Real Earnings Management and Long-Term Operating Performance: The Role of Reversals in Discretionary Investment Cuts

2015 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 1219-1256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Vorst
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Operating Performance ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Accounting Numbers

ABSTRACT I examine whether a reversal of an abnormal cut in discretionary investments is associated with the degree to which the cut is reflective of real earnings management (REM) and whether and how it predicts future operating performance. I define a reversal as occurring when a firm cuts discretionary investments to a below-expected level in one period and reverts back to at least the expected level of investment during the next period. Unlike accrual earnings management, REM involves deliberately altering the operations of the firm to influence reported accounting numbers. To the extent that such interventions diverge from optimality, they can expose the firm to real economic costs. I find that a reversal of an abnormal cut in discretionary investments in the year after the cut has taken place is indicative of REM. I further find that, on average, reversing cuts are associated with lower future operating performance, but that such results vary significantly depending on the various incentives to engage in REM, as well as other factors that affect its associated costs and benefits. These findings are of interest to investors, regulators, and academics with respect to the identification and consequences of REM.

The Acceptance of Party Unity in Parliamentary Democracies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Willumsen
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Parliamentary Democracies ◽  
Survey Questions ◽  
Ideal Policy ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Policy Incentives

The central argument of this book is that voting unity in European legislatures is not primarily the result of the ‘disciplining’ power of the leadership of parliamentary parties, but rather the result of a combination of ideological homogeneity through self-selection into political parties and the calculations of individual legislators about their own long-term benefits. Despite the central role of policy preferences in the subsequent behaviour of legislators, preferences at the level of the individual legislator have been almost entirely neglected in the study of parliaments and legislative behaviour. The book measures these using an until now under-utilized resource: parliamentary surveys. Building on these, the book develops measures of policy incentives of legislators to dissent from their parliamentary parties, and show that preference similarity amongst legislators explains a very substantial proportion of party unity, yet alone cannot explain all of it. Analysing the attitudes of legislators to the demands of party unity, and what drives these attitudes, the book argues that what explains the observed unity (beyond what preference similarity would explain) is the conscious acceptance by MPs that the long-term benefits of belonging to a united party (such as increased influence on legislation, lower transaction costs, and better chances of gaining office) outweigh the short-terms benefits of always voting for their ideal policy outcome. The book buttresses this argument through the analysis of both open-ended survey questions as well as survey questions on the costs and benefits of belonging to a political party in a legislature.

Clawbacks and Earnings Management

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 129-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn B. Levine ◽  
Michael J. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Analysis ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Interim Report ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Period Model ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACT This study addresses the effect of clawbacks on earnings management (EM). In a two-period model, the manager can report truthfully or distort an interim report using either accrual or real EM. The principal can make short-term payments based on a manipulable accounting signal and long-term payments based on unmanipulable cash flows. The strength of the clawbacks determines the likelihood that the manager's compensation is reclaimed when the interim report was managed. Stronger clawback provisions may result in (1) a substitution between accrual and real earnings management, or (2) earnings management when no earnings management was optimal with weak clawbacks, and (3) lower expected profits for the principal. Numerical analysis suggests that strong clawbacks do not reduce aggregate earnings management. JEL Classifications: J33; M48; M52; G38. Data Availability: All data are simulated.

Long-Term Orientation and Earnings Management Strategies

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesper Haga ◽  
Fredrik Huhtamäki ◽  
Dennis Sundvik
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
High Precision ◽  
Management Strategy ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Earnings Benchmarks ◽  
Jel Classifications

ABSTRACT In this study, we investigate how country-level long-term orientation affects managers' willingness to engage in earnings management and choice of earnings management strategy. Using a comprehensive dataset of 47 countries for the period from 2003 to 2015, we find that firms in long-term-oriented cultures rely relatively more on earnings management through accruals, while firms in short-term-oriented cultures engage in relatively more real earnings management. Furthermore, we find a larger discontinuity around earnings benchmarks in long-term-oriented cultures suggesting that manipulation of accruals enables benchmark beating with high precision. JEL Classifications: M14; M16; M21; M41.

scholarly journals Malnutrition in healthcare settings and the role of gastrostomy feeding

2016 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Kurien ◽  
Jake Williams ◽  
David S. Sanders
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Support ◽  
Feeding Tube ◽  
Morbidity And Mortality ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Psychological Function ◽  
Feeding Tubes ◽  
Healthcare Settings

