Does the Internal Audit Function Play a Role in Mitigating Earnings Management?

This paper aims to investigate the effect of the characteristics of the internal audit function(IAF)on earnings management(EM)for a sample of 27 Tunisian listed companies.The authors employed the Correlated Panels Corrected Standard Errors model to estimate the regression equation.The results showed that EM is negatively associated with internal audit effectiveness,frequency of audit committee meetings with Chief Audit Executives(CAEs),the partial outsourcing of internal audit,and the firm’s size.Moreover,the authors found a positive relationship between EM and the use of IAF as a training ground for management and the private sector.This study is important to academics,regulators,and policymakers in introducing new governance reforms to strengthen the IAF as an important internal governance mechanism to reduce earnings management practices in emerging countries.The results also provide useful information for investors to examine the effect of internal audit characteristics on earnings management.

Tax avoidance and earnings management:a neural network approach for the largest European economies

In this study,we investigate the relationship between tax avoidance and earnings management in the largest five European Union economies by using artificial neural network regressions.This methodology allows us to deal with nonlinearities detected in the data,which is the principal contribution to the previous literature.We ana-lyzed Compustat data for Germany,the United Kingdom,France,Italy,and Spain for the 2006–2015 period,focusing on discretionary accruals.We considered three tax avoidance measures,two based on the effective tax rate(ETR)and one on book-tax differences(BTD).Our results indicate the presence of nonlinear patterns and a posi-tive,statistically significant relationship between discretionary accruals and both ETR indicators implying that when companies resort to earnings management,a larger tax-able income—and thus higher ETR and lesser tax avoidance–would ensue.Hence,as also highlighted by the fact that discretionary accruals do not appear to affect BTD,our evidence does not suggest that companies are exploiting tax manipulation to reduce their tax payments;thus,the gap between accounting and taxation seems largely unaf-fected by earnings management.

The Comparison between Accrual Earnings Management and Real Earnings Management

Earnings management is an important topic in modern financial accounting. With the development of social economy, practical circles and theory circles have studied the earnings management more and more carefully. In this paper, we will contrast accrual earnings management with real earnings management in definition, motivation, approach, and economic consequences, and hope to provide some suggestions for our government.

Earnings Management and Fraudulent Financial Reporting： The Malaysian Story

Earnings management research has a long and rich history. The agency conflict, incentives, rationalization, opportunity plus having the capability among the managers to manipulate the financial statements lead them to commit fraud. The loopholes in the standards or the deviation from real operational activities promote this situation to prolong. In relation to this issue, this study examines the earnings management behavior among fraud firms in Malaysia. Further, this study examines the relationship between accruals earnings management as a proxy variable for discretionary accruals and real earnings management as the proxy variable for discretionary cash flow. Sample of 57 alleged fraud firms was selected based on the fraudulent financial reporting offences announced in Bursa Malaysia website. The sample data are collected from public firms which committed fraud from 2001 to 2013. This study found a significant negative relationship between accruals earnings management and real earnings management among the fraud firms in Malaysia suggesting that these firms aggressively manage earnings downwards or upwards essentially to avoid regulators scrutiny apart from aiming to achieve personal incentives. The study significantly finds evidence that fraud firms manage earnings on a sequential basis between accruals earnings management and real earnings management prior to fraud year. The findings indicate that firms opt for real earnings management and make full use of its distinguished features of not easily traceable to continue managing earnings immediately subsequent to fraud year. This study may assist regulators, auditors, and policymakers to curb earnings management patterns that have high likelihood of becoming part of fraud antecedent.

Chaebol Firms＇ Real and Accrual-Based Earnings Management in the Pre-and Post-Asian Financial Crisis Periods

