The effect of ownership-control disparity on the Chinese firm’s real activity earnings management

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Ho Kim ◽  
Yohan An
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Cash Flow ◽  
Capital Markets ◽  
Chinese Firms ◽  
Real Activity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Controlling Shareholders ◽  
Cash Flow Rights ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ownership Control

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the impact of the separation between control and cash flow rights (control-ownership disparity) on the earnings management practices of Chinese firms. The notable features of Chinese firms are those of concentrated ownership and the severe disparity that exists between the control and cash flow rights of controlling shareholders. Design/methodology/approach This study measures the level of Chinese firms’ earnings management by adopting two different methods of measurement: accrual-based earnings management (AEM) and real activity earnings management (REM). The authors also consider the possible trade-off effects between these two types of measurements. The data set in this study encompasses over 2,000 Chinese firms, using data from 2003 to 2015. Findings The results indicate that controlling shareholders are more likely to engage in AEM as their cash flow rights are more concentrated, while they are less likely to use REM as the disparity of control-cash flow rights increases. Further, this inverse relationship between REM and control-cash flow rights disparity becomes more pronounced in the case of a low cash flow rights group. As REM generally causes distortions in firms’ operations, it is possible that the controlling shareholders are more likely to constrain the use of REM as the disparity is perceived to grow. This result may indicate a reduced agency problem between controlling and minority shareholders due to the developing and/or existing ownership dispersions, which are mainly driven by recent reforms applied to Chinese capital markets. However, we do not entirely exclude the possibility of other types of expropriations by the controlling shareholders. It appears that the controlling shareholders are still able to exert a significant level of control, even following a substantial ownership dispersion, and they may seek alternative expropriation methods, including but not limited to intercorporate loan or related party transactions as the disparity of control-cash flow rights increases. Originality/value Although the Chinese economy is experiencing a series of reforms to infuse market forces into capital markets, little has been known about the effects of ownership-control disparity in Chinese firms. Our findings highlight the importance of the country specific context in this vein of research.

Corporate social responsibility, firm performance and the moderating effect of earnings management in Chinese firms

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 184-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Safdar Sial ◽  
Zheng Chunmei ◽  
Tehmina Khan ◽  
Vinh Khuong Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Firm Performance ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Chinese Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance and the moderating role of earnings management on the relationship between CSR and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study used the updated data set (3,481 unbalanced observations for period 2009–2015) from Chinese listed companies on Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges. The generalized method of moments (GMM) statistical approach has been used for the analysis. The authors utilized STATA to test GMM on a sample of Chinese listed firms data over the period 2009–2015. The unbalanced sample obtained 3,481 observations from China stock market and accounting research database and CSR ratings provided by Rankins (RKS). Findings The results demonstrated that CSR has a positive and significant relationship with firm’s performance; also, earnings management has a negatively moderate relationship between CSR and firm performance. These results imply that a high value of earnings management, which results in high level of symbolic CSR, converts to low firm performance of the Chinese firms. CSR actions (only as symbolic measures) promoted by managers as a means to cover their profit management incite an adverse effect on the company’s performance. This study has highlighted the impact of two different corporate social responsibilities: substantive and symbolic (genuine CSR vs greenwashing) on firm performance. Research limitations/implications The results of this investigation will be of distinct interest to company owners who wish to ascertain the effectiveness of the sustainability decisions of directors and managers, and also to investors and public authorities to estimate the positive relationship between CSR and company’s reputation and image, and thus, the positive influence on firm performance. Originality/value Previous studies have generally focused on the relationship between CSR and firm performance. This study provides the impact of earnings management (measurement of both aspects of accrual-based earnings management and real earnings management) on this relationship. Furthermore, this study examines the state of CSR in the Chinese market and provides empirical evidence of this relationship in emerging markets.

Controlling shareholders and financial constraints around the world

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Ho Park ◽  
Kwangwoo Park ◽  
Ronald Andrew Ratti
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Financial Constraints ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Legal Environment ◽  
Minority Shareholders ◽  
Control Rights ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Controlling Shareholders ◽  
Cash Flow Rights ◽  
The Given

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of controlling shareholders’ ownership of firms on the firms’ financial constraints in 22 economies for the 1982-2009 period. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ a generalized method of moments-based instrumental variables estimator to estimate empirical models. Findings It found that the overinvestment propensity of controlling shareholders becomes less severe with an increase in cash-flow rights. It further indicates that a higher deviation between the control rights and cash-flow rights of controlling shareholders lower their overinvestment propensity, thereby lowering the firm’s financial constraints. Originality/value The results suggest that a higher protective legal environment for minority shareholders blocks the entrenchment of controlling shareholders and thus benefitting the firm with slackened financing constraints in the given legal origin.

