Dividend Policy and Earnings Management: Based on Discretionary Accruals and Real Earnings Management

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-150
Author(s):  
Chae Chang Im ◽  
Jeong Ho Kim ◽  
Min Kyung Choi
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Dividend Policy ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Real Earnings Management

scholarly journals The Effect Of Short-Term Debt On Accrual Based Earnings Management And Real Earnings Management

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1287-1300
Author(s):  
Sun-young Park
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Liquidity Risk ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Debt Financing ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Financing Constraints ◽  
Total Current ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Management Method

This study investigates whether short-term debt is related to earnings management. Short-term debt is divided into total current liabilities, debt in current liabilities and short-term borrowings. In addition, this study examines how short-term debt is related to how firms manage their earnings. I use discretionary accruals and real operating decisions as the earnings management method. The study finds that debt in current liabilities only has a statistically significant impact on accrual earnings management, and short-term borrowings are only shown to have a statistically significant impact on real earnings management. These results indicate that managers engage in accrual earnings management of debt included in current liabilities and use real earnings management of short-term borrowings from financial institutions.Therefore, this evidence indicates that managers engage in accrual earnings management of debt in included current liabilities when they face the liquidity risk of short-term debt, and the firms with debt financing constraints are likely to manage real earnings in spite of enhanced firm monitoring by lenders such as financial institutions. The findings in this study may have implications in the debate about the monitoring function of financial institutions such as banks.

Do discretionary accruals affect firms’ corporate dividend policy? Evidence from France

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anis Ben Amar ◽  
Olfa Ben Salah ◽  
Anis Jarboui
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Dividend Policy ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Panel Data Analysis ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Additional Measure ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose In financial literature, dividend payout decisions are determined by factors such as debt, liquidity, profitability, size and risk. The purpose of this paper is to identify the effect of earnings management measured by discretionary accruals based on Dechow et al.’s (1995) model on dividend policy. Design/methodology/approach This research will use panel data analysis to test the effect of earnings management on dividend policy. The authors selected 280, French non-financial companies, listed on the CAC All Tradable index for the 2008-2015 period. Findings Using a sample of 2108 firm-year observations, the authors find a positive impact of earnings management on dividend policies of firms. Besides, there is a positive/negative relationship between the size of the firm and the dividend policy. Moreover, this paper has dealt with some factors such as debt, the risk of the firm and liquidity which may affect the corporate dividend policy. The results are robust as the authors adopted an additional measure of dividend policy. Practical implications The findings may have important implications for analysts, investors, regulators and academics. First, the study shows that earnings management is a common practice in the French context and constitutes a major objective of dividend policy. Better still, identifying the other variables that influence the dividend policy provides a clearer understanding of dividend policy for investors, analysts and academics alike. Second, the study provides ample evidence of agency problems between various partners in French capital markets, highlighting the necessity to establish new corporate governance mechanisms. This is highly relevant for policymakers in their quest for a better financial market. Originality/value This study extends the literature on the impact of dividend thresholds on earnings management by showing that firms run earnings to inform the market that the company can distribute dividends.

scholarly journals Business cycles and earnings management strategies: a study in Brazilian public firms,

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (80) ◽  
pp. 216-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edilson Paulo ◽  
Renato Henrique Gurgel Mota
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Economic Environment ◽  
Opportunistic Behavior ◽  
The Business Cycle

ABSTRACT This study contributes to the literature dealing with the influence of macroeconomic factors on accounting information quality, since it analyzes the earnings management strategies of firms, specifically identifying different discretionary behaviors among economic cycles: 1) different levels of earnings management through accruals between phases of the business cycle, and 2) the trade-off between earnings management through accruals and real earnings management. The results indicate that the accounting information reported should be analyzed with greater caution by its users, especially in periods of great economic oscillations, when managers can increase or reduce opportunistic behavior. The research population comprised non-financial companies with shares traded on the São Paulo Stock, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBovespa) and the sample was composed of 247 firms per year, covering the period from 2000 to 2015 and totaling 2,501 observations. The phases of business cycles were used as a proxy for the economic environment and were based on Schumpeter's (1939) study, which divides an business cycle into four distinct phases: expansion, recession, contraction, and recovery. Discretionary accruals were estimated according to the Pae (2005) and Paulo (2007) models. Real earnings management was estimated as described by Roychowdhury (2006), using only the abnormal behavior of production costs and operational decisions. The results of this research show that earnings management strategies, using either accruals or real manipulation, as well as the choice between these strategies, are impacted by the economic environment. The evidence suggests that managers have different opportunistic behavior in each phase of the business cycle. Specifically, they increase the level of discretionary accruals in contractionary phases and reduce it during recoveries, while they manage earnings downwards via real manipulation in recessions and contractions.

scholarly journals Effects of Board Size, Board Composition and Dividend Policy on Real Earnings Management in the Jordanian Listed Industrial Firms

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Yousef Shahwan ◽  
Tareq Hammad Almubaydeen
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Dividend Policy ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
P Value ◽  
Board Composition ◽  
Board Size ◽  
The Impact

