This paper examines the differences in accrual-based and real earnings management across countries from the perspective of investor protection. Following prior research (Leuz et al., 2003), we hypothesize that accrual-based earnings management is more constrained by strict discipline in...

The association of a country's investor protection regime with the quality of reported earnings is examined for a large sample of firms from 42 countries. Three attributes of earnings are evaluated: the magnitude of the association of a country's investor protection regime with the quality of...

This paper examines whether dividend policy is associated with earnings management and whether the relationship varies across countries with wide-ranging degrees of institutional strength and transparency. Based on a sample of 23,429 corporations from 29 countries, we show that dividend payers...

We examine the relation between four dimensions of national culture and earnings quality of banks using a sample of banks from 39 countries. We conduct our analyses over two sample periods, one spanning the pre-financial crisis (i.e., the period 1993-2006) and the other spanning the financial...

When equity markets open to foreign investors, firms in these markets face significant opportunities to attract foreign capital. Using a set of countries that opened their equity markets, we find significant income-increasing earnings management in the year of opening, with substantial...

This is the second article of a two-part series analyzing the economic and policy factors related to the potential adoption of IFRS by the United States. In Part I (see Hail et al. 2010), we develop the conceptual framework for our analysis and discuss economic factors driving the costs and...

Business Combinations is the first completed joint convergence project of the FASB amp; IASB. The new business combinations standards converge US GAAP and IFRS in all but the calculation of non-controlling interests. Although the accounting community widely acknowledges the benefits of...

This paper examines the relation between investor protection and real earnings management. We build on the work of La Porta et al. (2000), who found that countries with different legal systems protect investors differently. Using a sample of more than 13,000 unique firms in over 54 countries,...