This paper examines chaebol （Korean business group） firms＇ earnings management methods in pre-and post-financial crisis periods in Korea. The financial crisis resulted in chaebol firms increasing their reliance on the external capital markets as chaebol firms achieved internal financing through arbitrary transactions among their affiliated and contracted firms. This produced a higher demand for financial reporting transparency in chaebol firms and strengthened monitoring from investors. These changes in the business environment in Korea following the financial crisis are likely to have led chaebol firms to reduce earnings management by using managers＇ discretion in accounting accruals and to seek alternative means to manage earnings through abnormal operating decisions which are referred to as real activities manipulation. The authors find that chaebol firms have significantly decreased accrual-based earnings management after the financial crisis of Asian compared to non-chaebol firms. The authors also find that chaebol firms have become more inclined to engage in real earnings management after the financial crisis. The results suggest that chaebol firms have shifted their earnings management methods from accruals manipulation to real activities manipulation which is harder to be detected by external auditors and regulators. This study provides insight into the changes in chaebol firms＇ earnings management methods triggered by economic shock. The findings suggest that the shift in chaebol firms＇ financing sources from internal to external capital markets and the increased demand for transparent financial information in the post-financial crisis period are likely to have influenced chaebol firms to substitute real earnings management for accrual-based earnings management after the financial crisis.

The Effect of Real Activities Manipulation on Accrual Earnings Management： The Case in Indonesia Stock Exchange （IDX）

There are three ways to manage earnings, namely, accruals earnings management, real activities manipulation, and shifting of core expense. The famous methods to manage earnings are accruals earnings management and real activities manipulation. Usually, real activities manipulation is conducted on the going period. The action will increase the loss for the firms at the end of the period. To avoid the loss, managers will manage earnings through accruals （discretionary accruals）. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate whether real activities manipulation positively influences accruals earnings management. To investigate the issue, this study collected data from Indonesia Stock Exchange （IDX）. Samples of this study are the manufacturing companies. There are 196 firms from the year 2003 to 2007. The results of this study support the research hypothesis that real activities manipulation positively influences accruals earnings management. The higher the real activities manipulation effects, the higher the accruals earnings management at the end of the period.There are three ways to manage earnings, namely, accruals earnings management, real activities manipulation, and shifting of core expense. The famous methods to manage earnings are accruals earnings management and real activities manipulation. Usually, real activities manipulation is conducted on the going period. The action will increase the loss for the firms at the end of the period. To avoid the loss, managers will manage earnings through accruals （discretionary accruals）. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate whether real activities manipulation positively influences accruals earnings management. To investigate the issue, this study collected data from Indonesia Stock Exchange （IDX）. Samples of this study are the manufacturing companies. There are 196 firms from the year 2003 to 2007. The results of this study support the research hypothesis that real activities manipulation positively influences accruals earnings management. The higher the real activities manipulation effects, the higher the accruals earnings management at the end of the period.

Does investor protection affect the choice of earnings management methods through real activity manipulation and accrual manipulation？ Asian comparison

This paper examines systematic differences in earnings management through real activity manipulation and accrual manipulation across 7 Asia countries. The study proposes arguments that in economies with high investor protection, managers prefer to manage earnings through real activity manipulation rather than through accrual manipulation because accrual manipulation is more likely to draw auditors or regulators scrutiny than real decisions about pricing and production. The study findings are consistent with prediction. Despite being in economies with high investor protection, managers still have bigger discretion in managing earnings through real activities rather than accrual manipulation.

Tone of language,financial disclosure,and earnings management:a textual analysis of form 20-F

This study investigates the relationship between the tone of financial disclosures and managers’earnings management behavior using Form 20-F filings of Chinese firms listed in the U.S.during 2002–2014.The results show that the proportion of positive,uncertain,or modal words used in financial disclosures is positively related to corporate earnings management,implying that managers attempt to conceal earnings management behavior by manipulating the tone of their financial reports.In addition,robustness tests are conducted using an alternative proxy for earnings management that considers the effects of the financial crisis and separately examines the information and non-information technology industries.The results suggest that the tone used in financial disclosures has informative value,and textual analysis can be an effective tool for identifying earnings management.

Seasoned Equity Offerings and " Herd Behavior " of Earnings Management

A model to explain the dynamic characters of earnings management was developed based on the interactionamong several firms’ disclosure policies. Under the condition of incomplete information, each firm’s earnings man-agement will be influenced by the earnings disclosure policies of other firms. It can lead to "herd behavior" of earningsmanagement. This paper studies the relationship between earnings manipulation and rights issue policy based on thedistribution of earnings after management. The results indicate that Chinese listed companies trend towards controllingROE in the narrow ranges just above 6% and 10% .Therefore, "herd behavior" exists in the earnings management.

