股权分置改革的盈余质量效应

股权分置改革后,股价直接决定了股东的财富,持有大量非流通股的控股股东有动机操纵盈余以最大化自身的利益。国有股权转让的限制,导致国有控股股东盈余操纵动机弱于其他股东。本文研究了股权分置改革对国有控股公司和非国有控股公司盈余质量的不同影响。研究结果表明,股权分置改革后,非国有上市公司向上盈余管理程度显著提高,盈余持续性显著降低;而国有上市公司的盈余管理程度和盈余持续性都没有显著变化。本文检验了股权分置改革的成效,研究结论可为投资者的投资行为提供决策支持。     

独立董事本地化对公司盈余管理的影响——来自2010~2014年A股上市公司经验证据

以2010~2014年 A 股上市公司为研究样本,以修正 Jones 模型估计的操控性应计绝对值作为应计项目盈余管理的衡量指标,探讨上市公司独立董事日常工作所在地和上市公司所在地是否一致对公司盈余管理的影响。研究发现,独立董事本地化能抑制公司应计项目盈余管理。此外,研究进一步发现,独立董事本地化还能约束真实活动盈余操控,包括销售操控、生产操控和费用操控等行为。     

股权结构与上市公司应计和真实盈余管理行为

过高的股权集中度会导致显著更高的应计盈余操控行为,而对真实盈余管理行为的影响总体上不显著;无论对于应计盈余操控还是真实盈余操控,机构持股均具有较好的抑制作用;国有控股会导致显著更高的应计盈余操控,但在真实盈余操控方面,更多地体现在异常酌量费用方面;国有控股上市公司管理层持股越高,其应计盈余管理行为越显著,而在真实盈余管理行为方面,显著影响更多体现在异常现金流和异常生产成本方面.     

提高会计信息可比性能抑制盈余管理吗?

本文研究中国上市公司会计信息可比性对管理层盈余管理行为的抑制作用。研究发现,虽然会计信息可比性的提高对应计盈余管理具有一定程度的抑制作用,但真实盈余管理现象随着会计信息可比性的提高而显著增加,表明会计信息可比性是管理层从应计盈余管理向真实盈余管理转变一个重要诱因。进一步研究发现,当管理层薪酬更高时,随着会计信息可比性的提高,应计盈余管理向真实盈余管理的转变越明显。但是在股权集中度较高、信息披露规范和监管环境趋紧的情况下,随着会计信息可比性提升,管理层实施真实盈余管理的上升势头在一定程度上受到了抑制。     

我国上市公司盈余管理时间选择的实证研究

本文研究了我国上市公司在不同季度进行盈余管理的时间选择行为。我们首先采用可操控性应计利润来识别上市公司中期报告中的盈余管理行为,然后进一步通过考察季度间盈余反转来识别。研究结果表明,我国上市公司虽在各个季度都存在盈余管理行为,但第四季度利润中包含了比其他季度更多的盈余管理行为。特别的,巨额冲销的公司在第四季度进行盈余管理调低利润,前三季度表现欠佳而年末好转的公司在第四季度通过盈余管理调高利润。     

会计制度改革、盈余稳健性与盈余管理

本文以1994-2007我国会计制度改革为研究背景,分析了盈余稳健性和盈余管理之间的内在关系和相互影响,并以此为基础检验了我国会计准则的执行质量。研究得出,扣除操控性应计利润后,上市公司的盈余稳健性同会计制度中稳健性原则的运用程度仍紧密相关。并且,强化稳健性原则和限制公允价值的运用显著降低了公司高估盈余的水平,而弱化稳健性原则和扩大公允价值的运用,则导致了公司盈余管理水平的显著提高。总体而言,没有证据表明盈余稳健性的提高导致了上市公司的大清洗行为。     

什么决定了盈余管理程度的差异：公司治理还是经营绩效?——来自中国证券市场的经验证据

本文采用2003--2005年来自我国证券市场的数据进行考察,利用调整的截面Jones现金流模型计量操控性应计利润,分析了民营上市公司与国有上市公司之间盈余管理程度的差别及其决定性因素。研究发现,民营上市公司的盈余管理程度显著高于国有上市公司。进一步地,经验证据还表明,盈余管理程度差异的决定性因素来自经营绩效的激励作用,而非公司治理的制约作用。更深入的考察还发现,在所有表征经营绩效的指标中,主营业务回报率对公司盈余管理的程度有着最重要的影响。     

配股后业绩下降：盈余管理后果与真实业绩滑坡

本文研究了我国1998—2001年间上市公司首次配股后会计业绩下降的现象。实证结果表明,配股公司在配股前存在盈余管理行为,无后续融资行为公司配股后业绩下降且操控性应计利润在配股后发生反转,这为配股前盈余管理机会主义观提供了直接证据；有后续融资行为公司在配股后仍进行盈余管理以继续尽可能维持较高业绩。这两类公司配股后现金流的减少表明,配股前盈余管理仅能为配股后业绩下降提供部分解释。本文研究发现意味着,限制公司管理层在配股前的盈余管理机会主义行为,并非避免配股后业绩下降的唯一手段,如何提高配股后资金使用效率应该是保护投资者利益的又一重要方面。     

