scholarly journals The Impact of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2010 on Earnings Management around Mergers and Acquisitions

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Michael Yipake Banseh ◽  
Ehsan Khansalar
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Mergers And Acquisitions ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Corporate Management ◽  
Corporate Governance Code ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

<p>Several studies revealed earnings management (EM) around mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;As) by both acquirers and target firms. Rosa et al. (2003) suggest that a systematic EM is associated with the use of stock as payment in takeovers. This and other corporate malpractices have prompted authorities to tighten regulations by passing the United Kingdom (UK) Corporate Governance (CG) Code to guide companies in the UK in their corporate management and financial reporting.</p><p>This study is to investigate the impact of the UK CG Code on accruals EM around M&amp;As in the UK. The study applied the Modified Jones (1991) model as modified by Dechow et al. (1995) and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation in analysing a sample data from 66 companies listed on the LSE that have undertaken M&amp;As within the period of January 2007 to December 2014. The results produced by the modified Jones model indicate some level of income increasing discretionary accruals in the pre-CG period but showed an opposite situation in the post-CG period. A test for significance indicates the means of pre-CG discretionary accruals and post-CG discretionary accruals were different and significant. The hypothesis that “the level of earnings management around mergers and acquisitions in the UK has significantly reduced after the enactment of the UK Corporate Governance code 2010” was therefore accepted.</p>Results from the Pearson Correlation Coefficient were inconclusive on EM but indicate some changes in the level of activities in the earnings between the two periods. This may also points to some effect of CG Code on the reported earnings of these companies. The results from this study is consistent with existing studies that evince the effectiveness of CG in controlling EM as Hsu and Koh (2005); Osma (2008) suggest that best corporate governance practices minimise EM and reduce fraud drastically.

scholarly journals Accrual and real-based earnings management by UK acquirers

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 492-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talie Kassamany ◽  
Salma Ibrahim ◽  
Stuart Archbold
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Governance Code ◽  
Management Behaviour ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Logistic Regressions ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study aims to investigate the occurrence of pre-merger earnings management for a sample of 197 stock- and cash-financed UK acquirers between 1990 and 2009. It also examines the earnings management behaviour around the change in the Corporate Governance Code in 2003 based on the Higgs recommendations. Design/methodology/approach Mean and median accrual- and real-based manipulation are examined in the period before the announcement of a merger and acquisition. These are compared across stock and cash acquirers as well as before and after the implementation of the Higgs recommendations. Logistic regressions are also run to examine accrual- and real-based manipulation across stock and cash acquirers after controlling for variables that may affect the acquisition type. Findings The study found some evidence of upward pre-merger accrual-based earnings management by stock-financed acquirers, which is in line with the findings of Botsari and Meeks (2008). Furthermore, no significant changes were found in the post-Higgs period, which indicates that the recommendations put forth by Higgs may not have been successful in mitigating earnings management. The evidence also shows that cash bidders engage in pre-merger real earnings manipulation through lower discretionary expenses, possibly to enhance cash availability for the bid. Practical implications The findings in this study confirm earnings management exists around mergers and acquisitions and provide some evidence that the recommendations set out in the Higgs Report do not appear to have mitigated earnings management activities. This is of interest to regulators as well as investors and academicians. Originality/value This provides the first analysis in the UK examining the use of real-based earnings management activities by UK acquirers. It also extends prior research around corporate governance changes that occurred in the UK.

scholarly journals The impact of CEOs’ accounting backgrounds on earnings management and conservatism

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-24
Author(s):  
Nan Hu ◽  
Rong Huang ◽  
Xu Li ◽  
Ling Liu
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Good News ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Existing literature in experimental accounting research suggests that accounting professionals and people with accounting backgrounds tend to have a lower level of moral reasoning and ethical development. Motivated by these findings, this paper aims to examine whether chief executive officers (CEOs) with accounting backgrounds have an impact on firms’ earnings management behavior and the level of accounting conservatism. Design/methodology/approach The authors classify CEOs into those with and without accounting backgrounds using BoardEx data. Using discretionary accruals from several different models, they do not find that CEOs with accounting backgrounds are more likely to engage in income-increasing accruals. However, the authors find that CEOs with accounting backgrounds exhibit lower levels of conservatism, proxied by C-scores and T-scores (Basu, 1997). This finding suggests that CEOs with accounting backgrounds recognize bad news more quickly than good news, consistent with the accounting principle of “anticipating all losses but anticipating no gains”. Findings The authors show that firms whose CEOs have accounting backgrounds exhibit lower levels of accounting conservatism. However, these firms do not exhibit higher levels of income-increasing discretionary accruals. This study documents the impact of CEOs’ educational backgrounds on firms’ accounting choices and confirms prior findings in experimental accounting research using large sample archival data. Originality/value This paper is the first study that investigates the impact of CEOs’ accounting backgrounds on firms’ financial reporting policy. The findings may have some policy implications. If accounting backgrounds of CEOs can make a significant difference on firms’ behavior, it is reasonable to make CEOs accountable for the quality of financial reporting. This paper is one of the first to empirically test inferences drawn by experimental accounting research. There has been a gap between archival and experimental accounting studies. The authors propose that interesting research questions can be addressed by filling in such a gap.

