Earnings Management Behavior Research Articles

Time will tell the truth: Performance commitments and earnings management in M&A

This study investigates the impact of performance commitments on the earnings management levels of acquiring firms in the three years following mergers and acquisitions (M&As), as well as the resulting performance reversal phenomenon. The empirical results indicate that listed companies significantly increase their earnings management levels in the three years after making performance commitments. This suggests that firms may engage in upward earnings management during the commitment period to inflate profits and achieve the promised performance. Moreover, our findings reveal that M&A transactions involving stock payments and performance commitments exhibit even higher levels of earnings management. However, such practices are unsustainable; once the commitment period ends, the previous earnings management behavior is gradually rectified, leading to a performance reversal. Further analysis demonstrates that performance commitments result in a significant decline in companies' return on assets (ROA) in the fourth and fifth years post-M&A.

Text-based multidimensional financial constraints and earnings management behaviour

Text-based multidimensional financial constraints and earnings management behaviour

Earnings management, key audit matters and audit report readability

PurposeAccording to the management obfuscation hypothesis, managers have incentives to influence the audit reports’ communicative value. This study aims to examine the relationship between corporate earnings management and the readability of Chinese-text audit reports and the impact of key audit matter (KAM) disclosure requirements on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis research adopts Taiwanese firms from 2010 to 2019 to investigate the association between earnings management and readability of Chinese-text audit reports within the framework of the KAM disclosure requirements implemented in 2016.FindingsThe findings show that auditors tend to issue less readable audit reports to firms undertaking earnings management, particularly after introducing KAM disclosures. Additional analyses indicate that such adverse impacts of client earnings management on audit report readability have become more pronounced for firms audited by a newly pointed or long-tenure lead audit partner, with high business risk, poor monitoring of governance mechanisms or a large amount of nonaudit services. These results suggest that auditor partners may compromise auditor independence and use flexible narratives in audit reports as a form of moral insurance.Practical implicationsAs auditors may manage audit report readability to reduce audit liability, authorities must formulate policies concerning audit report disclosure to strengthen its communicative value and simplify language usage. Additionally, authorities should strengthen quality control standards concerning auditor independence to reduce auditor pressure from clients’ economic importance.Originality/valueThis study provides valuable insights into auditors' responses to corporate earnings management behavior, particularly regarding the interplay between earnings management, audit report quality and regulatory changes, thus expanding our understanding of the dynamics within the auditing profession.

The real effects of M&As on targets’ peers

AbstractThis paper studies the real effects of targets’ acquisitions on their peers through investigating the real earnings management (REM) behavior of the targets’ rivals following the mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Using a difference‐in‐differences design, we find that, on average, rivals of acquisition targets would engage in more REM after M&A announcements. We further find that within rivals of the target, the post‐announcement increase in REM is more pronounced when: (1) the rival is relatively less similar to the target; (2) the rival serves as the targets’ rival more than once within a year; (3) the target earns a higher bidding premium or positive abnormal returns; or (4) the rival has the higher institutional ownership or more analyst following. Additional analyses reveal that rivals engaging in more REM would have a higher likelihood of being acquired in subsequent years and would be sold at higher premiums. We also find that targets’ rivals boost their short‐term performance by engaging in REM activities at the cost of their long‐term performance. Our results are robust to various robustness checks. Overall, our evidence suggests that an acquisition activity could have a real effect on the target's industry, i.e., the effect on the accounting choices of the whole industry.

