firms

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine whether a firm tax avoidance activity can be used as an instrument for corporate earnings management in an emerging market called Tunisia. The study also investigates the role of firm size, leverage and audit quality on earnings management. Evidence of earnings management is examined by focusing on accounting earnings management. From a sample of 20 Tunisian listed firms from 2017 to 2019, the results estimated from the linear regression model argue that tax aggressiveness has a positive effect on earnings management but not significant. Furthermore, the results show that larger Tunisian firms exhibit more earnings management. However, findings don’t show any significant effects of leverage and audit quality on earnings management.