The Effect of Real Earnings Management on Auditor Scrutiny of Management's Other Financial Reporting Decisions

2018 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 145-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin P. Commerford ◽  
Richard C. Hatfield ◽  
Richard W. Houston
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Reporting Decisions ◽  
Regulatory Scrutiny ◽  
Serial Mediation ◽  
Subjective Estimates ◽  
Inference Theory

ABSTRACT Recent research reveals that accruals-based earnings management (AEM) is decreasing while real earnings management (REM) is increasing, suggesting the correlation is due to regulatory scrutiny. However, based on Correspondent Inference Theory, we predict and find that when management uses REM, auditors are more restrictive of management's subjective estimates, making it more difficult for management to use income-increasing AEM. Our experiment manipulates the presence versus absence of REM, and whether the audit difference potentially impacts the client's ability to meet an earnings target. Using a serial mediation model, we find that when auditors observe REM, they perceive these operating decisions as aggressive, leading them to perceive management as aggressive, ultimately causing greater proposed adjustments on an unrelated audit difference. We contribute to the literature by demonstrating that when auditors observe REM, their altered perceptions about management can cascade, affecting how they respond to management estimates in unrelated financial statement accounts.

Baywatch International: A Case Linking Financial-Reporting, Business, and User Decisions

2000 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 605-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Phillips ◽  
Kevin Morris ◽  
Kristina Zvinakis
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Technical Knowledge ◽  
Capital Asset ◽  
Financial Statement Analysis ◽  
Accounting Courses ◽  
Reporting Decisions ◽  
Asset Depreciation

Baywatch International is a hypothetical company that manufactures figure-enhancement products—a rapidly growing industry that is featured frequently in Fortune and on CNNfn. The executives at Baywatch are making financial-reporting decisions pertaining to the company's receivables, inventories, loss contingencies, and capital asset depreciation. These decisions require technical knowledge of fundamental topics covered in introductory financial accounting courses, as well as an appreciation for relationships among financial-reporting, business, and user decisions. Consideration of the implications for financial statement analysis, earnings management, and financial-reporting ethics also is encouraged.

scholarly journals The Impact of Financial Statement Comparability on Earnings Management: Evidence from Frontier Markets

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Wil Martens ◽  
Prem W. S. Yapa ◽  
Maryam Safari
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Common Law ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Developed Markets ◽  
Accounting Comparability ◽  
The Impact

This paper examined whether financial statement comparability constrains opportunistic earnings management in frontier market countries. Using a large sample of 19 frontier market countries, and an accounting comparability method that maps comparability across several accounting standards, the results show that enhanced financial comparability constrains accruals earnings management (AEM). Contrary to developed markets and novel to this study, a significant relationship between financial comparability and real earnings management (REM) was not found. For greater robustness, AEM and REM were also tested on both International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adopting and non-adopting countries. The results suggest IFRS adoption constrains AEM, yet exhibited no impact on constraining REM. Additionally, the use of BigN auditors failed to conclusively show an ability to moderate EM. When combined, the results suggest that frontier markets engage in less REM than expected. It is also noted that the legal roots (civil vs. common law) play a significant role in constraining earnings management. Common law countries exhibited lower AEM when comparability increased; this significance was not found in countries that were rooted in civil law. Contributions from this study show that findings from developed markets cannot be generalised to frontier markets.

PENGARUH MANAJEMEN LABA TERHADAP ABNORMAL RETURN

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zirman Zirman ◽  
Lily Lily
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Cash Flow ◽  
Significant Influence ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Abnormal Return ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Discretionary Accrual ◽  
Stock Price Reaction ◽  
Flow Components

This research investigates the consequence of earnings management by analyzing stock price reaction to the full set financial statement in 2008 which can be used by investors to detect earnings management by the firms. This research investigated two forms of earnings management (accrual and real earnings management). The samples is drawn from firms in IDX Statistic 2008 which categorized as active in frequency, value or volume. The method of analysis of this research used multi regression. The results show (1) discretionary accrual had negative significant influence to abnormal return, (2) abnormal cash flow from operation had negative significant influence to abnormal return. The results implicate that the investors are aware of the accrual earnings management (discretionary accrual) and real earnings management (abnormal cash flow) components in the earnings reported by the firms and they react negative to this components.

scholarly journals The Attenuating Effect of Intelligent Agents and Agent Autonomy on Managers' Ability to Diffuse Responsibility for and Engage in Earnings Management

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 143-164
Author(s):  
Peter C. Kipp ◽  
Mary B. Curtis ◽  
Ziyin Li
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Intelligent Agents ◽  
Autonomous Agents ◽  
Ethical Conduct ◽  
Human Agent ◽  
Perception Of Control ◽  
Reporting Decisions ◽  
Aggressive Financial Reporting

