Fixing the Core, Earnings Management, and Sustainable Emergence From Financial Distress: Evidence From China’s Special Treatment System

2021 ◽  
pp. 0148558X2110511
Author(s):  
Jiao Jing ◽  
Kenneth Leung ◽  
Jeffrey Ng ◽  
Janus Jian Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Operating Efficiency ◽  
Special Treatment ◽  
Multiple Stakeholders ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
The Core ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Core Earnings

Throughout their business life cycle, firms may experience financial distress. Successful emergence from such distress is important to their multiple stakeholders. Using a sample of publicly listed firms in China that emerged from Special Treatment (an indicator of delisting risk), we focus on the key actions such firms take prior to emergence, namely, fixing the core of the business and earnings management. We examine how these actions are associated with sustainable emergence, which we define as emergence from Special Treatment without reentry in the next 5 years. Consistent with the expectation that shortcut fixes to problems do not yield a long-term solution, we find that repairing the core of the business by improving operating efficiency is positively associated with sustainable emergence, whereas earnings management is negatively associated with it. We also find that the positive (negative) association between fixing the core (earnings management) and sustainable emergence is pronounced only for state-owned enterprises. Our article adds to the limited literature that examines issues related to distressed firms’ sustainable turnaround.

The Impact of Going Concern on Financial Reporting Quality: Evidence from Vietnam

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Phung Anh Thu ◽  
Nguyen Vinh Khuong
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Financial Reporting Quality ◽  
Viet Nam ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Going Concern ◽  
Debt Covenant

The investigation was conducted to contribute empirical evidence of the association between going concern and financial reporting quality of listed firms on the Vietnam stock market. Based on data from 279 companies listed on the HNX and HOSE exchanges in Vietnam for the period 2009-2015, the quantitative research. Results found that the relationship between the going concern and financial reporting quality of listed firms. Research results are significant for investors, regulators to the transparency of financial reporting information. Keywords Going concern, financial reporting quality, listed firms References Agrawal, K., & Chatterjee, C. (2015). Earnings management and financial distress: Evidence from India. Global Business Review, 16(5_suppl), 140S-154S.Bergstresser, D., & Philippon, T. (2006). CEO incentives and earnings management. Journal of Financial Economics, 80(3), 511–529.Burgstahler, D., & Dichev, I. (1997). Earnings management to avoid earnings decreases and losses. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 24(1), 99–126.Charitou, A., Lambertides, N., & Trigeorgis, L. (2007a). Earnings behaviour of financially distressed firms: The role of institutional ownership. Abacus, 43(3), 271–296.Chen, Y., Chen, C., & Huang, S. (2010). An appraisal of financially distressed companies’ earnings management: Evidence from listed companies in China. Pacific Accounting Review, 22(1), 22–41Dechow, P., & Dichev, I. (2002). The Quality of Accruals and Earnings: The Role of Accrual Estimation Errors. The Accounting Review, 77, 35-59.DeFond, M., & Jiambalvo, J. (1994). Debt covenant violation and manipulation of accruals. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 17(1), 145–176.DeFond, M.L., & Park, C.W. (1997). Smoothing income in anticipation of future earnings. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 23(2), 115–139.Dichev, I., & Skinner, D. (2004). Large sample evidence on the debt covenant hypothesis. Journal of Accounting Research, 40(4), 1091–1123.Đinh Thị Thu T., Nguyễn Vĩnh K. (2016). Tác động của hành vi điều chỉnh thu nhập đến khả năng hoạt động liên tục trong kế toán: Nghiên cứu thực nghiệm cho các doanh nghiệp niêm yết tại Việt Nam, Tạp chí phát triển khoa học và công nghệ, Quí 3, tr.96-108.Đỗ Thị Vân Trang (2015). Các mô hình đánh giá chất lượng báo cáo tài chính, Tạp chí chứng khoán Việt Nam, 200, tr 18-21.Habib, A., Uddin Bhuiyan, B., & Islam, A. (2013). Financial distress, earnings management and market pricing of accruals during the global financial crisis. Managerial Finance, 39(2), 155-180.Jaggi, B., & Lee, P. (2002). Earnings management response to debt covenant violations and debt restructuring. Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, 17(4), 295–324.Kasznik, R., (1999). On the association between voluntary disclosure and earnings management. Journal of accounting research, 37(1), pp.57-81.Lu, J. (1999). An empirical study of earnings management by loss-making listed Chinese companies. KuaijiYanjiu (Accounting Research), (9), 25–35.McNichols, M.F. and Stubben, S.R., (2008). Does earnings management affect firms’ investment decisions?. The accounting review, 83(6), pp.1571-1603.Selahudin, N.F., Zakaria, N.B., & Sanusi, Z.M. (2014). Remodelling the earnings management with the appear- ance of leverage, financial distress and free cash flow: Malaysia and Thailand evidences. Journal of Applied Sciences, 14(21), 2644–2661.Skinner, D.J., & Sloan, R. (2002). Earnings surprises, growth expectations, and stock returns or don’t let an earnings torpedo sink your portfolio. Review of Accounting Studies, 7(2/3), 289–312.Sweeney, A.P., (1994). Debt-covenant violations and managers' accounting responses. Journal of Accounting & Economics, 17(3): 281-308.Trần Thị Thùy Linh, Mai Hoàng Hạnh (2015). Chất lượng báo cáo tài chính và kỳ hạn nợ ảnh hưởng đến hiệu quả hoạt động của doanh nghiệp Việt Nam, Tạp chí phát triển kinh tế, 10, tr.27-50.Trương Thị Thùy Dương (2017). Nâng cao chất lượng báo cáo tài chính công ty đại chúng, Tạp chí tài chính, 1(3), tr.55-56.Uwuigbe, Ranti, Bernard, (2015). Assessment of the effects of firm’s characteristics on earnings management of listed firms in Nigeria, Asian Economic and Financial Review,5(2):218-228.

