Earnings management and audit quality at Damascus securities exchange: Does managerial ownership matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zukaa Mardnly ◽  
Zinab Badran ◽  
Sulaiman Mouselli
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Managerial Ownership ◽  
External Audit ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the individual and combined effect of managerial ownership and external audit quality, as two control mechanisms, on earnings management. Design/methodology/approach This study applies ordinary least squares estimates on fixed-time effects panel regression model to test the impact of the investigated variables on earnings management for the whole population of banks and insurance companies listed at Damascus Securities Exchange (DSE) during the period from 2011 to 2018. Findings The empirical evidence suggests a negative non-linear relationship between managerial ownership (as proxied by board of directors’ ownership) on earnings management. However, neither audit quality nor the simultaneous effect of the managerial ownership and audit quality (Big 4) affects earnings management. Research limitations/implications DSE is dominated by the financial sector and the number of observations is constrained by the recent establishment of DSE and the small number of firms listed at DSE. In addition, the non-availability of data on executive directors’ and foreign ownerships restrict our ability to uncover the impact of different dimensions of ownership structure on earnings management. Practical implications First, it stimulates investors to purchase stocks in financial firms that enjoy both high managerial ownership, as they seem enjoying higher earnings quality. Second, the findings encourage external auditors to consider the ownership structure when choosing their clients as the financial statements’ quality is affected by this structure. Third, researchers may need to consider the role of managerial ownership when analyzing the determinants of earnings management. Originality/value It fills the gap in the literature, as it investigates the impact of both managerial ownership and audit quality on earnings management in a special conflict context and in an unexplored emerging market of DSE. It suggests that managerial ownership exerts a significant role in controlling earnings management practices when loose regulatory environment combines conflict conditions. However, external audit quality fails to counter earnings management practices when conditions are fierce.

Board characteristics, external auditing quality and earnings management

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neila Boulila Taktak ◽  
Ibtissem Mbarki
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Board Structure ◽  
External Audit ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Board Characteristics ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of board characteristics and external audit quality on earnings management among major Tunisian banks over the period 2003-2007. Design/methodology/approach – Multivariate regressions are employed to test the effect of board structure and external audit quality on discretionary provisions as a proxy for earnings management. Findings – Results indicate that among the characteristics of the board, CEO duality is associated with higher levels of discretionary provisions. However, the presence of directors affiliated to the largest shareholder tends to constrain earnings management practices. The results reveal also that a co-audit belonging to the BIG 4 provides incentives to manage earnings while the capacity of the external auditor to disclose reservations impacts negatively the manager's discretion. Practical implications – First, it is not desirable to appoint a co-audit both belonging to the BIG 4. Second, the presence of affiliated directors reduces the discretionary practices except in cases where directors are affiliated to families. In this case, banks should strengthen the presence of independent directors. Finally, the delineation of the leeway left in the Tunisian accounting standards would provide more transparent financial information. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on governance and its impact on earnings management among Tunisian banks by introducing two variables that have not been tested before which are affiliated directors and co-audit. The paper will be of value to banks willing to comply with the Governance Good Practice Guide adopted recently in Tunisia.

Earnings management and ownership structure in emerging market

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (10) ◽  
pp. 1117-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naima Lassoued ◽  
Mouna Ben Rejeb Attia ◽  
Houda Sassi
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Markets ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Loan Loss ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether ownership structure affects earnings management in the banking industry of emerging markets. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study is conducted using a sample of 134 banks from 12 Middle Eastern and North African countries. Econometrically speaking, the study used a panel data regression analysis. Findings The authors found convincing evidence that banks with more concentrated ownership use discretionary loan loss provisions to manage their earnings. The authors also found that state and institutional owners encourage earnings management, while family owners reduce this practice. Practical implications The findings would be valuable for investors since they should take into account ownership structure in order to reach a better investment decision. Moreover, regulatory reforms in emerging markets should push for more transparency about ownership structure, high levels of supervision, and external audit quality. Originality/value This study presents international evidence on the prominent role of owners in earnings management in emerging markets with weak shareholder rights protection.

Internal audit quality and earnings management: evidence from the UK

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazem Ramadan Ismael ◽  
Hany Kamel
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Internal Audit ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Abnormal Accruals ◽  
The Uk

Purpose This study aims to examine the association between internal audit quality and the involvement of UK companies in earnings management practices. Design/methodology/approach To measure the internal audit quality, this study uses 115 responses for a postal questionnaire that was addressed to the heads of internal audit departments in a sample of non-financial listed companies in the UK context. The other financial and governance data for the respondent companies were collected from the Datastream and the companies’ annual reports. The present study uses the signed abnormal accruals as a proxy for earnings management and uses both logistic and ordinary least squares regression models to test the research hypothesis. Findings This study finds a negative relationship between the internal audit quality and the abnormal accruals, implying the prominent role of internal audit in reducing the upwards earnings management. The study also finds a significant impact of the internal audit competence on reducing the engagement of UK companies in income-increasing earnings management compared to the internal audit independence. This remarkable result suggests the companies need to focus more on enhancing the internal audit competence to reduce the opportunistic management’s behaviour. Practical implications This study has important implications for the internal audit’s practice, regulation and research. Originality/value This is the first study that investigates the relationship between internal audit quality and earnings management in the UK context. Furthermore, it uses a comprehensive measure for the internal audit function (IAF) quality covering different aspects of IAF quality based on the global Institute of Internal Auditor standards and prior internal audit literature.