Information content of dividends: a case of an emerging financial market

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza H. Chowdhury ◽  
Min Maung ◽  
Jenny Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Financial Market ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Free Cash Flow ◽  
Cash Dividend ◽  
Chinese Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dividend Payments ◽  
Dividend Increases ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the signaling and free cash flow hypotheses of dividends in the context of an emerging financial market. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use fundamental financial information of Chinese companies listed in the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges. They examine the impact of cash dividend payments on future profitability of individual firms with and without controlling for non-linearity in their earnings to test the signaling hypothesis. They also determine the characteristics of dividend paying firms to examine the free cash flow hypothesis. Findings – It was found that while dividend increases by publicly listed Chinese firms are followed by increases in earnings in two subsequent years, such relationship does not exist in the case of dividend decreases. However, under the assumption of non-linearity of earnings, it was found that neither dividend increases nor dividend decreases convey any valuable information about future changes in earnings of Chinese firms. Further, it was found that firms with high cash holdings, large profitability and high managerial efficiency are likely to pay dividends. The authors therefore conclude that announcements of cash dividend payments do not signal future performance but indicate good governance practices of publicly traded firms in China. Originality/value – This evidence is critical for potential foreign investors in their portfolio investment decisions and for regulators in determining an efficient measure of corporate disclosure in China.

The impact of pyramid ownership on earnings management

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Mindzak ◽  
Tao Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Control Rights ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Internal Financing ◽  
Cash Flow Rights ◽  
The Impact

PurposeUnlike firms listed in the USA, many large firms in Canada belong to business groups organized as pyramids. A pyramidal structure refers to a business group that consists of a set of enterprises or other entities and displays a top-down chain of control. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between pyramid ownership and earnings management.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is an empirical study using a sample of 165 Canadian listed firms from 2010 to 2015. The impact of pyramid ownership on both accrual-based and real earnings management is examined.FindingsThe findings show that pyramid-affiliated firms engage in less accrual-based and real earnings management than non-pyramid-affiliated firms. The results further show that the divergence between control rights and cash flow rights of the controlling shareholders in the pyramid-affiliated firms is positively related to real earnings management. Moreover, the results highlight that intra-group transactions (other than internal financing) among pyramid-affiliated firms lead to higher level of both accrual-based and real earnings management, but internal financing is negatively associated with real earnings management. Overall, this study provides the evidence which indicates that pyramid ownership structure and earnings management are related to each other.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the earnings management literature by studying the impact of pyramid ownership structure on earnings management, especially real earnings management.

scholarly journals IMPACT CASH FLOW RIGHT LEVERAGE OF CONTROLLING SHAREHOLDER ON PERFORMANCE IN INDONESIA

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
I Putu Sugiartha Sanjaya
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Agency Problem ◽  
Manufacturing Companies ◽  
Control Rights ◽  
Financial Service Authority ◽  
Controlling Shareholder ◽  
Controlling Shareholders ◽  
Agency Conflict ◽  
Cash Flow Rights ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of cash flow rights leverage of controlling shareholder on performance. The ownership of common stock has some rights such as control rights and cash flow rights. Control rights are the rights of common shareholders to elect board of directors and other company’s policies, such as the issuence of securities, stock split and substansial changes in company’s operation (Du and Dai, 2005). Cash flow rights are the financial claims of shareholders on the companies (La Porta et al., 1999). Case in Indonesia, commonly there are differences between control rights and cash flow rights. It  is called cash flow right leverage. The large leverage indicates the large agency conflict between controlling shareholder and non-controlling shareholders. The low leverage indicates the low agency conflict. It will impact on performance. If the control rights are greater than cash flow rights, it indicates the larger agency problem. It indicates that the power of the controlling shareholder in the company is larger than claim to the firm. It is incentive for a controlling shareholder to expropriate non-controlling shareholders through utilizing assets of company for his/her private benefit. This study uses the sample of the manufacturing companies listed in the Indonesian Stock Exchange during the period 2001-2007. Performance is measured by Return on Assets (ROA). The results of this study show that the cash flow right leverage of controlling shareholder has negative impacts on performance. It means the large agency conflict (cash flow right leverage) between controlling and non-controlling shareholders reduce performance. The results of this study can give contribution for Indonesia Financial Service Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK)) to monitor public companies in Indonesia. This institution more focus for companies which has large cash flow right leverage. Because, it indicates the large agency problem between controlling and non-controlling shareholders.