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 Predicting Firms’ Financial Distress: An Empirical Analysis Using the F-Score Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 199
Author(s):  
Mahfuzur Rahman ◽  
Cheong Li Sa ◽  
Md. Abdul KaiumMasud
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Model ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Database ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Return On Assets ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Score Model ◽  
Relationship Of

Financial performance of firms is very important to bankers, shareholders, potential investors, and creditors. The inability of firms to meet their liabilities will affect all its stakeholders and will result in negative consequences in the wider economy. The objective of the study is to explore the applicability of a distress prediction model which uses the F-Score and its components to identify firms which are at high risk of going into default. The study incorporates a prediction model and vast literature to address the research questions. The sample of the study is collected from publicly listed firms of the United States. In total, 81 financially distressed firms wereextracted from the UCLA-LoPucki Bankruptcy Research Database during 2009–2017. This study found that the relationship of the F-Score and probability of firms going into financial distress is significant. This study also demonstrated that firms which are at risk of distress tend to record a negative cash flow from operations (CFO) and showed a greater decline in return on assets (ROA) in the year prior to default. This study extends the existing literature by supporting a model which has not been widely used in the area of financial distress predictions.

Can Corporate Social Responsibility Decrease the Negative Influence of Financial Distress on Accounting Quality?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 11124
Author(s):  
Jun Hyeok Choi ◽  
Saerona Kim ◽  
Dong-Hoon Yang ◽  
Kwanghee Cho
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Accounting Quality ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Effect

This study aimed to test how corporate social responsibility (CSR) can affect the impact of corporate financial distress on earnings management. Based on the existing literature, distressed firms tend to hide their financial crises through earnings manipulation. However, as CSR can positively affect companies in terms of performance, risk reduction, and market response, the better a firm’s CSR is the less managers will attempt earnings management even if they experience temporary distress. Consistent with the literature, test results using Korean-listed companies show that distress increased earnings management, and we confirmed that CSR weakened the positive effect of distress on earnings management. After testing each of the CSR subcategories, significant results were found mainly on environmental performance, reflecting the globally increasing interest in environmental issues. This study contributes to the literature on distress and earnings management, which rarely considers CSR as a moderating factor.

scholarly journals FINANCIAL CONDITION MODERATED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AUDIT COMMITTEETOREDUCE EARNINGSMANAGEMENT

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michella Maria Virgine Prayogo ◽  
Yie Ke Feliana ◽  
Aurelia Carina Christanti Sutanto
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Score Test ◽  
Z Score ◽  
Financial Condition ◽  
Activity Frequency ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
The Impact

