Using a large sample of multinational corporations (MNCs), we examine the location of earnings management within the firm. We posit and find that MNCs manage their consolidated earnings through an orchestrated reporting strategy across subsidiaries over which they exert significant influence....

We provide evidence on how statutory corporate tax rate changes affect income-shifting behavior. Our difference-in-differences identification strategy exploits the 112 staggered changes in corporate income tax rates across the 33 U.S. states during the period 1989-2012. We find that accounting...

In this study, we examine the effectiveness of the China Securities Investor Service Center (CSISC), a new minority shareholder protection mechanism promoted by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, in constraining earnings management. Employing a difference-in-differences analysis for a...

We examine whether firms with managers that have prior internal audit experience are less likely to manage earnings. We find that firms with managers that have internal audit experience are associated with less overall earnings management, driven by lower real earnings management. Importantly,...

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...

Prior research finds that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (US-SOX) of 2002 has affected earnings management in the United States. Cohen et al. (2008) indicate that accrual-based earnings management has declined since the passage of US-SOX, while real earnings management has increased. Further, Gilliam et...

In this paper, we examine the growing number of behavioral studies of how financial reporting, auditing, and other corporate governance regulations affect earnings management and accounting choice-related decisions of managers, auditors, and directors. We first describe how experimental and...

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...

We investigate the role played by the reputation of lead arrangers of syndicated loans in mitigating information asymmetries between borrowers and lenders. We hypothesize that syndications by more reputable arrangers are indicative of higher borrower quality at loan inception and more rigorous...

This study examines the incidence of earnings management around the privatizations of State Owned Enterprises in Pakistan during 1991-2005. Using the modified Jones model and a sample of large privatizations (minimum US$1 million), it shows that the sampled firms experienced increase in...