Shariah compliance fatigue and earnings quality: evidence from MENA

PurposeThis research aims to examine the relations between Shariah compliance and earnings quality.Design/methodology/approachThe authors study three Shariah features: Shariah compliance status, level of Shariah compliance (H-Score) and Shariah compliance persistence. The sample consists of 463 firms from the Middle East and North Africa from 2011 to 2018. A variable determining the level of Shariah compliance was created in accordance with the methodology of S&P 500 Shariah and its underlying index, S&P 500. Then, a probate relapse study was created to identify the link between Shariah compliance and earnings quality.FindingsResults show that Shariah-compliant firms engage in lower earnings management compared to their Shariah-non-compliant counterparts. This paper reveals that Shariah compliance status and high level of Shariah compliance have significant positive association with earnings quality. The authors also find novel evidence that persistence of the Shariah-compliant status has a significant negative association with earnings quality.Practical implicationsThis study only examines firms listed on MENA stock markets. It is recommended to further study different markets in addition to the emerging Arab markets in order to compare and contrast the results. Further, larger sample observations from a greater date range can be used.Originality/valueFew studies have examined the earnings management behavior of Shariah-compliant firms vs Shariah-non-compliant ones in emerging markets; however, no study has focused on Shariah-compliant firms and their level of Shariah compliance. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study which uses all four proxies for earnings quality in association with Shariah compliance and used new Shariah variables such as Level of Shariah Compliance and Persistent Shariah Compliance status.

Heterogeneous risk disclosure and earnings management motivation: evidence from China’s IPO market

Purpose Heterogeneous risk disclosure has been proven to improve the efficiency of new stock issuance, but excessive risk disclosure during the IPO may lead to irrational underestimation of the company, which is different from the original intention of management's detailed disclosure. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of IPO heterogeneous risk disclosure on earnings management motivations from the information transfer perspective of earnings management. Design/methodology/approach The sample includes 2,000 listed companies listed firms on Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2007 to 2022. This study uses the pretrained ERNIE model to measure text similarity in the prospectus to measure the heterogeneity of IPO risk disclosure. Findings This study empirically finds that heterogeneous IPO risk disclosure suppresses the opportunistic motivation of earnings management because managers tend to use earnings management to leverage information transmission functions. Such an effect is more pronounced in firms with higher analyst attention, lower marketization levels and non-state-owned. And heterogeneous risk disclosure may inhibit management’s over-investment behavior, thereby reducing the possibility of management engaging in opportunistic earnings management. Besides, price discounts are used to distinguish opportunistic and non-opportunistic earnings management and carry out a quasi-natural experimental design to demonstrate that marketization can enhance the relationship between heterogeneous risk disclosure and earnings management. Originality/value This study contributes evidence regarding the economic consequences of managerial earnings management behavior related to heterogeneous IPO risk disclosure. It supports highlighted firms in the IPO risk information disclosure to mitigate potential adverse outcomes through earnings management. This contributes to the literature and enhances information transparency in the capital market, fostering the healthy development of China’s capital market.

Impact of credit rating downgrades and tightness of accounting standards on earnings management in listed SMES

Due to its nature, funding remains the main problem for listed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) globally. To overcome such a problem, there is a trend of using credit rating as the benchmark to appraise funding opportunities and applications in listed SMEs. As credit rating levels vary across time, subject to the performance of the listed SMEs, changes in the credit rating levels might trigger attention from listed SMEs, and actions might then be taken by the management to ensure that the credit rating is at the desired level. Since the literature in this strand of study is limited, this study aimed to examine the effect of credit rating downgrade and tightness of accounting standards on earnings management in listed SMEs. Employing a 2x3 between-subjects experiment manipulating credit rating downgrades (category or notch) and tightness of accounting standards (less tight, moderately tight, tight), it is evidenced that credit rating downgrades, especially notch downgrades, lead to more earnings management behaviors in the presence of a tight and less tight set of accounting standards. Different classifications of credit rating downgrades – notches and categories – will have different implications for earnings management based on the extent to which they are subject to external monitoring. As a practical matter, it is recommended that regulators exercise equal monitoring regardless of whether credit rating downgrades occur by category or notch.