Some cases of financial fraud invite inquiries about the effectiveness of corporategovernance mechanism in financial distress companies. This study empiricallyexamines whether the financial distress moderate the impact of corporate governancemechanism to earnings management. The sample of this study is manufacturingcompanies listed at Indonesia Stock Exchange for period 2010 -2012. Discretionaryaccruals are used as a proxy for earnings management, while financially distressed andnon-distressed firms are identified based on Altman Z-score test. Corporate governancemechanism is measured by four characteristics of the audit committee, i.e. size (totalnumber of audit committee members), independence (audit committee composition),activity(frequency of audit committee meeting), and expertise (the number of auditcommittee have finance or accounting background).This study finds that (1) financialdistress does not moderate the impact of total members of audit committee to earningsmanagement; (2) financial distress does not moderate the impact of frequency of auditcommittee meeting to earnings management; (3) financial distress does not moderatethe impact of audit committee composition to earnings management; (4)financialdistress moderates the impact of audit committee finance/accounting knowledge toearnings management. These results suggestthat the effectiveness corporate governanceis low, and finance/accounting literacy of audit committee should be alert.Beberapa kasus manipulasi keuangan pada perusahaan yang mengalami kesulitankeuangan mengundang pertanyaan terkait efektifitas mekanisme tata kelola perusahaan.Penelitian ini secara empiris menguji apakah kondisi kesulitan keuangan dapatmemoderasi pengaruh mekanisme tata kelola perusahaan terhadap manajemen laba.Sampel dari penelitian ini adalah perusahaan sektor manufaktur yang terdaftar di BursaEfek Indonesia periode 2010-2012.Discretionary accruals digunakan sebagai proksiuntuk manajemen laba, sedangkan kondisi kesulitan keuangan diidentifikasimenggunakan uji Altman Z-score. Mekanisme tata kelola perusahaan diukur dengan 4karakteristik komite audit, yaitu ukuran (jumlah anggota komite audit), independensi(komposisi komite audit), aktivitas (frekuensi pertemuan komite audit), dan keahlian(jumlah anggota komite audit yang memiliki latar belakang keuangan atau akuntansi).Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa (1) kondisi kesulitan keuangan tidak memoderasipengaruh jumlah anggota komite audit terhadap manajemen laba; (2) kondisi kesulitankeuangan tidak memoderasi pengaruh frekuensi pertemuan komite audit terhadapmanajemen laba; (3) kondisi kesulitan keuangan tidak memoderasi pengaruh komposisikomite audit terhadap manajemen laba; (4) kondisi kesulitan keuangan memoderasi pengaruh jumlah anggota komite audit yang memiliki latar belakang keuangan atauakuntansi terhadap manajemen laba. Hasil ini menunjukkan bahwa efektifitas tatakelola perusahaan masih rendah dan anggota komite audit yang memiliki latar belakangkeuangan atau akuntansi harus mewaspadainya.

Financial Distress, the Severity of Financial Distress and Direction of Earnings Management: Evidences from Indian Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 231971452110393
Author(s):  
Debdas Rakshit ◽  
Chanchal Chatterjee ◽  
Ananya Paul
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Z Score ◽  
Financial Condition ◽  
Low Degree ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Distance To Default ◽  
The Relationship

This paper investigates the relationship between earnings management and financial distress and considers whether this relationship varies based on the severity of financial distress and signs of discretionary accruals (a proxy for earnings management). For this purpose, multiple regression analysis has been employed on a sample of 192 financially distressed Indian firms during the period 2011–2018, counting to 1,272 firm-year observations. Discretionary accruals are estimated by the Modified Jones model and Raman and Shahrur (2008) model, while Altman’s Z-score and distance-to-default model are used to detect the degree of financial distress. The findings disclose that the low distressed firms are indulged in higher earnings management than high distressed firms. Also, the low distressed firms are engaged more in income-decreasing earnings management. However, the results are not consistent across both earnings management and distress measures. The findings have significant implications for investors and creditors. They need to be aware of this fact while evaluating creditworthiness of a firm since firms with even a low degree of financial distress can indulge in earnings management to camouflage their true financial condition.