科创板注册制改革与公司盈余管理北大核心

基于我国科创板设立这一重要事件,本文考察了科创板注册制改革对公司会计信息披露的影响。利用截至2020年底上市的科创板公司作为实验组样本,并通过倾向得分匹配方法构建控制组样本,本文研究发现,相较于其他板块公司,科创板公司IPO时应计盈余管理的程度更低,这一结果说明科创板注册制改革降低了公司盈余管理的动机。作用机制的检验表明,科创板注册制改革对企业盈余管理的影响在盈利水平更低、融资约束更大和科创板重点支持行业公司中更显著,而且,科创板公司IPO时面临更低的盈利压力。进一步分析显示,在地区市场化程度更高和高声誉会计师事务所审计的公司中,科创板注册制改革后IPO公司盈余管理程度下降得更明显。最后,我们的研究表明,科创板注册制改革不仅影响公司IPO过程中的盈余管理行为,也显著降低了公司IPO后一年的盈余管理水平。本文研究在丰富新股发行市场化改革和公司盈余管理文献的同时,从公司信息披露角度深化了对我国新股发行市场化改革的理解,并为进一步推进我国资本市场改革提供了借鉴。     

IPO公司盈余管理行为选择及不同市场间的差异

本文主要研究了我国证券市场IPO公司进行IPO时应计和真实盈余管理行为选择及不同市场间盈余管理行为的差异。研究结果表明,IPO公司在IPO事件中会运用应计和真实两种盈余管理行为;显著的应计盈余管理行为主要出现在IPO当年,显著的真实盈余管理行为主要出现在IPO之后一年;在IPO当年,创业板IPO公司应计盈余管理行为显著强于同期主板/中小板IPO公司应计盈余管理行为;在IPO之后一年,创业板IPO公司真实盈余管理行为显著强于同期主板/中小板IPO公司真实盈余管理行为。本文研究可以为市场监管机构履行的IPO公司监管行为提供重要的参考。     

A game of accounting numbers in asset pricing: Evidence from the privatization of state-owned enterprises

This study examines a public policy issue: whether government officials engage in earnings management to collude with private investors in the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). We find that the managers of listed Chinese SOEs, who are de facto bureaucrats, employ income-decreasing earnings management to reduce the price of shares to be sold to private investors. We also find that more aggressive income-decreasing earnings management is associated with a lower CEO turnover rate in the year following the privatization. These findings highlight the need to consider the opportunism of government agents when accounting information is used in redistribution of state assets.     

The nature of information in accruals and cash flows in an emerging capital market: The case of China

Our study investigates the relative and incremental information content of earnings, operating cash flows, and accruals in the emerging capital market of China. The issue is tested by regressing stock returns on the levels of earnings and their components. Based on a sample of 1516 firm-years for listed Chinese firms during 1995–1998, our results demonstrate that earnings have relative information content over operating cash flows. The autocorrelations and cross-sectional correlations also imply that earnings have greater persistence and predictability than operating cash flows. We also find that discretionary accruals provide incremental information beyond that contained in nondiscretionary accruals, consistent with the argument that discretionary accruals improve the relevance of earnings in reflecting the fundamental values of the listed Chinese firms. Unlike prior findings in the studies on developed markets, we find no strong evidence that the value attached to discretionary accruals is lower than the value attached to nondiscretionary accruals. This is consistent with the argument that managerial policy choices available for the listed Chinese firms were rather limited during our sample period under relatively uniform People's Republic of China Accounting Standards (PRC-GAAP), thus, producing fewer opportunities for earnings management. An alternative interpretation could be that Chinese investors are functionally fixated on earnings.     

An empirical study of the effect of venture capital participation on the accounting information quality of IPO firms

Using a sample of IPO companies on the Shenzhen Small and Median Enterprise Board and the ChiNext Stock Market between 2005 and 2009, this paper analyzes the effect of venture capital participation on accounting information quality. We find that venture capitalists have a significant effect on earnings management, with reduced discretionary accruals before the expiration of the equity lock-up period and enhanced discretionary accruals after the expiration of the equity lock-up period. Our findings support the moral hazard hypothesis of venture capital, but not the certification/monitoring role of venture capital in IPOs. In addition, we find that venture capital plays a more important role in the earnings management of non-state-owned IPO companies than of state-owned companies.     

Do UK firms manage earnings to meet dividend thresholds?

