基于地区差异视角的外部治理环境与盈余管理关系研究——兼论公司治理的替代保护作用

Research on the Relation between External Governance Environment and Earnings Management Based on Regional Differences: Concurrently Discuss the Role of Substitution and Protection Played by Corporate Governance

我国经济发展过程中存在区域发展不平衡现象,这种不平衡对上市公司盈余管理及其治理产生了重要影响。本文基于外部治理环境视角,研究盈余管理的区域分布特征及规律,采用2003-2009年沪深两市836家上市公司数据,运用OLS回归方法检验了不同地区外部治理环境对盈余管理的影响,研究了公司治理在薄弱的外部治理环境中发挥的替代保护作用。研究结果表明:(1)基于经济地理学的角度,我国各地区的外部治理环境和上市公司盈余管理程度存在显著的局域空间集群现象,分布特征有规律可循,即东部地区外部治理环境最好而企业的盈余管理程度最低,中部地区外部治理环境一般,而企业的盈余管理程度也居中,西部地区的外部治理环境最差且企业的盈余管理程度最高;(2)外部治理环境因素显著影响上市公司的盈余管理,市场化程度越高、政府干预程度越低、法治水平越高,公司的盈余管理程度越低;(3)公司治理水平的差异会显著影响外部治理环境因素对盈余管理的关系,公司治理水平的提高可以有效减轻外部治理环境对盈余管理的负面影响。

The unbalanced regional development which exists in the process of China＇s economic growth has exerted a major influence over earnings management of listed companies as well as the gov- ernance. From the perspective of external governance environment, this paper conducts a study on the regional distribution character- istics and patterns of earnings management. This research applies data of 836 companies that are listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2003 to 2009 as study sample, uses Ordinary Least Squares regression method to verify the effect of external governance environment on earnings management in different re- gions, and studies the substitution and protection roles played by corporate governance in a weak external governance environment. The research results are listed as followed. First of all, from the perspective of economic geography, it can be found that there exists a remarkable phenomenon of local spatial cluster in external gover- nance environment and earnings management of listed companies, of which distribution characteristics conform to some regularity, of various regions in China, namely, facing the most favorable external governance environment, companies in the east of China have the lowest degree of earnings management; companies in the west of China are confronted with the worst external governance environ- ment and their degree of earnings management is highest in three regions; companies in the central of China are intermediate in both external governance environment and degree of earnings manage- ment; secondly, earnings management of listed companies is affect- ed by external governance environment significantly, which means companies in the region with higher marketization degree, less gov- ernment interference and more complete law environment may have a lower degree of earnings management; thirdly, the differences of corporate governance may significantly influence the relation be- tween external governance environment and earnings management, and the improvement of corporate governance can also effectively reinforce the constraining effect of external governance environ- ment on earnings management.