SYNOPSIS Advances in IT suggest that computerized intelligent agents (IAs) may soon occupy many roles that presently employ human agents. A significant concern is the ethical conduct of those who use IAs, including their possible utilization by managers to engage in earnings management. We investigate how financial reporting decisions are affected when they are supported by the work of an IA versus a human agent, with varying autonomy. In an experiment with experienced managers, we vary agent type (human versus IA) and autonomy (more versus less), finding that managers engage in less aggressive financial reporting decisions with IAs than with human agents, and engage in less aggressive reporting decisions with less autonomous agents than with more autonomous agents. Managers' perception of control over their agent and ability to diffuse their own responsibility for financial reporting decisions explain the effect of agent type and autonomy on managers' financial reporting decisions.

scholarly journals Political and financial background in board interlocking and earnings management in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristian Baú Dal Magro ◽  
Roberto Carlos Klann
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
The Political ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Of Accounting Information

Purpose Although board interlocking underlying forces are largely hidden, the purpose of this paper is to provide managers, auditors, analysts, regulators and other stakeholders with sociological board interlocking information considering the different backgrounds of their members. Design/methodology/approach The research sample gathered 1,606 observations from 2010 to 2017. For data analysis, the direct and indirect board interlocking linkages, considering the different backgrounds of board members, established the centrality indicators. Subsequently, the authors used these indicators according to each measured background in the regression models. Findings The results indicate that the political background of board interlocking members is positively related to real earnings management practices, while the financial background has a mitigating effect on such practices. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that individual skills and interests conveyed across the corporate social network have shaped corporate governance, with distinct impacts on the quality of accounting information. Practical implications The authors conclude that both backgrounds could have implications on agency conflicts, increasing (policy) or reducing (financial) information asymmetry between the company and its various stakeholders, which indicates that the authors must consider sociological and not just economic aspects within corporate governance. Social implications The sociological background of individuals is necessary for the congruence of monitoring mechanisms, and consequently, the quality of accounting information. Originality/value This study examines the influence of the political and financial background of board interlocking members on real earnings management practices in Brazilian publicly traded companies in the International Financial Reporting Standards post-adoption period.

scholarly journals CEO Characteristics and Real Earnings Management in Jordan

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Mohammad Abedalrahman Alhmood ◽  
Hasnah Shaari ◽  
Redhwan Al-dhamari
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Board Structure ◽  
Political Connection ◽  
Ceo Characteristics

The Chief Executive Officer (CEOs) tends to be the most influential member of a corporation as they exert control over corporate decisions such as financial disclosure, board structure, and company performance in ensuring enhanced corporate performance and earnings. The issue of earnings management (EM) that has captured the attention of researchers may be among the most critical factors that are linked to financial statement manipulation. Therefore, the current study explored the effects of the personal characteristics of CEOs on real earnings management (REM) practices in Jordan. Data of 58 companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange for six years from 2013 to 2018 were utilised to achieve this study’s objectives. The results of this study revealed that CEOs’ experience had a significantly positive association with REM. Meanwhile, CEOs’ tenure had no impact on REM among Jordanian firms. Also, the results exposed the presence of a significantly negative association between CEO duality and REM. Finally, CEOs’ political connection was found to have a significantly positive association with REM. This study offers empirical evidence on the effect of CEO characteristics on REM and how such characteristics can lead to exploitation, which brings an impact on the financial reporting quality.

scholarly journals An Assessment of the Application of Earnings Management Objectives and Instruments in Financial Reporting – Evidence of Survey Research Results

2013 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-173
Author(s):  
Andrzej Piosik ◽  
Marzena Strojek-Filus
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Executive Board ◽  
Management Tools ◽  
Management Objectives ◽  
Effective Instrument

Abstract The study contains an overview of earnings management tools of reporting entities and capital groups in Poland. Relations between the phenomenon of earnings management and financial reporting policy have been analysed. A research problem related to the significance and application of particular earnings management tools as perceived by practitioners (accountants, executive board members, specialists) has been discussed. Selected tools of earnings management, usually linked with operations, are perceived to be used more intensively. The conducted analysis shows that in the opinion of the surveyed respondents the most effective instrument influencing the desired level of results presented in a financial statement is carrying out transactions under conditions which ensure the achievement of a reported goal. This applies also to capital groups, in which transactions effected between group units were indicated as the ones used to the greatest extent.