The Impact of Covid-19 on Earnings Management: Empirical Evidence from Vietnam

Earnings management (EM) is the practice of adjusting profits or earnings on financial statements at the discretion of the management. This study undertook a regression analysis of the earnings management model, with data from 300 non-financial listed companies on the Vietnamese stock exchange during the period 2016 to 2021 to determine whether the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on earnings management. To estimate earnings management, compared with the original model, we add the leverage variable (LV) was used as earnings management proxy in this research. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic positively and significantly impact the earnings management of non-financial listed companies. Moreover, it was found that managers are more involved in real earnings management than accrual earnings management, implying that financially distressed firms need to reassure investors to raise more capital during the pandemic. However, there is no evidence of a trade-off between these two techniques during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic. Additionally, this study provides evidence that the model by Roychowdhury, following Cohen et al., and the performance-matched model by Jones, following Kothari et al. are more suitable for detecting EM behavior when factoring in the financial leverage (LV) variable for firms with a high debt ratio in developing countries. JEL Classification: H8, M42

PENGARUH UMUR, GENDER, KEAKTIFAN, EXPERTISE FINANCE DAN MASA JABATAN KOMITE AUDIT TERHADAP MANAJEMEN LABA

Financial report information is a basic reference for making investment decisions for investors and shareholders. The profit achieved by a company is often a measure in assessing a company's performance. This shows that the existence of profits in financial statements is very important so that supervision over its presentation is needed to avoid earnings management behavior by management, which can obscure financial information to make it less appropriate to current developments. One effort that can be made is to make changes in the management of business entities by having an audit sub-organization division or known as an audit committee as part of improving company control. In this research, testing the existence of an audit committee focuses more on the personal characteristics of each member. In this research, testing the existence of an audit committee focuses more on the personal characteristics of each member. The aim of this research is to examine and analyze the influence of the factors age, sex or gender, level of activity, experience in financial expertise and the general term of office of the audit committee on earnings management. This quantitative research used eighty-five samples of manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange for the 2017-2019 period. The research sample was determined using a purposive sampling technique with reference to certain criteria. The data analysis technique used is multiple linear regression. The results of this study show that the age of the audit committee has a negative effect on earnings management, while the gender of the audit committee, the level of activity of the audit committee, understanding of the audit committee's financial expertise and the age of the audit committee's term of office have no effect on earnings management.

Correlation between Earnings Management Behavior and Corporate Performance Based on ESG Rating

The purpose of this study is to deeply explore how ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) rating affects the earnings management behavior of enterprises, and further analyze the impact of this behavior on corporate performance. By constructing theoretical framework and research hypothesis, this paper makes an empirical analysis of the correlation between ESG rating, earnings management and corporate performance by using multiple linear regression model. The results show that enterprises with high ESG rating often show more standardized earnings management behavior, which has a significant positive impact on corporate performance. This discovery provides a new idea for enterprises to improve their performance, and also provides an important reference for investors to evaluate the value of enterprises. This study not only enriches the theoretical system of the relationship between ESG rating and earnings management, but also provides useful guidance for enterprise management practice and investment decision.

Digital Technology Innovation, Surplus Management and Analyst Forecast Bias

With the rapid development of digital economy, digital technology, as its technical support, has an important impact on market information environment and analysts' forecast deviation. Using the data of listed companies from 2007 to 2021, this paper investigates the impact of corporate digital technology innovation on analyst forecast bias. We find that enterprise digital technology innovation has a restraining effect on analyst forecast bias, and this conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests. Heterogeneity analysis shows that this effect is more obvious in firms with low media attention, investor attention and institutional ownership. Mechanism analysis shows that digital technology innovation inhibits firms' earnings management behavior, thus reducing analyst forecast bias. These results are consistent with the logic that digital technology innovation enables managers to use visual earnings management to suppress earnings manipulation and reduce analyst forecast bias. The conclusion of this paper expands the research scope of the economic effect of technological innovation in the digital era, and has certain significance for enterprises to optimize digital innovation strategy and improve market transparency.

Does culture still matter post-IFRS?

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of culture on earnings management after changing to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Design/methodology/approach The study’s sample selection comprises all publicly listed firms in 25 countries between 2000 and 2017 from DataStream database with cultural dimensions ratings from Hofstede et al. (2010). The initial sample contained 2,451 firms. Findings This study provides evidence that the interaction between national culture and IFRS adoption remains influential in explaining differences in the magnitude of earnings management behavior across countries. Originality/value This study higlights how IFRS and the cultural values interact with each other and affect earnings quality. In particular, the authors provide evidence on the relationship between individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and masculinity of national culture and earnings management and, primarily, find that national culture significantly influences the decisions of managers after adopting IFRS.