Earnings management, audit quality, and cost of debt: evidence from a Central Asian economy

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 696-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurlan Orazalin ◽  
Rassul Akhmetzhanov
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Cost Of Debt ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose This study aims to examine the effects of earnings management and audit quality on cost of debt of listed companies in Kazakhstan. The study also investigates the effects of audit quality on earnings management and whether the relationship between earnings management and cost of debt is affected by audit quality in the context of a given emerging economy. Design/methodology/approach The study sample consists of public companies listed in the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) from 2011 to 2016, and all data were obtained from audited financial statements and annual reports downloaded from the webpage of KASE. The study uses the cross-sectional ordinary least squares technique to test the impact of audit quality and earnings management on cost of debt. Findings The collected empirical evidence shows that earnings management is negatively related to cost of debt. The findings also indicate that higher audit quality leads to a lower cost of debt. However, the results suggest that audit quality has no impact on earnings management and that the effect of earnings management on cost of debt is not different for the companies audited by the Big Four and for the companies audited by other audit firms. Practical implications The findings of the study can be of interest to policy-makers, regulators, investors and practitioners in emerging markets with an institutional environment similar to that of Kazakhstan. Originality/value The study throws more light on the impact of earnings management and audit quality on cost of debt in Kazakhstan, representing the Central Asian region. This study also extends the current literature by providing empirical evidence that the relationship between earnings management and cost of debt is not affected by audit quality.

Ownership structure and real earnings management: evidence from an emerging market

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaker Dahan AL-Duais ◽  
Mazrah Malek ◽  
Mohamad Ali Abdul Hamid ◽  
Amal Mohammed Almasawa
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Standard Errors ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the monitoring role of ownership structure (OWS) on real earnings management (REM) practices; previous studies primarily examined the effect of OWS on accrual-based earnings management.Design/methodology/approachThe sample of this study is 490 companies listed on the Malaysian Stock Exchange during the period 2013–2016 (1,960 company-year observations). The regression of a feasible generalized least square was used for data analysis. The authors use three regression models ordinary least squares, panel-corrected standard errors and Driscoll–Kraay standard errors to corroborate the findings and also examine alternative REM measures.FindingsAnalysis of the data shows that family, foreign and institutional ownership has a positive link with the quality of financial reporting and, to a large extent, is capable of alleviating REM. The findings also indicate that some form of OWS significantly affects REM, corroborating existing theories on corporate governance (CG) and the perspectives of practitioners.Practical implicationsThe evidence concerns the significant role played by the OWS in reducing REM activities. The findings are useful in support of regulatory activities, particularly in the design of policies to regulate the OWS. The results may also provide useful insights to inform other policymakers, investors, shareholders and researchers about the active role of family, foreign and institutional investors in monitoring Malaysia's public listed companies (PLCs) to strengthen CG practices. This also leads to less REM and enhances the quality of financial reporting.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this work is pioneering research from a developing country, specifically from Malaysia, to investigate the manner in which all possible OWSs influence REM. More importantly, the study recommends that regulators and researchers do not envisage OWS as a holistic phenomenon.

Ownership dilution and earnings management: evidence from Indian IPOs

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 344-359
Author(s):  
Priyesh Valiya Purayil ◽  
Jijo Lukose P.J.
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Firms ◽  
Security Offerings ◽  
Lockup Expiration ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Prior research on earnings management largely assumes that newly public firms manage earnings opportunistically around IPOs. However, only a few studies have empirically examined the real motives behind newly public firms’ earnings management. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of ownership dilution on earnings management among IPO firms. The authors chose the setting of security offerings in an emerging market, which is characterised by unique ownership structure, to examine the possible incentive of owners or pre-IPO shareholders to engage in earnings management. Design/methodology/approach The study employs accrual and real transactions measures to check the presence of earnings management among 409 IPO firms from India during the period 2000‒2018. Subsequently, using ordinary least squares regression models with heteroscedasticity-robust standard errors, this paper examines the relationship between earnings management and selling or dilution incentives of pre-IPO shareholders. Findings The study finds that the degree of earnings manipulation by issuer firms is positively associated with the ownership dilution at the time of IPO as well as around lockup expiration. Practical implications The findings of this study will help the investors and regulators to understand the practice of earnings management among IPO firms and how it is linked to the ownership dilution of pre-IPO shareholders. Originality/value The paper contributes to the limited stream of research that investigates the motives of earnings management among IPO firms. It empirically establishes an association between the selling incentive of pre-IPO shareholders and earnings management.

