دانلود رایگان مقاله بحران مالی و مدیریت سود

Abstract

We examine the impact of the 2008–2009 financial crisis on the earnings management behavior of European-listed firms. We find that earnings management has significantly decreased in the crisis years. This trend is confirmed in most of the 16 countries under review. We also report a link between the level of earnings management and the economic growth rate and provide evidence suggesting that national characteristics and market forces affect the propensity of income smoothing but not accruals quality.

8. Conclusion

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the influence of macroeconomic conditions on income manipulations through an analysis of the earnings management behavior of European-listed companies during the 2008–2009 financial crisis and the years before. The main finding is a significant decrease in income smoothing and an improvement of accruals quality in the crisis period. This result has several interpretations. First, it is possible that managers have less incentive to manipulate earnings in crisis periods due to a higher market tolerance for poor performance. It can also be argued that litigation risk increases during crises, which should dissuade insiders to engage in earnings management. Finally, the change in the behavior of companies may also respond to a higher demand for more timely earnings in troubled periods. European countries are relatively homogeneous in economic and political terms. They belong to a deeply integrated economic area characterized by the absence of internal trade barriers. All EU countries also obey a common regulation intended to favor internal competition and movements of capital. Since 2005, all European-listed firms must also comply with IFRS, which minimizes an important factor (accounting standards) identified by the literature as affecting earnings management.