Business Ethics and Accounting Professional Ethics in Financial Fraud

With the rapid development of China's economy and the increasingly perfect capital market system, listed companies have emerged like mushrooms after rain. However, behind the light and in the dark, cases of financial fraud by listed companies are not uncommon, without exception in all levels of the market, which has brought a series of negative impacts to all parties. In essence, financial fraud is a purposeful earnings management behavior that violates legal principles. The lack of professional ethics among accounting personnel, inadequate internal supervision of enterprises, and imperfect industry legal construction are all root causes. This article analyzes the responsibility issues of violating business ethics and professional ethics in financial fraud, and draws inspiration from it that listed companies should first ensure the essence of their own business ethics and professional ethics.

Examining the influence of corporate social responsibility performance on earnings management: A global perspective in the context of sustainable development

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility and earnings management behavior around the world. Using international data from 35 countries between 2003 and 2019, we find evidence that increased corporate social responsibility tends to mitigate the pressure to manage earnings. These findings are robust to alternate measures of earnings management, corporate social responsibility, as well as controlling for endogeneity caveats by two‐stage‐least square and system generalized‐method‐of‐moments estimations. We further show that the negative association between corporate social responsibility and earnings management is more pronounced for firms in countries with high press freedom or high societal trust. The findings from this article provide implications for investors, analysts, business participants, and regulators.

Earnings management with the absence of income tax avoidance motivation: evidence from pre-, during, and post- global financial crisis

PurposeThis study aims to examines both accrual and real-based earnings management (EM) behavior of listed corporations in tax-free countries during different economic situations. It also addresses the link between firm- and country-level determinants of accrual and real-based EM and explores economic conditions' influence on these determinants.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines 1,608 firm-years, covers sixteen years (2004–2019), clustered into three periods according to the global financial crisis (GFC): four years prior (2004–2007), two years during (2008–2009), and ten years post the GFC (2010–2019). We employ the modified Jones model (performance-matched) developed by Kothari et al. (2005) to measure the accrual-based EM (positive and negative discretionary accrual EM) and the three levels model for Dechow et al. (1998) to measure the real-based EM (cash flow from operating, discretionary expenses and abnormal production cost).FindingsThe study finds a significant increase in EM practices in the listed corporations in tax-free countries during the economic downturn. These corporations are found to understate their earnings during the economic stress period. Simultaneously, the firm-level determinants of EM practices were at the same level of significance during different economic conditions in accrual-based EM. In contrast, the country-level EM determinants vary based on the economic conditions.Originality/valueFinancial reports' users gain a deep understanding of the quality of financial reports in the context of tax-free country. And, the study outcomes inspire policymakers to develop relevant legislation to mitigate financial reports' risk and adequately protect the financial reports' users.

Unveiling Earning Management Practices: A Qualitative Analysis of Accounting Research

This research explores earning management practices through a qualitative analysis of accounting literature. It aims to elucidate the motives, mechanisms, and consequences of earning management, considering diverse industry contexts and regulatory environments. The study utilizes a comprehensive review of empirical studies, industry-specific research, and regulatory interventions to uncover nuanced patterns and emerging trends in earning management behavior. Findings indicate that earning management practices vary across industries, with regulated sectors exhibiting higher manipulation levels. Competitive dynamics also influence earning management decisions, with firms in fiercely competitive environments more likely to engage in aggressive tactics. Regulatory interventions, notably the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, have played a crucial role in deterring opportunistic practices. Despite regulatory efforts, challenges persist, including adaptive responses and unintended consequences such as regulatory arbitrage and greenwashing. The study underscores the importance of contextual factors in shaping earning management practices and highlights the need for tailored regulatory interventions and governance mechanisms. The research contributes to theoretical advancement in accounting, finance, and corporate governance and provides managerial insights into navigating ethical dilemmas and upholding transparency and integrity in financial reporting.