This paper examines earnings management by dividend-paying firms in cases where pre-managed earnings would fall below the expected dividend, and by non-dividend paying firms aiming to avoid reporting losses. We find that within the UK market the likelihood of upward earnings management is significantly greater in the former case than the latter, though both are drivers for earnings management. Large firms are less likely to upwardly manage earnings to reach dividend thresholds, consistent with prior UK evidence on the ability of the largest firms to avoid restrictive debt covenants. We also find that earnings management is more clearly observable through examining working capital discretionary accruals than through examining total discretionary accruals.     

Quality of reported earnings by Chinese firms: The influence of ownership structure

This paper examines the influence of ownership structure on earnings quality of firms listed on the Chinese Stock Exchanges. We empirically test four contemporary earnings quality measures, including volatility of earnings, variability of earnings over cash flows, correlations between accruals and cash flows, and level of discretionary accruals, for 1438 firms listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange. We find that although state-owned firms are bigger in size and appear more profitable based on reported earnings; privately-owned firms, foreign-owned firms and society-owned firms outperform the state-controlled firms in earnings quality; and foreign-owned firms have the highest earnings quality among all types of ownership groups. We find that there is not much difference in earnings quality between collectively-owned firms and state-owned firms and employee-owned firms exercise least discretion in earnings management. The findings in particular will have direct policy implications for the China Securities Regulatory Committee (CSRC).     

China׳s secondary privatization: Perspectives from the Split-Share Structure Reform

The Split-Share Structure Reform granted legitimate trading rights to the state-owned shares of listed state-owned enterprises (SOEs), opening up the gate to China?s secondary privatization. The expectation of privatization quickly boosted SOE output, profits, and employment, but did not change their operating efficiency and corporate governance. The improvements to SOE performance are positively correlated to government agents’ privatization-led incentive of increasing state-owned share value. In terms of privatization methodology, the reform adopted a market mechanism that played an effective information discovery role in aligning the interests of the government and public investors.     

Under watchful eyes: Analyst site visits and firm earnings management

This paper investigates whether analyst site visits, where sell-side analysts visit corporate sites and interact with management, reduce earnings management by host firms. Taking advantage of the disclosure of analyst site visits by Chinese listed firms, we find that the intensity of analyst site visits is negatively associated with discretionary accruals, and this relation is robust to controlling for endogeneity. Furthermore, we find that site visits attended by star analysts and including factory tours are associated with lower levels of discretionary accruals than those without these features. We also report that the number and coverage of questions posed during site visits are negatively associated with discretionary accruals. Our results demonstrate that site visits by sell-side analysts perform a vital monitoring role and exert significant constraints on firms' opportunistic financial reporting.     

Accrual usage to manage earnings toward financial analysts' forecasts

This study examines whether management uses discretionary accounting accruals to move earnings upward toward analysts' earnings forecasts when it appears that earnings before discretionary accruals will fall short of the forecast. An earnings shortfall relative to analysts' forecasts could lead management to fear lower compensation and an increase in the likelihood of job termination. The article finds that firms whose earnings before discretionary accruals are below analysts' forecasts use income-increasing discretionary accruals and do so to a greater extent than do firms whose earnings before discretionary accruals are above analysts' forecasts.     

The Usefulness of Measures of Consistency of Discretionary Components of Accruals in the Detection of Earnings Management

Abstract:  Prior research has shown the prevalence of measurement error in models used to estimate aggregate discretionary accruals. In these models, the incremental information content of the various components of accruals is ignored. Limited prior research and data gathered from firms under Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) litigation indicate that managers use either one or more than one component of accruals simultaneously, in a consistent way to manipulate bottom-line earnings in a given direction. I propose two measures that capture the consistency between the discretionary components of accruals and test their significance in earnings management (EM) detection in firms that have artificially added accrual manipulation and firms that were targeted by the SEC for accrual manipulation. There is evidence that this information is incrementally useful in detecting EM. This finding paves the way for improvements in the discretionary accruals measure by including consistency information from the components of aggregate accruals.     

Effect of disclosure regulation on earnings management through related-party transactions: Evidence from Taiwanese firms operating in China

This study examines the effect of disclosure regulation on earnings management using Taiwanese companies conducting transactions with China as the institutional setting. Measuring earnings management by the amount of discretionary accruals (DACCs), the study shows that disclosure regulation mitigates DACCs of Taiwanese firms engaging in related-party transactions with Chinese entities. Following enactment of the disclosure regulation in November 2000, DACCs among Taiwanese enterprises conducting transactions via offshore affiliates dropped. While the disclosure regulation helps to reduce earnings management, this study reports that such effect is asymmetric between high-tech firms and non–high-tech firms. Specifically, the disclosure regulation is effective in reducing earnings management among firms in non–high-tech sectors. However, such effect is not significant among firms in high-tech sectors. This study discusses the implications of empirical findings for corporate management, regulatory agencies, and firm stakeholders.