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Earnings management following chief executive officer changes: the effect of contemporaneous chairperson and chief financial officer appointments

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  • Mark Wilson
  • Liang Wui Wang

Abstract

Using a sample of listed Australian firms from 1999 to 2007, we examine the relationship between discretionary accruals and concurrent senior management appointments. Employing panel data regression models and focusing on a measure of discretionary accruals that excludes the effect of transparent write‐downs such as restructuring charges, we find that chief executive officer (CEO) appointments, as a general phenomenon, are not significantly associated with opaque earnings management in the year of appointment or the following year. However, we find that CEO changes accompanied by a concurrent change in board chairperson are associated with significant income‐decreasing earnings management in the year of appointment. We detect no significant relationship between contemporaneous CEO and chief financial officer changes and discretionary accruals. We find no evidence of earnings management in the first compete financial period following CEO appointment, regardless of whether or not concurrent Chair or chief financial officer appointments occurred.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Wilson & Liang Wui Wang, 2010. "Earnings management following chief executive officer changes: the effect of contemporaneous chairperson and chief financial officer appointments," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(2), pages 447-480, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:50:y:2010:i:2:p:447-480
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-629X.2009.00324.x
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    2. Pelucio-Grecco, Marta Cristina & Geron, Cecília Moraes Santostaso & Grecco, Gerson Begas & Lima, João Paulo Cavalcante, 2014. "The effect of IFRS on earnings management in Brazilian non-financial public companies," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 42-66.
    3. Ali Meftah Gerged & Khaldoon Albitar & Lara Al‐Haddad, 2023. "Corporate environmental disclosure and earnings management—The moderating role of corporate governance structures," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 2789-2810, July.
    4. Paul G. Geertsema & David H. Lont & Helen Lu, 2018. "Stock price response to new‐CEO earnings news," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(3), pages 849-883, September.
    5. Ka Wai Choi & Xiaomeng Chen & Sue Wright & Hai Wu, 2014. "Analysts' Forecasts Following Forced CEO Changes," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 50(2), pages 146-173, June.
    6. Chung-Hua Shen & Chien-An Wang, 2019. "Do New Brooms Sweep Clean? Evidence that New CEOs Take a ‘Big Bath’ in the Banking Industry," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 18(1), pages 106-144, April.
    7. Frerich Buchholz & Kerstin Lopatta & Karen Maas, 2020. "The Deliberate Engagement of Narcissistic CEOs in Earnings Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(4), pages 663-686, December.
    8. Felix Schumann & Toni W. Thun & Tobias Dauth & Henning Zülch, 2024. "Does top management team diversity affect accounting quality? Empirical evidence from Germany," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 28(1), pages 137-175, March.
    9. Christopher Bleibtreu & Ulrike Stefani, 2012. "The Interdependence Between Audit Market Structure and the Quality of Financial Reporting: The Case of Non-Audit Services," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2012-01, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    10. Plöckinger, Martin & Aschauer, Ewald & Hiebl, Martin R.W. & Rohatschek, Roman, 2016. "The influence of individual executives on corporate financial reporting: A review and outlook from the perspective of upper echelons theory," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 55-75.

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