CEO incentive compensation and earnings management

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 2447-2461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madi Almadi ◽  
Philip Lazic
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Legal Enforcement ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Corporate Governance Quality ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of CEO incentive-based compensation on earnings management, taking into account the influence of institutional settings and corporate governance systems. Design/methodology/approach Using archival data of 3,000 British, Australian, German, and Austrian firm-years between 2005 and 2014, the study applies fixed-effect estimator to reduce risks of endogeneity bias. Findings The findings reveal that institutional factors influence the relationship between CEO incentive-based compensation and earnings management. Particularly, firms from countries within the Anglo-American model (the UK and Australia), which provide greater protection for investor, stricter legal enforcement, and higher quality of corporate governance, tend to have lower level of earnings management. However, besides corporate governance quality, it is relevant to consider weaker investor protection and legal enforcement to motivate earnings management in firms from countries within the Euro-Continental model (Germany and Austria). Originality/value The study suggests that robust implementation of corporate governance, derived from either model, helps in restraining CEO opportunistic behavior. Importantly, more qualified institutions have higher impact on the relative adequacy of CEO incentive-based pay formulas in mitigating earnings management concerns. This can be extended by future research through comparative studies using other contexts or influential institutions.

scholarly journals The Impact of Corporate Governance on Earning Management of Non-Financial Firms: Evidence from Pakistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 304-312
Author(s):  
MUHAMMAD TAHIR KHAN ◽  
IHTESHAM KHAN ◽  
SHAH RAZA KHAN
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Fixed Effect Model ◽  
Earnings Information ◽  
Financial Firms ◽  
The Impact

The main objective of the firm is to maximize the shareholder’s wealth; to achieve this objective the management indulge the earnings information by manipulation practices such practices reduce investors’ confidence. Furthermore, a hypothetical dispute recommends that a better quality of financial reporting reduce the information asymmetry, by refining the corporate governance compliance, result in reducing earnings management practices. Thus the main aim of this study is to explore the impact of corporate governance on earnings management by using panel data sample of 257 non-financial firms listed in Pakistan stock exchange for the period of 2012 to 2019 through Fixed effect model along with control variables. The results disclose that the CG system of Pakistan negatively and significantly impacts the EM activities of the companies registered in Pakistan stock exchange. Hence, concludes that the CG system is more effective to prevent the EM process. The entire results are seamless with prior research work that the effective CG scheme of the firms controls the EM and collapse of businesses. Keywords: Earnings Management, Corporate Governance, Corporate Governance Index.

scholarly journals Incentives facing UK-listed companies to comply with the risk reporting provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Klumpes ◽  
C. Ledlie ◽  
F. Fahey ◽  
G. Kakar ◽  
S. Styles
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Corporate Governance Code ◽  
Future Viability ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Corporate Risk ◽  
Risk Reporting

AbstractRecent changes made to the UK Corporate Governance Code require UK firms to report new or enhanced narrative information concerning their principal risks, their risk management processes and their future viability. This paper analyses whether the level and nature of voluntary compliance with these new requirements is consistent with alternative economic and political visibility incentives. We analyse relevant sections of financial reports produced by industry-matched samples of large-, mid- and small-cap UK-listed firms during the transitional 2013–2014 financial reporting years. Both specific and generic readability attributes of the reports are measured. We find that virtually no firm in our sample has provided any viability statement. Empirical analysis of disclosures concerning principal risk assessment and review processes appear to be primarily motivated by political visibility reasons. Examples of particularly good and cases of poor corporate risk reporting practices are also discussed. Possible implications for the actuarial profession are discussed.

scholarly journals Impact of Improved Corporate Governance and Regulations on Earnings Management Practices—Analysis of 7 Industries from the Indian National Stock Exchange