Accounting Conservatism in Borrowers’ Financial Reporting and Earnings Management

[Purpose] This study examines the association between conservatism in borrowers’ financial reporting and their earnings management behavior.
 [Methodology] Based on non－financial companies listed on KOSPI and KOSDAQ for the fiscal years from 2012 to 2021, we find the effect of bank loans on conservatism in borrowers’ financial reporting and their earnings management. We calculate earnings management by using the absolute value of discretionary accruals from the modified Jones model (Dechow et al. 1995) and the absolute value of discretionary accruals from the performance－matched discretionary accrual model (Kothari et al. 2005). We measure the value of firm－year accounting conservatism from Khan and Watts’ (2009) conservatism scores.
 [Findings] We find that earnings management behavior of a borrowing firm decreases as the firm’s accounting conservatism increases.
 [Implications] The results of this study indicate that firms’ accounting conservatism in financial reporting plays an effective role in constraining their earnings management behavior. In addition, results imply that conservatism in financial reporting has an incremental contribution to the governance role of banks in constraining borrowing firms’ opportunistic reporting behavior. Overall, the findings of this study demonstrate that accounting conservatism plays a complementary role to a bank’s monitoring function.

Internationalization of enterprises and quality of financial reports in China: Moderating roles of audit committee characteristics

In the process of seeking sustainable development, enterprises have chosen international business strategy. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the degree of internationalization of Chinese listed firms and financial reporting quality, as well as whether audit committees can moderate the impact of enterprise internationalization on financial reporting quality. The empirical analysis results of Chinese listed manufacturing firms from 2014 to 2018 show that: the degree of corporate internationalization has a significant U-shaped relationship with earnings management. This new finding solves the problem that scholars have inconsistent views on the internationalization of enterprises and the quality of financial reporting. The study also found that audit committees with experience working in accounting firms can inhibit firm earnings management behavior in the early stage of internationalization; audit committees with experience working overseas can inhibit firm earnings management behavior in the later stage of internationalization; the higher the remuneration of audit committee experts, the more it can inhibit firm earnings management behavior in the early stage of internationalization. In the later stage of internationalization, the higher the remuneration of audit committee experts, it helps the earnings management behavior of firms. This provides new evidence on the functioning of the audit committee’s role; however, the independence of the audit committee and the proportion of financial experts do not have a significant effect on the inhibition of earnings management.

How does ESG constrain corporate earnings management? Evidence from China

This paper explores whether and how ESG can constrain firms’ earnings management behavior in China. We find that firms with higher ESG performance are less likely to engage in earnings management. Firm visibility and managerial ownership strengthen the ESG-EM negative relationship, while managerial overconfidence weakens it. To further reveal the underlying mechanism, we find that the constraining effect of ESG performance on earnings management is partially mediated by attracting more analysts. Different from the existing explanations of reducing information asymmetry and ethical perspective, this study sheds new light on the mechanism of ESG's regulating corporate opportunistic behavior in China.

Earnings Management in Business Groups during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

Abstract This paper aims to assess the influence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the accrual-based earnings management patterns in non-financial business groups in the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). This study contributes to the existing literature by considering earnings manipulation behaviours in assessing the reporting data quality, both in consolidated financial statements of business groups and individual financial statements of parent undertakings. The research methods are based on the Modified Jones Model with the simultaneous separation of individual subcategories of accruals via cross-sectional analysis and time-series data approach (separately for each business group). Empirical findings supported the presumption that earnings manipulation schemes in the SARS-CoV-2 transitional (2020) and crisis (2021) periods differed statistically compared to the previous 2019 and 2020 years, respectively. Moreover, this article proved that the company‘s potential financial distress could imply accrual-based earnings management behaviours and moderate the association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and earnings manipulations activities. Finally, the obtained results confirmed that although business groups have an expanded set of balance sheet policy instruments, the quality of earnings reported in the individual financial statements of parent undertakings and the consolidated financial statements of business groups were similar during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.