Earning manipulation has been a normal transaction among the global businesses, in which business organization sees it as beneficial, thereby turning black eyes to its negative impact on the general economy. This study aimed at examining the impact of board size, Board composition and dividend policy on real earnings management in the listed Jordanian industries. 8 years data (2010 to 2018) was extracted from the audited financial reports of the selected firms. Data was analyzed using Structural Model via AMOS version 26 and SPSS version 21. The findings revealed a positive and significant effect between board size, board composition and real earning management at p-value<0.05 and 0.001 (two-tailed) respectively. While negative of dividend policy on REM was recorded at p-value>0.05 (two-tailed). This study has immensely contributed towards bridging the gap in the existing knowledge as it documented a new finding. The benefits of these findings cross over the managers, shareholders, board of directors, investors, the Jordanian government and all other relevant institute for the buildup of the healthiest industrial sector and better economy.

scholarly journals Auditor report and earnings management: Evidence from FTSE 350 companies in the UK

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Alhadab
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Audit Report ◽  
Audit Firms ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the relationship between audit report and real-based and accrual-based earnings management based on a UK sample. Prior research has mostly focused on US data and examined the relationship between auditor report (qualified vs. non-qualified) and earnings management (proxied by discretionary accruals), and found evidence that qualified audit report is positively associated with the level of discretionary accruals. Despite the importance of the role of audit firms to constrain the use of earnings management, there is no research to date has examined the relationship between auditor reports and real earnings management activities based on UK sample. This paper therefore fills this gap in the literature by providing the first evidence for UK FTSE 350 companies that auditor report is positively associated with real and accrual earnings management. The paper also provide evidence that firms received qualified audit report share different characteristics as compared to firms received un-qualified audit report.

scholarly journals Target Firm Earnings Management, Acquisition Premium, and Shareholder Gains

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (02) ◽  
pp. 2050009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javeria Farooqi ◽  
Surendranath R. Jory ◽  
Thanh N. Ngo
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Target Firm ◽  
Accruals Management ◽  
Cumulative Abnormal Returns ◽  
Target Firms ◽  
Acquisition Premium

Using a sample of U.S. domestic deals from 1990 to 2016, we find that bidders adjust the amount of premium paid in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) based on the levels of earnings management at target firms. However, the way a firm manipulates earnings upward matters: earnings management via real activities manipulation is more detrimental than discretionary accruals. As a result, target firms that engage in real earnings management receive lower premiums in M&As, while accruals management has no effect on premiums. Correspondingly, we find that the targets’ M&A announcement-period cumulative abnormal returns are inversely related to their level of real earnings management, while the returns are not related to accruals management. Further analyses confirm that target shareholders’ wealth is not only driven by undervaluation, expected synergy, and managerial hubris, but also reflects bidders’ perception of the target firms’ earnings quality based on real earnings management.

scholarly journals The Economic Effects of Earnings Management Pre- and Post-SOX

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry W. Mason ◽  
Richard M. Morton
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Accounting Scandals ◽  
Financial Oversight

Research suggests that following several high-profile accounting scandals and the passage of SOX legislation in 2002, firms substituted real earnings management strategies for accrual manipulation. However, the broader implications of this trade-off from a public policy and financial oversight perspective are not well understood. Consistent with our expectations, we find that abnormal operating decisions are less informative about future ROA in the post-SOX period. We also find that the increase in real earnings management negatively impacts firm value, but investors appear slow to recognize and price the myopic behavior. We do not observe a corresponding increase in the quality of discretionary accruals after SOX, but market mispricing of abnormal accruals essentially disappears, consistent with greater investor scrutiny. Although the shift away from accrual manipulation to real earnings management should result in less distortion of underlying economic events, the net effect appears to be value destroying for the average firm.

scholarly journals The Relationship Between Accrual-Based Earnings Management and Real Earnings Management: Reference to the Polish Capital Market

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-81
Author(s):  
Michał Comporek
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Capital Market ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Research background: The literature on the subject matter emphasizes the lack of empirical research on the relationships between accrual-based earnings management (AEM) and real earnings management (REM), while studies conducted so far are characterized by highly ambiguous results. Purpose: The main aim of the paper is to present the results of empirical research on the relationships between the AEM and REM practices used to create financial results in industrial public companies listed on the WSE. Research methodology: The research sample concerns 72 listed companies whose shares were traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) for a minimum 13 years in the adopted reference period of 2003–2017. The estimation of AEM and REM practices was made by using: the Jones model, the Kang-Sivaramakrishnan model and the Roychowdhury methodology. Results: The empirical results allowed showing the existence of a statistically significant, negative relationship between discretionary accruals and the abnormal level of an operational cash flow indicator, as well as between discretionary accruals and the total REM indicator. An in-depth cross-sectional analysis showed the existence of significantly differentiated relationships between the studied variables in individual branches of industry. Novelty: Research on the relationship between AEM and REM practices in the context of the Polish capital market has not been carried out so far, hence it can be considered a new research area in which there is a justified need to deepen theoretical and empirical research on the EM phenomenon.

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