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.

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.

CEOs’ accounting-based attributes and earnings management strategies under mandatory IFRS adoption

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 608-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amel Kouaib ◽  
Anis Jarboui ◽  
Khaireddine Mouakhar
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Audit Committees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
Experience Education ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the moderating effect of mandatory International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) experience/education and earnings management in European companies. Design/methodology/approach Data from a sample of 302 European firms listed on Stoxx Europe 600 index and 596 CEOs from 2000 to 2014 are used to test the moderation model using moderation regression analysis. Findings Evidence reveals that CEO’s accounting-based attributes are negatively associated with accruals-based earnings management and positively associated with real earnings management (REM). Further, mandatory IFRS adoption significantly moderates the impact of CEO’s accounting-based traits on earnings-management activities. Research limitations/implications A small number of European firms were studied and, given the long study period, many firms with missing data were eliminated. To avoid a small sample size, countries with few observations were included, which leads to an uneven distribution between observations per country. Practical implications Findings from this paper can help: European firms to consider demographic traits when recruiting or promoting executives; the IASB to improve enforcement mechanisms and make IFRS implementation mandatory; and audit committees to effectively monitor REM. Originality/value This study is unique in providing European evidence for the moderating effect of mandatory IFRS adoption on the relationship between CEOs’ accounting experience/education and earnings management activities. This paper is also relevant as it addresses the effectiveness and efficiency of accounting literates.

scholarly journals Malaysian corporate tax rate and revenue: the application of Ibn Khaldun tax theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-262
Author(s):  
Hairul Azlan Annuar ◽  
Khadijah Isa ◽  
Salihu Aramide Ibrahim ◽  
Sakiru Adsebola Solarin
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Gradual Reduction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ibn Khaldun ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Optimal Tax ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The present study aims to investigate the impact of the reduction of the corporate tax rate on corporate tax revenue. The study adopts the theory of taxation by Ibn Khaldun, depicted as the Laffer curve. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyses time series data for the period 1996 to 2014 using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. Findings The paper finds that the corporate tax rate has a dual effect on corporate tax revenue over the study period. It shows an inverted U-shape relationship between the corporate tax rate and corporate tax revenue and reveals that the optimal tax rate is 25.5156 per cent. Inferentially, a positive relationship exists between the two variables prior to the optimal tax rate, and a negative relationship prevails afterwards. A further test of causality shows a long-run unidirectional causality between corporate tax rate and corporate tax revenue. Research limitations/implications First, it should be noted that the policy was not implemented in isolation. Several other tax incentives were given to corporate tax payers, and therefore, such incentives should be controlled for to have a more insightful evaluation of the policy. Second and most important, there is a need to investigate whether the increased cash flow available to firms as a result of the reduction in the corporate tax rate adds value to firms. It is also necessary to investigate whether firms’ stakeholders benefited from the increased cash flow or was there managerial diversion of firms’ resources. Practical implications The policy of gradual reduction of the corporate tax rate in Malaysia is suspected to have a positive impact on the productivity of Malaysian companies, which has contributed to an increase in corporate tax revenue. It also has a positive impact on the economic growth of the country. It means that the lower corporate tax rate has actually reduced the cost of doing business in the country. Originality/value The benefit of increased corporate tax revenue needs to be investigated empirically for insightful policy evaluation. In Malaysia, however, such investigation is close to non-existent to the best knowledge of the researchers. Thus, the present study aims at investigating the impact of the policy of gradual reduction of the corporate tax rate on corporate tax revenue over an 18-year period from 1996 to 2014.

scholarly journals Determinan Manajemen Laba Perusahaan di Sektor Konsumsi

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Muhammad Fajri
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Cash Flow ◽  
Institutional Ownership ◽  
Free Cash Flow ◽  
Earning Management ◽  
Managerial Ownership ◽  
Leverage Ratio ◽  
Good Corporate Governance ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this research is to provide empirical evidence on the impact of good corporate governance, free cash flow, and leverage ratio on earnings management. Good corporate governance is measured by audit committee’s size, the proportion of independent commissioners, institutional ownership, and managerial ownership. Discretionary accrual is the proxy of earning management. This research used 28 consumer goods companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2018. Data were analyzed using panel data with random effect model. Based on the result of analysis concluded that all components of good corporate governance (audit committee’s size, the proportion of independent commissioners, institutional ownership, and managerial ownership), have no significant effect on earnings management, on other hand leverage ratio has a negative effect and no significant on earning management, and free cash flow has a positve and no significant effect on earnings management

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