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 454
Author(s):  
Jose Joy Thoppan ◽  
Robert Jeyakumar Nathan ◽  
Vijay Victor
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
The Impact

This study investigates discretionary earnings management practices, tracing the changes over the years in selected top performing and highly liquid listed Indian firms. It empirically measures the impact of corporate governance, financial legislation and global reporting standards on the firms’ earnings management practices. The study analyses a sample of 712 firm-year data comprising 89 listed Indian companies across 7 different sectoral indices of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) over 8 years (2011–2018). The Modified Jones model was used to compute Discretionary Accruals to measure Earnings Management based on data obtained using Bloomberg terminals. Statistical results and plots generated in Stata offer evidence that instances of earnings management have significantly reduced after the enactment of the Companies Act 2013 and the adoption of Indian Accounting standards which are converged with the IFRS. Findings suggest that services firms are engaging in relatively higher levels of earnings management compared to manufacturing firms. This study reveals the positive impact of improved corporate governance, regulation, and enforcement by significantly reducing the levels of earnings management among listed firms in India.

The Impact of IFRS Adoption on Earnings Management Activities and Value Relevance of Accounting Information: Applied Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-42
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Hessian
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Value Relevance ◽  
Accounting Information ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Financial Reporting Standards ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Impact

This study focused on the economic benefits of adoption of IFRS. More specifically, this study emphasis on whether the quality of the accounting information has been improved after the adoption of IFRS. The study investigated quality of accounting information through two main variables: earnings management and the value relevance of accounting information. The study was applied on 56 Egyptian listed companies during the period from 1997 to 2011, which divided into two periods: the period after the adoption of the standards from 2007 to 2011, and before the adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards from 1997 to 2006. The research concluded that there is a significant impact of the adoption of IFRS on managerial opportunities to manage earnings using discretionary accruals, which is reflected in the lower value relevance of accounting information. Study results also indicate that companies with high leverage are the lowest companies in the value relevance of accounting information, and that companies that are subject to private sector law No. 159 of 1981 are the most companies engaged in earnings management activities through discretionary accruals, large size companies, without any significant impact on future growth opportunities and listing on global exchanges.

An assessment of corporate governance reforms in Italy based on a comparative analysis of earnings management

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Campa ◽  
Ray Donnelly
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Good Corporate Governance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Corporate Governance Reforms ◽  
Governance Reforms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of corporate governance reforms in Italy. Design/methodology/approach – The authors argue that the effectiveness of corporate governance can best be assessed with reference to the choices made by management or controlling shareholders. They use the curtailment of earnings management as a desirable and measureable outcome of good corporate governance to assess Italy’s progress since the 1990s. The UK is used as a reference point because it is a European Union (EU) economy of comparable size and there is evidence that its firms managed earnings to a much lesser extent than their counterparts in Italy in the 1990s. A matched sample of UK and Italian firms was used for the empirical analysis. Findings – It was found that in contrast to the situation in the 1990s, firms in Italy do not manage earnings to a greater extent than their UK counterparts after the corporate governance reforms. In addition, firm-level governance has a greater effect on earnings management in Italy than in the UK. The authors attribute this to firm-level governance compensating for deficiencies in national institutions. Research limitations/implications – The restriction of earnings management is just one positive consequence of good governance. Other positive outcomes require to be studied to form a complete picture of the impact of governance reforms in Italy. Originality/value – This paper is the first to use an outcome-driven approach to evaluate the impact of governance reforms.

Audit committee, internal audit function and earnings management: evidence from Jordan

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ebraheem Saleem Salem Alzoubi
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Internal Audit ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internal Audit Function ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis study aims to examine the influence of audit committee existence and internal audit function on the earnings management of companies.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses generalised least squares regression to investigate the influence of audit committee existence, internal audit function and the interaction of these two mechanisms on earnings management for a sample of 86 industrial companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange over a four-year period from 2007 to 2010. The paper uses the extent of discretionary accruals as the proxy for earnings management.FindingsThis paper finds that audit committee existence and the internal audit function reduce the level of earnings management. The number of meetings between the audit committee and internal audit function also reduces discretionary accruals. Overall, this study finds that audit committee existence and internal audit function decrease earnings management and improve the financial reporting quality.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this study is that it investigates the combined effects of audit committee existence and internal auditors on earnings management. Furthermore, this study is the initial paper to examine the impact of audit committee and internal audit on earnings management in Jordan.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document