Toward the Effect of Audit Quality on Earnings Management——Empirical Evidence from Manufacturing Enterprises Listed in Shanghai Stock Market

Nowadays, earnings management is a hot issue, but most of the researches focus on the incentives of earnings management and few of them refer to the effect of audit quality on earnings management. In this study, we directly examine the effect of external audit quality on earnings management by using discretionary accruals. We find that the discretionary accruals of non-dual audit companies are significantly greater than those of dual audit companies. We also find that clients of non-First Ten auditors intend to report greater discretionary accruals than those of First Ten auditors.

Financial Statements Frauds: Does Their Intensity Have a Connection with Earnings Management?

This study investigates the relationship between earnings management and financial statements frauds.We examine how earnings management practices;done in the two years before the fraud,impact the likelihood of fraud occurrence.Moreover,we introduce a new measure for the fraud intensity.Using a sample of 70 fraud and 70 no-fraud firms,we find that firms committing fraud of higher intensity have managed earnings in the two years before the fraud occurrence.This paper contributes to the literature about fraud antecedents because it is the first study measuring the relationship between earnings management and the intensity of the fraud,and it can be also useful for practitioners,because using the analysis of earnings management practices,analysts can foresee and prevent financial statements frauds.

Is Earnings Management a Technique to Reduce Cost of Capital？ Exploratory Study on Indian Companies

Earnings management has attracted lots of academicians towards the research due to the emerging frauds and downfall of great corporate giants of the world. Mainly earnings measurement is based on the accounting estimates which managers can easily manipulate for their self-interest. The study investigates the relationship between cost of capital and the earnings measurement for the Indian firms. Measurement of earnings is mostly computed by taking either discretionary accruals （DAC） or non-discretionary accruals （NDAC）. Present study has used Dechow, Sloan, and Sweeney （1995） model for earnings measurement and for analyzing the results. Panel data regression has also been used. Findings of the study conclude that DAC has a significant influence on cost of capital, but NDAC has no influence.

Differentiating and Subdividing for Concept of Earnings Management

Through discriminating the concept of unreal accounting information and differentiating earnings management and profit manipulation, the paper ascertains the concept of earnings management by applying the theories of agent, game and information transfer etc., and then subdivides its content.

Earnings Management Practices in Indian Companies： A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Corporate accounting frauds over the last two decades have caused massive erosion of investor wealth and shattered public confidence in regulators and capital markets. Deliberate manipulation of financial numbers by a company is rarely a one-off event; it is more a culture of widespread earnings management that permeates an organization and eventually leads to a full-blown accounting fraud. This paper looks at earnings management practices in Indian companies and examines the extent of earnings management prevalent across firms of varying market capitalization. The present study examines 130 listed Indian companies during the period of 2013-2015. The findings of this study provide a measure of the quality of financial reporting in India. Modified Jones model （1995） is used to estimate discretionary accruals （DA）, which is considered as a proxy for earnings management. The average DA is estimated at 5.6% of the total assets of the firms, which is comparable to the estimates in other parts of the world （about 1%-5% of total assets）. A sector-specific analysis reveals presence of higher earnings manipulation in the consumer durable and energy sectors. Large cap companies are found to show a lower level of eamings management as compared to the small-cap firms. The study also finds a dip in the magnitude of DA in 2015, which is the first year of application of the new Companies Act 2013. Subsequent years will reveal the true success of the new Act in enforcing a stricter regime of corporate governance and greater accountability of corporate boards and audit committees. International studies point towards a high degree of correlation between effective audit committees and lower levels of earnings management in companies. Further work in this field from an Indian context will help identify factors that have a constraining effect on earnings management, and ultimately help preserve the sanctity of reported financial numbers.

Case analysis on earnings management action based on issue right：Evidence from Chinese listed companies

The study in the past shows that the listed companies in China have the actions of manipulating profit to cater for the requirement of the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission, manage earnings by means of dealings or managing the accrued profit items, so as to acquire the competence of rights issue, or lessen the risk of being suspended or canceled of trading. In this paper, the case analysis on earnings management based on rights issue right of listed companies is carded out with the samples of data from the listed companies of A-share from 1996 to 2001 and by means of earnings distributing, so as to prove the listed companies＇ response to the policies of rights issue and the existence of earnings management conducted by the rights issue companies for the purpose of rights issue, and observe the effectiveness of the securities market in China.

