This study examines whether acquirers make better acquisition decisions when target firms' financial statements exhibit greater comparability with industry peer firms. We predict and find that acquirers make more profitable acquisition decisions when target firms' financial statements are more...

We provide evidence suggesting that managers use financial statement misstatements which improve reported results to facilitate acquisitions. Specifically, we find that firms misstating their financial statements are more likely to make stock-based acquisitions, but not cash-based acquisitions,...

Exploiting the staggered adoption of country-level takeover laws that increased takeover threats, this paper examines whether the resulting increase in CEOs' job security concerns leads to greater earnings management. Using a difference-in-difference design, I find that the enactment of laws...

Using a sample of US noncash acquirers, we find significant evidence of upward earnings management prior to announcing merger and acquisition deals. In this event study, we adopt an industry adjusted leverage proxy. No evidence of premerger earnings management is found in highly leveraged firms....

We investigate the effect of board governance and takeover protection on real earnings management. Four types of real earnings management are considered: sales manipulation, overproduction, the abnormal reduction of research and development (R&D) expenses, and the abnormal reduction of other...

This paper contributes to the merger and acquisitions (M&A) literature by providing evidence on the role of industry relatedness in the association between the earnings management (EM) practices of the target firm before the deal and the premium offered by the acquirer. We argue that familiarity...

This study explores an interesting phenomenon in which some acquirers buy and own targets for a relatively short period of time and then “flip” or resell these targets to other companies for profit. We show that acquisition flippers engage in earnings management to improve the appeal of...

Empirical evidence regarding accrual-based earnings management around mergers and acquisitions has been setting-specific as far as target firms are concerned. This might be due to the fact that target firms cannot always anticipate an acquisition proposal, and thus lack the motive and the time...

We examine the governance transfer effect of corporate blockholders in a sample of 892 block acquisitions across 42 countries from 1990 to 2008. Using earnings management as a proxy for corporate governance outcome, we find that target firms' earnings management is aligned with that of block...