Role of corporate governance in constraining earnings management practices: a study of select Indian and Chinese firms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aprajita Pandey ◽  
J.K. Pattanayak ◽  
Prakash Singh
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Chinese Stock Market ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Country Level ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corporate governance on both accrual-based and real earnings management practices in select firms of the two world's largest economies, i.e. India and China. Design/methodology/approach The study has implemented a feasible generalized least square regression (FGLS) method to analyse the effect of corporate governance on accrual-based and real earnings management. Findings The study exhibits the significant contribution of large board sizes and independent boards in constraining the use of both accruals as well as real earnings management practices. However, audit quality had an impact on accrual earnings management only. The study also documents that accrual earnings management practices are controlled when the government’s potential to develop and enactment of policies increases. Practical implications The findings of the study provide insights to analysts, prospective investors and regulators to evaluate the effectiveness of the board in a new issue firm and help the firm to enhance its corporate governance policies. Originality/value Unlike previous studies who mostly examined the impact of corporate governance factors on accrual earnings management, the present study has, first, considered both accruals as well as real earnings management. Second, the present study has used the unique sample of new issue firms listed on the Indian and Chinese stock market, and third, the study did an additional analysis to examine the impact of country-level governance factors on accrual earnings management.

Do corporate diversification and earnings management practices affect capital structure?

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 360-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranjitha Ajay ◽  
R Madhumathi
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Corporate Diversification ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Diversification Strategies ◽  
Market Product ◽  
Diversified Firms ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of earnings management on capital structure across firm diversification strategies. Design/methodology/approach – The study focuses on firms operating in the manufacturing sector (diversified and focused). Panel data methodology compares diversification strategies and identifies the impact of diversification strategy with earnings management practices on capital structure decision. Findings – International and product diversified firms have lower levels of leverage than focused firms in their capital structure. Asset-based earnings management is positive for diversified (market/product) firms. Earnings management using discretionary expenditure (project based) is found to be higher for market diversified but product-focused firms. Earning smoothing method is found to be significant for focused firms and shows a negative relationship with capital structure. Originality/value – This study offers an insight into the relationship between corporate diversification, earnings management and capital structure decisions of manufacturing firms. The results provide an important contribution to accounting and strategy literature. A distinction is made between market- and product-diversified firms and influence of earnings management practices (asset-based, project-based and earnings smoothing (ESM)) on capital structure decisions. Diversified firms (market/product) tend to have lower levels of leverage than focused firms and earnings management practices within firm groups significantly influence the capital structure decisions.

How does ownership structure affect the financing and dividend decisions of firm?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahar Tayachi ◽  
Ahmed Imran Hunjra ◽  
Kirsten Jones ◽  
Rashid Mehmood ◽  
Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh Al-Faryan
Keyword(s):  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Dividend Policy ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Institutional Ownership ◽  
Agency Cost ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Managerial Ownership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Ownership structure deals with internal corporate governance mechanism, which plays important role in minimizing conflict of interests between shareholders and management Ownership structure is an important mechanism that influences the value of firm, financing and dividend decisions. This paper aims to examine the impact of the ownership structures, i.e. managerial ownership, institutional ownership on financing and dividend policy. Design/methodology/approach The authors use panel data of manufacturing firms from both developed and developing countries, and the generalized method of moments (GMM) is applied to analyze the results. The authors collect the data from DataStream for the period of 2010 to 2019. Findings The authors find that managerial ownership and ownership concentration have significant and positive effects on debt financing, but they have significant and negative effects on dividend policy. Institutional ownership shows a positive impact on financing decisions and dividend policy for sample firms. Originality/value This study fills the gap by proving the policy implications for both firms and investors, as managers prefer debt financing, but at the same time try to ignore dividend payment. Therefore, investors may not invest in firms with a higher proportion of managerial ownership and may choose to invest more in institutional ownership, which lowers the agency cost.

The effect of the financial crisis on audit quality: European evidence

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria I. Kyriakou
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Audit Quality ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Big Four

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of the recent financial crisis on audit quality by analysing discretionary accruals. Design/methodology/approach This study considers a sample of German, French, Italian and Spanish non-financial firms from 2005 to 2013 to investigate the auditor’s independence. It uses a cross-sectional and time-series ordinary least squares regression model to control for other predictors of the auditor’s independence when the financial crisis produces a decrease in audit quality. Findings The proportion of the non-financial firms having lower audit quality was higher during the financial crisis. In addition, during the crisis auditors were less likely to provide a higher audit quality for these non-financial firms. The level of audit quality returned to normal levels during the post-crisis years when the crisis had ceased. Originality/value These findings contribute to the literature on the impact of economic and financial changes on audit quality. In addition, this research finds that the Big Four accounting firms provide a higher audit quality in different circumstances from non-Big Four accounting firms, and that audit quality decreased during the crisis and returned to normal in the post-crisis period.

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