SEARCHING FOR LANDMINES IN EQUITY MARKETS

2014 ◽  
Vol 09 (02) ◽  
pp. 1440004
Author(s):  
BI-JUAN CHANG ◽  
JOW-RAN CHANG ◽  
MAO-WEI HUNG
Keyword(s):  
Credit Rating ◽  
Rare Event ◽  
Equity Markets ◽  
Roc Curves ◽  
Bayesian Posterior Probability ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Distance To Default ◽  
Better Than

Distressed firms in equity markets are like landmines in the battlefields due to their undetectability and devastating effects. This paper is concerned with distressed firms forecasting by the distance-to-default (DTD) and rare event logit (REL) models via public available data. Comparing these two models by cumulative accuracy profiles (CAP) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, we conclude that the REL model performs better than the DTD model. The data contains US-listed firms on the S&P 500 for the period January 1986 to December 2012, including 2138 companies and 271,912 firm months, with 444 distressed firms. We set the dynamic thresholds as the last 6% of firms based on the historical cross-section distress rates. Upon Bayesian posterior probability examination, the REL model shows about 40–60% affinity with S&P Domestic Long Term Issuer Credit Rating records on average, and the rate increases to 70% in some situations. We conclude that the REL model can be a good warning indicator of distress in firms at least three years ahead.

scholarly journals Investigating the Simultaneity of Corporate Hedging and Debt Policies: Empirical Evidence from Indonesia

2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iman Sofian Suriawinata
Keyword(s):  
Financial Distress ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Corporate Hedging ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Financially Distressed ◽  
Tax Benefits ◽  
Debt Capacity ◽  
Pooled Sample ◽  
Debt Policies

The primary objective of this paper is to investigate the simultaneity of corporate hedging and debt policies. Using a pooled sample of Indonesian non-financial listed firms covering the periods of 1996-2001, the present study finds evidence that corporate hedging and debt policies are simultaneously determined. That is, the use of debts motivate firms to hedge; but simultaneously, hedging increases debt capacity and induces firms to borrow more in order to take advantage of the tax benefits arising from additional debt capacity. Another important finding is that financially distressed firms –as indicated by their debt restructuring programs– are less motivated to hedge, because such firms will see that the option values of their equity will increase as their cash-flow volatilities increase. Therefore, financially distressed firms tend not to hedge; or at least, hedge lesser compared to those of firms that do not experience financial distress.

scholarly journals PREDICTING FINANCIAL DISTRESS IN THE MALAYSIAN MARKET: HAZARD MODEL VERSUS THE LOGIT MODEL

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 01-19
Author(s):  
Ahmad Harith Ashrofie Hanafi ◽  
Rohani Md-Rus ◽  
Kamarun Nisham Taufil Mohd
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Financial Distress ◽  
Logit Model ◽  
Hazard Model ◽  
Financial Ratios ◽  
Logit Models ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Distressed Firms ◽  
Model Versus

The increasing numbers of financially distressed firms in the Malaysian market demonstrate the importance of predicting financial distress among firms in Malaysia. Using firm financial ratios, this study focuses on predicting financial distress using the hazard model and logistic regression (logit model) based on the Malaysian market. This study used listed firms on the Malaysian stock market from 2000 to 2018 to create two sets of data comprising the main sample and holdout sample in order to compare the predictability between hazard and logit models. The results clearly show that the hazard model is better compared to the logit model in predicting financial distress for the Malaysian market since more variables were found to be significant in addition to the model being more consistent in terms of accuracy.

scholarly journals Meeting Dividend Thresholds through Earnings Management: A Cross-cultural Comparison

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Yi-Shu Wang ◽  
Jing Yang ◽  
Zhen-Jia Liu ◽  
Zhen-Jia Liu
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Empirical Results ◽  
Market Participants ◽  
Cross Cultural Comparison ◽  
Dividend Distribution ◽  
Accounting Rules

Culture affects accounting rules and practices. Dividend distribution influences corporate operating decisions, and a previous year’s dividends represent an earnings threshold. This study collected various countries’ data from 2004 to 2014 from the COMPUSTAT database and analyzed how cultural factors influence the management of income to achieve a dividend threshold (i.e., desired earnings goal). Prospect theory reported that managers making decisions focus on the value from gains or losses with a certain reference point rather than the levels of wealth. The empirical results show that managers of listed firms in societies that exhibit uncertainty-avoidance, individualistic, power-distance, and masculinity meet or exceed dividend thresholds, whereas those in long term orientation societies do not. These findings emphasize the strong and direct effect of cultural values on meeting or exceeding dividend thresholds through earnings management over multiple years. In addition, our empirical results suggest that investors evaluate firm performance (i.e., earnings) before dividends are paid, which should be considered by financial market participants and regulators when assessing financial statements and the reliability of financial reporting among multiple countries. We only used a modified Jones model to measure earnings management. Therefore, tradeoff tools (i.e., real activities or other DA models) should be used to examine earnings management among managers to ensure the robustness of future studies

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