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Earnings Management in Business Groups: Tax Incentives or Expropriation Concealment?

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  • Beuselinck, Christof
  • Deloof, Marc

Abstract

This study provides evidence that Belgian firms affiliated to a business group (holding) manage their earnings more than stand-alone firms. Earnings management is especially more prevalent in fully owned group firms compared to group firms with minority shareholders. This evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that controlling shareholders face fewer constraints to manage earnings if opportunistic earnings management cannot adversely affect the value of minority shareholders and is inconsistent with the claim that group firms would engage in earnings management to hide controlling shareholders' self-serving transactions. On the incentive part, we find that group firms strategically manage earnings in response to tax incentives. More specifically, we show that signed discretionary accruals of group firms depend significantly more on the marginal tax rate status of the firm as compared to independent firms. Finally, we document that earnings management is particularly facilitated through intra-group transactions.

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  • Beuselinck, Christof & Deloof, Marc, 2014. "Earnings Management in Business Groups: Tax Incentives or Expropriation Concealment?," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 27-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:accoun:v:49:y:2014:i:1:p:27-52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intacc.2014.01.008
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    3. Shun-Ji Jin & In Tae Hwang & Sun Min Kang, 2018. "Improving Sustainability through a Dual Audit System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, January.
    4. Ramesh Chandra Das & Chandra Sekhar Mishra & Prabina Rajib, 2017. "Real Versus Accrual-based Earnings Management," Paradigm, , vol. 21(2), pages 156-174, December.
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    6. Ruqia Shaikh & Guo Fei & Muhammad Shaique & Muhammad Rizwan Nazir, 2019. "Control-Enhancing Mechanisms and Earnings Management: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-23, August.
    7. Adnan Shoaib & Muhammad A. Siddiqui, 2022. "Earning information content changes based on accrual measures and quality measures: Evidences from member countries of Asia Pacific trade agreement," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 1526-1546, January.
    8. Yamada, Akihiro & Sakurai, Yuuta & Ishida, Ryo, 2020. "Influence of geographic distribution on real activities manipulation within consolidated companies: Evidence from Japan," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    9. Ramesh Chandra Das & Chandra Sekhar Mishra & Prabina Rajib, 2017. "Detection of Anomalies in Accounting Data Using Benford¡¯s Law: Evidence from India," Journal of Social Science Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 4(1), pages 123-139, January.
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    11. Haiyan Jiang & Gary Tian & Donghua Zhou, 2021. "The influence of the deregulation of short‐selling on related‐party transactions: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5-6), pages 1022-1056, May.
    12. Junjian Gu, 2019. "A Potential Risk of Increasing Cross-National Distance: Evidence from Less Sustainable Tax Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-22, May.
    13. Frederick Kibon Changwony & Anthony Kwabena Kyiu, 2024. "Business strategies and corruption in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises: The impact of business group affiliation, external auditing, and international standards certification," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 95-121, January.
    14. Yong-Shik Kim, 2023. "The Association between Voluntary Carbon Disclosure and Accounting Comparability: Examining the Moderating Effect of Korean Business Groups," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-17, March.
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    16. Ranjitha Ajay & R. Madhumathi, 2015. "Institutional Ownership and Earnings Management in India," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 8(2), pages 119-136, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business groups; Earnings management; Marginal tax rate; Ownership structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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