Earnings Management in State-Owned Enterprises in a Period of Macroeconomic Instability

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and to what extend Greek state-owned enterprises engage in earnings management techniques during 2012-2016.Most prior studies on earnings management have used data from large economies with relative stable macroeconomic contexts(e.g.,USA).Our knowledge about earnings management in smaller economies is rather limited.To fill this void,we conducted our study in Greece and focused on the abovementioned period,which is very interesting given that Greece experienced a substantial political and macroeconomic instability(e.g.,four elections,one referendum,capital controls,and two memorandums).Two different models(i.e.,The Earnings Distribution Model and the Modified Jones Model)are used to provide answers to the research questions.The sample is composed of 50 state-owned enterprises.The results show that Greek state-owned enterprises did not adopt any earnings management techniques during the examined period.These results are rather robust given that they come from two different models.According to the literature,macroeconomic and political instability provide incentives to managers to use earnings management techniques.Interestingly though,our results suggest that this is not the case for a smaller economy.The findings of this study will allow investors,auditors,and users of the financial statements to make better decisions when studying companies that are experiencing those difficulties.The adoption of two different methods and the similar results is an indication of more robust and valid findings.

The Audit Opinion of Earnings Management in Listed Companies of China

The paper testes the relationship between audit opinions and financial sensitive zones and accounts on the basis of the data of A-share companies in China. The author finds that when ROE of listed companies is in the small-profit zone or in the large-loss zone, the probabilities that they get modified audit opinions increase. But the right-offering zone, accrual accounts and accounts below the line have no significant effects on the modified audit opinions. Besides, the author also finds that the ratio of accounts receivable to asset, debt ratio, previous year＇s audit opinion and change of CPA firms have significant positive effects on the modified audit opinions, while the ratio of major business revenue and size of companies have no notable effects. Some other factors such as cash ratio, age of the listing and CPA firm ranking have no consistent and continuous effects.

Does International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） Adoption Matter？ The Effects on Financial Transparency and Earnings Management

This paper aims to examine whether or not the adoption of fair value accounting （FVA） has an effect on the level of information transparency and the degree of earnings management, to identify whether the legal institutions have powers to explain those effects of the adoption of FVA, and to explore the relationship between the effects of the adoption of FVA and several specific characteristics of the banking industry. By investigating the banking sectors of four Asian countries/regions including China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Singapore which have adopted International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS）, this paper finds that after the application of FVA, the estimated cost of equity of the sampled banks significantly decreases and the relationship between banks＇ loan loss provisions （LLP） and earnings before provisions and tax （EBPT） becomes irrelevant. The evidence supports the effects of FVA adoption on the enhancement of accounting quality. In addition, sound legal/extra-legal systems are closely linked to the degree of accounting quality and still have a strong influence on FVA.

The Importance of Earnings Management Detection Models to Identify Fraud： A Case From Italian Listed Firms

Markets can get the confidence of investors enhancing the quality of governance and audit systems surrounding a firm. Financial reporting is a main component of them, being the basis for information necessary to investors＇ decisions. Managers have a chance to manipulate information provided in financial statements, in order to offer a better image of a firm to its potential and effective investors. The objective of this study is to evaluate the possibility of detecting extreme cases of earnings management and to check the predictive ability of the discretionary accruals models on the event of fraudulent earnings restatement. Through the abuse of reporting incentives, a manager gives out false information that should be averted and punished by regulators in a fair market system. The authors check the efficacy of different earnings management detection models in predicting discretionary manipulations and study the correlation between the frequency of manipulation and the event of fraud.

An Empirical Study of the Earnings Management of the Enterprises Taking Sports Industry as the Main Business： Based on USA Listed Companies

This study combines the listed companies which regard the sports industry as the main business with eamings management which is the current hot issue in the study of corporate governance at home and abroad to explore corporate governance of the enterprises taking sports industry as the main business. By summarizing and analyzing the relevant theory, the study establishes a hypothesis, designs empirical models, and verifies the hypothesis using the data of USA listed companies. Empirical results show that enterprises taking the sports industry as the main business have a higher degree of earnings management, due to the high growth potentials of this type of enterprise.