We find that IPO firms engage in real and accrual earnings management during the IPO and that big-N audit firms constrain discretionary expenses-based and accrual-based manipulations. The restriction of these forms of earnings management leads IPO firms to resort to a higher level of sales-based...

While earnings management around IPOs has been researched in a number of settings, there has been a relative absence of work that analyses the impact of the regulatory environment on such activities. We find that the regulatory environment does impact the real and accrual earnings management...