Perceptions of the Effect of Sarbanes-Oxley on Earnings Management Practices

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 137-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
John E. McEnroe
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley

scholarly journals A comparison of ethical perceptions of earnings-management practices

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonie Jooste
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Harvard Business Review ◽  
Business Managers ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Nelson Mandela ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Accounting Practitioners

In 1990, Bruns and Merchant (1990) surveyed earnings-management practices and asked the readership of the Harvard Business Review to rate the acceptability of those practices. Prior to the Bruns and Merchant (1990) study, the morality of short-term earnings-management was of little concern to researchers and accounting practitioners. However, in the light of increased financial frauds and failures, new and increased emphasis has been placed on the importance of the concepts of earnings quality and earnings-management practices.Despite increased research focusing on business ethics since 1990, there is little evidence that the profession is educating accountants about earnings-management practices. This study compares the results of studies on earnings-management practices. Students and business managers were surveyed at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and these results were compared to studies prior to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002 in the USA. The aim of the study is to determine if there have been changes in attitudes towards earnings-management practices since the acceptance of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

scholarly journals Public Accountants’ Perceptions Of The Acceptability Of Earnings Management Practices Through The Employment Of GAAP In The Post-Sox Period

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John E. McEnroe
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Accounting Scandals ◽  
Audit Opinions ◽  
Certification Requirements

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; mso-pagination: none;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Over fifteen years ago, Martens and McEnroe (1992) conducted a behavioral study involving earnings management through the use of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Their findings indicated that auditors issued unqualified audit opinions on those financial statements and perceived little risk to litigation as a result. A decade later they conducted a similar study (Martens and McEnroe 2002) with the expectation that increased attention to earnings management by then chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arthur Levitt, would reduce auditors’ perceptions that the letter of GAAP is in itself an aegis or “safe harbor” against litigation. Although the authors found that auditors had become more conservative, they still issued unqualified opinions on financial statements in which transactions were reported in their form rather than their substance. Given the accounting scandals of Enron and WorldCom, among others, and the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002, especially with its officers’ certification requirements, it was posited that auditors would exhibit a much more conservative approach than in either of the two previous studies. The results indicate that although auditors are more conservative than in the 1992 study, they still allow clients to engage in earnings management practices through the use of GAAP by issuing unqualified audit opinions on their financial statements. <strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></strong></span></span></p>

scholarly journals Accounting ethics – an empirical investigation of managing short-term earnings

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonie Jooste
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Accounting Students ◽  
Accounting Ethics ◽  
Ethical Practice ◽  
Business Managers ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley ◽  
Significant Difference

Short-term earnings are managed in most, if not all, companies. The management of short-term earnings is vulnerable to misinterpretation, manipulation or deliberate deception even if these misleading accounting practices are prohibited by accounting regulations. Hence, the problem with managing short-term earnings is that it becomes an ethical practice, regardless of who is or may be affected by the practice or the information that flows from it. As a result of the publicity received by Enron and WorldCom on financial failures and fraud, and the subsequent legislation, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, students are expected to understand the morality issues of earnings-management practices. Therefore, the ethics of earnings-management practices affects the accounting educator. Accounting students and business managers were surveyed and the findings indicated that there is no significant difference between gender regarding the ethicality of twenty earning management practices. The results, however, show that there is a significant difference between the perceptions of business managers and students regarding the morality of earnings-management practices. However, no significant differences were found between genders.

scholarly journals Event-specific earnings management: additional evidence from US M&A pre-and post-SOX

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malek Alsharairi ◽  
Robert Dixon ◽  
Radhi Al-Hamadeen
Keyword(s):  
Mergers And Acquisitions ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Significant Evidence ◽  
Public Firms ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Sarbanes Oxley

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to re-examine the motivation to manage earnings in US mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by investigating whether the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley act (SOX) has affected pre-merger earnings management.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a sample of over 700 completed M&As of US public firms during 1999-2008. Using quarterly reports, they tracked down earnings management during the four quarters preceding the deal and consequently drew inferences about the implications of SOX on interim reporting practices.FindingsWe report evidence that in the post-SOX era, non-cash acquirers begin pre-merger upwards earnings management in an earlier quarter than in the pre-SOX era. Further, our evidence indicates that in the quarters prior to the takeover, targets engage in more aggressive upwards earnings management in the post-SOX era.Originality/valueUnlike what is anticipated regarding earnings management practices after SOX, the study reveals significant evidence of upward earnings management by firms engaging in M&A in post-SOX era.

Financial Distress, Earnings Benchmark and Earnings Management Practices

2021 ◽  
pp. 097226292110109
Author(s):  
Karan Gandhi
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Large Panel ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Contradictory Evidence ◽  
Financially Distressed

Prior research exhibits contradictory evidence on earnings management practices, both accrual and real, undertaken by the firms in state of financial distress. This study uniquely examines the issue in the presence of earnings-increasing earnings management motivation- meeting earnings benchmark of avoiding losses. For examining the issue, this study analyzes large panel data of Indian public companies for the period 2000–2016. The findings indicate prevalence of earnings-decreasing real earnings management practices, that is, decrease in overproduction and increase in spending on discretionary expenses, in financially distressed firms despite there being motivation to increase earnings to avoid losses. No evidence of accrual earnings management practices has been observed in such firms.

scholarly journals Management Entrenchment, Firm Characteristics and Earnings Management Of Conglomerate Companies In Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Temitope Olamide Fagbemi ◽  
Olubunmi Florence Osemene ◽  
Oyinlade Agbaje
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
P Value ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Firm Characteristics ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Management Entrenchment ◽  
The Impact

Sometimes the rivalry between shareholders and management is an indication of the level of entrenchment within the corporate environment. Managers are believed to routinely manipulate earnings in order to mislead shareholders about their company's actual economic outlook or performance. As a result, the study investigated the impact of managerial entrenchment, firm characteristics and earnings management of conglomerate companies in Nigeria. Employing the ex-post facto research design, the data was gathered from secondary source of the 6 listed conglomerate companies for the 11-year period running (2008-2018). The study used discretionary accruals a proxy for earnings management and to calculate discretionary accruals, the study used modified Jones model. The result showed that management entrenchment and firm characteristics have Impact on multinational firms ' earnings management in Nigeria. Specifically, from the conglomerate’s entrenchment proxies, CEO’s tenure has a positive and significant impact on earnings management (coff. =1.062821, p-value =0.0367) and management entrenchment as measured by CEO’s shareholding has a negative and insignificant effect on earnings management (coff. =-6252391, p-value = 0.4090) while firm size, profitability and leverage indicated a significant and positive impact on earnings management (coff, = 0.124587, p-value = 0.0000; coff. = 0.006647, p-value = 0.0431 and coff. = 0.032065, p-value = 0.0000). The study therefore recommended among others that management should reduce the debt in their capital structure in order to improve their companies’ value and their capital structure should be majorly financed by equity rather than debt and reduce CEOs tenure to minimise earnings management practices.

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