IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/accoun/v49y2014i4p455-478.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Financial Crisis And Earnings Management: The European Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Filip, Andrei
  • Raffournier, Bernard

Abstract

We examine the impact of the 2008–2009 financial crisis on the earnings management behavior of European-listed firms. We find that earnings management has significantly decreased in the crisis years. This trend is confirmed in most of the 16 countries under review. We also report a link between the level of earnings management and the economic growth rate and provide evidence suggesting that national characteristics and market forces affect the propensity of income smoothing but not accruals quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Filip, Andrei & Raffournier, Bernard, 2014. "Financial Crisis And Earnings Management: The European Evidence," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 455-478.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:accoun:v:49:y:2014:i:4:p:455-478
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intacc.2014.10.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020706314000946
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intacc.2014.10.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francis, Jennifer & LaFond, Ryan & Olsson, Per & Schipper, Katherine, 2005. "The market pricing of accruals quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 295-327, June.
    2. Annelies Renders & Ann Gaeremynck, 2007. "The Impact of Legal and Voluntary Investor Protection on the Early Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)," De Economist, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 49-72, March.
    3. Norman Saleh & Kamran Ahmed, 2005. "Earnings management of distressed firms during debt renegotiation," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 69-86.
    4. Farshid Navissi, 1999. "Earnings Management under Price Regulation," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), pages 281-304, June.
    5. Klein, April, 2002. "Audit committee, board of director characteristics, and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 375-400, August.
    6. David F. Larcker & Scott A. Richardson, 2004. "Fees Paid to Audit Firms, Accrual Choices, and Corporate Governance," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 625-658, June.
    7. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1992. "Liquidation Values and Debt Capacity: A Market Equilibrium Approach," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1343-1366, September.
    8. Iatridis, George & Kadorinis, George, 2009. "Earnings management and firm financial motives: A financial investigation of UK listed firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 164-173, September.
    9. Rajgopal, Shiva & Venkatachalam, Mohan, 2011. "Financial reporting quality and idiosyncratic return volatility," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1-2), pages 1-20, February.
    10. DeFond, Mark & Hung, Mingyi & Trezevant, Robert, 2007. "Investor protection and the information content of annual earnings announcements: International evidence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 37-67, March.
    11. Frederick M. Richardson & Gregory D. Kane & Patricia Lobingier, 1998. "The Impact of Recession on the Prediction of Corporate Failure," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1&2), pages 167-186.
    12. Mary E. Barth & Wayne R. Landsman & Mark H. Lang, 2008. "International Accounting Standards and Accounting Quality," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 467-498, June.
    13. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    14. Keith L. Jones & Gopal V. Krishnan & Kevin D. Melendrez, 2008. "Do Models of Discretionary Accruals Detect Actual Cases of Fraudulent and Restated Earnings? An Empirical Analysis," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(2), pages 499-531, June.
    15. Degeorge, Francois & Patel, Jayendu & Zeckhauser, Richard, 1999. "Earnings Management to Exceed Thresholds," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(1), pages 1-33, January.
    16. Wendy Beekes & Peter Pope & Steven Young, 2004. "The Link Between Earnings Timeliness, Earnings Conservatism and Board Composition: evidence from the UK," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 47-59, January.
    17. Vedran Capkun & Anne Cazavan-Jeny & Thomas Jeanjean & L. A. Weiss, 2011. "Setting the Bar: earnings management during a change in accounting standards," Post-Print hal-00577836, HAL.
    18. Guidry, Flora & J. Leone, Andrew & Rock, Steve, 1999. "Earnings-based bonus plans and earnings management by business-unit managers1," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1-3), pages 113-142, January.
    19. Yew Ming Chia & Irvine Lapsley & Hing-Wah Lee, 2007. "Choice of auditors and earnings management during the Asian financial crisis," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 22(2), pages 177-196, January.
    20. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 1999. "Bank-based and market-based financial systems - cross-country comparisons," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2143, The World Bank.
    21. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    22. Andreas Charitou & Neophytos Lambertides & Lenos Trigeorgis, 2007. "Earnings Behaviour of Financially Distressed Firms: The Role of Institutional Ownership," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 43(3), pages 271-296, September.
    23. Rajgopal, Shiva & Venkatachalam, Mohan, 2011. "Financial reporting quality and idiosyncratic return volatility," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 1-20.
    24. Teoh, Siew Hong & Welch, Ivo & Wong, T. J., 1998. "Earnings management and the underperformance of seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 63-99, October.
    25. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-51, February.
    26. Ilia D. Dichev & Douglas J. Skinner, 2002. "Large–Sample Evidence on the Debt Covenant Hypothesis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 1091-1123, September.
    27. DeFond, Mark L. & Jiambalvo, James, 1994. "Debt covenant violation and manipulation of accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 145-176, January.
    28. David S. Jenkins & Gregory D. Kane & Uma Velury, 2009. "Earnings Conservatism and Value Relevance Across the Business Cycle," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(9-10), pages 1041-1058.
    29. Sweeney, Amy Patricia, 1994. "Debt-covenant violations and managers' accounting responses," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 281-308, May.
    30. Lang, Mark & Smith Raedy, Jana & Wilson, Wendy, 2006. "Earnings management and cross listing: Are reconciled earnings comparable to US earnings?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 255-283, October.
    31. In‐Mu Haw & Bingbing Hu & Lee‐Seok Hwang & Woody Wu, 2004. "Ultimate Ownership, Income Management, and Legal and Extra‐Legal Institutions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 423-462, May.
    32. Dechow, Patricia M., 1994. "Accounting earnings and cash flows as measures of firm performance : The role of accounting accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 3-42, July.
    33. Paul Asquith & Robert Gertner & David Scharfstein, 1994. "Anatomy of Financial Distress: An Examination of Junk-Bond Issuers," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(3), pages 625-658.