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 Internal Governance and Real Earnings Management

2015 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 1051-1085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Cheng ◽  
Jimmy Lee ◽  
Terry Shevlin
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Real Earnings Management ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Internal Governance ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Earnings Benchmarks ◽  
Alternative Measures

ABSTRACT We examine whether internal governance affects the extent of real earnings management in U.S. corporations. Internal governance refers to the process through which key subordinate executives provide checks and balances in the organization and affect corporate decisions. Using the number of years to retirement to capture key subordinate executives' horizon incentives and using their compensation relative to CEO compensation to capture their influence within the firm, we find that the extent of real earnings management decreases with key subordinate executives' horizon and influence. The results are robust to alternative measures of internal governance and to various approaches used to address potential endogeneity, including a difference-in-differences approach. In cross-sectional analyses, we find that the effect of internal governance is stronger for firms with more complex operations where key subordinate executives' contribution is higher, is enhanced when CEOs are less powerful, is weaker when the capital markets benefit of meeting or beating earnings benchmarks is higher, and is stronger in the post-SOX period. This paper contributes to the literature by examining how internal governance affects the extent of real earnings management and by shedding light on how the members of the management team work together in shaping financial reporting quality. JEL Classifications: G32; M40.

scholarly journals An Investigation IFRS Adoption in Malaysia on The Relationship between The Audit Committee and Quality of Financial Statement

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-122
Author(s):  
Citrawati Jatiningrum ◽  
Fauzi Fauzi ◽  
Rita Irviani ◽  
Mujiyati Mujiyati ◽  
Shahanif Hasan
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
Committee Meeting ◽  
Ifrs Adoption ◽  
Financial Expertise ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Post Period

Audit committees are one of Corporate Governance (CG) mechanisms which are the significant factor in improving its role in inhibiting financial statement fraud (Choi, Jeon & Park, 2004; Habbash, 2010; Soliman & Ragab, 2014). Quality of the Financial Statement emphasised as being in compliance with accounting standards accepted in general, the disclosure scale, and reported numbers although this is not merely a task for the IFRS (Cascino & Gassen, 2010). In recent years, the issue of IFRS adoption in developed and developing countries have been a great deal of attention from many researchers. However, regarding the relationship between the Audit Committee and Quality of Financial Statement with IFRS requirements is still questioning. In fact, the results obtained from some previous researches are inconsistent. Therefore, the objectives in this study are aims to investigate whether post the mandatory IFRS adoption in Malaysia would limit earnings management practice in highlights of governance monitoring on the quality of financial reporting in this environment. This paper gives some evidence: 1) The effect of pre- and post IFRS adoption in Malaysia in the relationship between the Audit Committee and earnings management adoption. 2) examine the differences of the level earnings management on two periods of IFRS adoption in Malaysia. Quality of Financial statement in this study was measured by the level of earnings management with discretional accrual (DA) proxy. The audit committee variable measured by Audit Committee Independence (ACIND), Audit Committee Financial Expertise (ACFEX), Audit Committee Meeting (ACMEET), Audit Committee Size (ACSIZE) and control variable in this study using Board Size (BRDSIZE) and Firm Leverage (FRMLEV). The sample of this study including the two main time periods, there are pre-IFRS adoption and post-IFRS adoption. Using 81 listed companies in Malaysia as a sample, with 567 observations is analysed from 2009 to 2015 (7 years observations) with purposive judgement sampling selection. For seven years, a total of 567 observations is analysed. The pre- IFRS adoption period was tested from 2009 through 2011, and the post-IFRS adoption was tested from 2012 through the end of 2015. The findings in this study with multiplied regression analysis revealed that the hypothesis test in a period of pre- and post IFRS adoption ACFEX and FIRMLEV statistically were significance at 5% level. It means that Audit Committee Financial Expertise (ACFEX) have a significant effect on earnings management practise. According to the result found in the post IFRS adoption period, Audit Committee Meeting (ACMEET) is significant. It means that the frequency of audit committee meetings could be decreasing the level of discretionary accrual. The evidence also unveils both of ACIND and ACSIZE at 5 % level p-value is not significant. The most important result finding on pre- and post period of IFRS adoption in Malaysia provide evidence that based on the statistically significant was upward or the relation more significantly. However, this study also reported with paired sampled test analysis there was no significant difference between the level of earnings management in pre- and post period the adoption of IFRS in Malaysia at 5% level significance.  An important contribution this study has the impact on practices and has implications useful for regulators. The study provides empirical evidence that a relationship between the audit committee and earnings management in the case of IFRS adoption. In contributing to the strength of governance quality and FRQ need to be revisited, especially after mandatory IFRS adoption. Though the audit committee and audit quality are implicitly mentioned in the CG act, it is recommended that formulates specific rules relating to the quality of Financial Reporting. In this regard, it is suggested that company reports would be presented high quality in financial reporting to provide appropriate responses to recommendations made in the reports. Finally, these findings suggest that CG practices in Malaysian that have its own peculiar characteristics compared to other emerging economies.      

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