Malnutrition can adversely affect physical and psychological function, influencing both morbidity and mortality. Despite the prevalence of malnutrition and its associated health and economic costs, malnutrition remains under-detected and under-treated in differing healthcare settings. For a subgroup of malnourished individuals, a gastrostomy (a feeding tube placed directly into the stomach) may be required to provide long-term nutritional support. In this review we explore the spectrum and consequences of malnutrition in differing healthcare settings. We then specifically review gastrostomies as a method of providing nutritional support. The review highlights the origins of gastrostomies, and discusses how endoscopic and radiological advances have culminated in an increased demand and placement of gastrostomy feeding tubes. Several studies have raised concerns about the benefits derived following this intervention and also about the patients selected to undergo this procedure. These studies are discussed in detail in this review, alongside suggestions for future research to help better delineate those who will benefit most from this intervention, and improve understanding about how gastrostomies influence nutritional outcomes.

scholarly journals Venture Capital and Financial Reporting in Newly Public Firms

2018 ◽  
pp. 411-429
Author(s):  
Lars Helge Hass ◽  
Monika Tarsalewska
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Venture Capitalists ◽  
Public Firms ◽  
Reporting Practices

Financial intermediaries such as venture capitalists (VCs) not only provide financing, they also play an active role in firm governance and in financial practices before a firm goes public. Venture capitalists are actively engaged in monitoring and advising their portfolio firms. Thus, one also expects them to exert significant influence over the development of financial reporting practices. This chapter reviews recent literature and empirical evidence on VCs and financial reporting quality in newly public firms. It surveys the role of VCs in such activities as earnings management. In particular, it discusses how their monitoring activities and reputation can impact how their portfolio firms establish financial reporting practices. Subsequently, it also reviews the consequences of misreporting, and whether they affect VC behavior ex ante. Finally, the chapter uses recent data to provide empirical evidence on the effect of VCs on accrual and real earnings management.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF EARNINGS PERSISTENCE IN VALUATION ACCURACY AND THE TIME HORIZON

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
RENÊ COPPE PIMENTEL ◽  
ANDSON BRAGA DE AGUIAR
Keyword(s):  
Financial Analysis ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Earnings Persistence ◽  
Total Risk ◽  
Compensation Contracts ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Accounting Numbers ◽  
Short Termism

ABSTRACT Based on the assumption that earnings persistence has implications for both financial analysis and compensation contracts, the aim of this paper is to investigate the role of earnings persistence assuming that (i) more persistent earnings are likely to be a better input to valuation models and (ii) more persistent earnings are likely to serve as a proxy for long-term market and managerial orientation. The analysis is based on Brazilian listed firms from 1995 to 2013, and while we document strong support for the relevance of earnings persistence in financial analysis and valuation, we fail to document a significant relationship between earnings persistence and long-term value orientation. These results are sensitive to different specifications, and additional results suggest that firms' idiosyncratic risk (total risk) is relevant to explain the focus on short-term outcomes (short-termism) across firms. The main contribution of this paper is to offer empirical evidence for the relevance of accounting numbers in both valuation and contractual theories in an emergent market.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN THE EFFECT EARNINGS MANAGEMENT HAS ON FIRM VALUE

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Surifah .
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Firm Value ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Market Price ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Governance Practices

Previous researchers found that managers have conducted opportunistic earnings management (Abdolmohammadi et al., 2010; Crocker and Slemrod, 2007;Cornett et al., 2009; Jaggi et al., 2009). Corporate Governance (CG) is one of the instruments to overcome, or at least to minimize, earnings management. This research aims to provide empirical evidence about the effect of CG and earnings management on firm value, and the role of CG in the effect earnings management has on firm value. This research is needed, to explain the effectiveness of CG’s implementation by influencing earnings management, in order to lead to more efficient earnings management.This study uses national commercial banks’ data listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange for the period 2006-2013. The research sample consists of 29 banks over an 8 year period, with a total of232 observations. The research variable consists of the value of the firm, measured by Tobin’s Q as the dependent variable, real activity-based earnings management and accrual-based earnings management as the independent variables and corporate governance, measured by the CG index, as a moderating variable.The results show that the CG index has a robust relationship with performance, controlled by both the ownership concentration’s level and the size of the bank. Corporate governance has positive effects on firm value. The bigger the corporate governance disclosure score is, the higher the market value of the bank becomes. These results indicate that markets respond to the corporate governance’s disclosure, so the company’s market price increases. The results show that the CG index reinforces the positive influence of Accrual-based Earnings Management (AEM) and Real Earnings Management (REM) on the performance. These results indicate that corporate governance practices are able to steer earnings management away from the opportunistic and into the efficiency spectrum.

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