    34. Ball, Ray & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2005. "Earnings quality in UK private firms: comparative loss recognition timeliness," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 83-128, February.
    35. Core, John E. & Guay, Wayne R. & Verdi, Rodrigo, 2008. "Is accruals quality a priced risk factor?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 2-22, September.
    36. Aggarwal, Reena & Erel, Isil & Stulz, Rene M. & Williamson, Rohan, 2006. "Do U.S. Firms Have the Best Corporate Governance? A Cross-Country Examination of the Relation between Corporate Governance and Shareholder Wealth," Working Paper Series 2006-25, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    37. Ball, Ray & Robin, Ashok & Wu, Joanna Shuang, 2003. "Incentives versus standards: properties of accounting income in four East Asian countries," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 235-270, December.
    38. Ahmad-Zaluki, Nurwati A. & Campbell, Kevin & Goodacre, Alan, 2011. "Earnings management in Malaysian IPOs: The East Asian crisis, ownership control, and post-IPO performance," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 111-137, June.
    39. Leuz, Christian & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter D., 2003. "Earnings management and investor protection: an international comparison," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 505-527, September.
    40. Wagenhofer, Alfred, 2011. "Towards a theory of accounting regulation: A discussion of the politics of disclosure regulation along the economic cycle," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 228-234.
    41. Holthausen, Robert W. & Larcker, David F. & Sloan, Richard G., 1995. "Annual bonus schemes and the manipulation of earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 29-74, February.
    42. William Brown & Haihong He & Karen Teitel, 2006. "Conditional Conservatism and the Value Relevance of Accounting Earnings: An International Study," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 605-626.
    43. Ahmed, Kamran & Godfrey, Jayne M. & Saleh, Norman M., 2008. "Market perceptions of discretionary accruals by debt renegotiating firms during economic downturn," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 114-138.
    44. Holger Daske & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz & Rodrigo Verdi, 2008. "Mandatory IFRS Reporting around the World: Early Evidence on the Economic Consequences," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 1085-1142, December.
    45. Frederick M. Richardson & Gregory D. Kane & Patricia Lobingier, 1998. "The Impact of Recession on the Prediction of Corporate Failure," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1‐2), pages 167-186, January.
    46. David S. Jenkins & Gregory D. Kane & Uma Velury, 2009. "Earnings Conservatism and Value Relevance Across the Business Cycle," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(9‐10), pages 1041-1058, November.
    47. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    48. Art Durnev & E. Han Kim, 2005. "To Steal or Not to Steal: Firm Attributes, Legal Environment, and Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1461-1493, June.
    49. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "Corrigendum to "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings"; [Journal of Accounting and Economics 29 (2000) 1-51]," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 241-241, October.
    50. Peltzman, Sam, 1976. "Toward a More General Theory of Regulation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(2), pages 211-240, August.
    51. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J., 1994. "Accounting choice in troubled companies," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 113-143, January.
    52. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    53. Bushman, Robert M. & Piotroski, Joseph D., 2006. "Financial reporting incentives for conservative accounting: The influence of legal and political institutions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 107-148, October.
    54. Burgstahler, David & Dichev, Ilia, 1997. "Earnings management to avoid earnings decreases and losses," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 99-126, December.
    55. Carel Huijgen & Martien Lubberink, 2005. "Earnings Conservatism, Litigation and Contracting: The Case of Cross‐Listed Firms," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7‐8), pages 1275-1309, September.
    56. Bertomeu, Jeremy & Magee, Robert P., 2011. "From low-quality reporting to financial crises: Politics of disclosure regulation along the economic cycle," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 209-227.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    2. VLADU ALINA BEATTRICE Author-Workplace-Name: BABES-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY CLUJ-NAPOCA, 2013. "EARNINGS MANGEMENT OCCURENCE IN TIMES OF CRISIS: INSIGHTS FROM THE LITERATURE Abstract: This paper discusses the main findings in the literature and offers interesting insights in order to understandi," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 5, pages 115-119, October.
    3. Persakis, Anthony & Iatridis, George Emmanuel, 2015. "Earnings quality under financial crisis: A global empirical investigation," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 1-35.
    4. Marra, Antonio & Mazzola, Pietro & Prencipe, Annalisa, 2011. "Board Monitoring and Earnings Management Pre- and Post-IFRS," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 205-230, June.
    5. Anagnostopoulou, Seraina C., 2017. "Accounting Quality and Loan Pricing: The Effect of Cross-country Differences in Legal Enforcement," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 178-200.
    6. Sha, Yezhou & Qiao, Lu & Li, Suyang & Bu, Ziwen, 2021. "Political freedom and earnings management," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    7. DeFond, Mark L., 2010. "Earnings quality research: Advances, challenges and future research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 402-409, December.
    8. Ball, Ray & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2008. "Earnings quality at initial public offerings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 324-349, August.
    9. Kamarudin, Khairul Anuar & Ariff, Akmalia M. & Jaafar, Aziz, 2020. "Investor protection, cross-listing and accounting quality," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    10. Paul André & Andrei Filip & Luc Paugam, 2013. "Impact of Mandatory IFRS Adoption on Conditional Conservatism in Europe," Working Papers hal-00862683, HAL.
    11. Isidro, Helena & Raonic, Ivana, 2012. "Firm incentives, institutional complexity and the quality of “harmonized” accounting numbers," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 407-436.
    12. Marco Fasan & Carlo Marcon, 2014. "Accounting Tradition and other drivers of the Fair Value choice: An Opportunistic Management perspective," Working Papers 13, Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    13. Pierre Bonetti & Antonio Parbonetti & Michel Magnan, 2013. "The Influence of Country- and Firm-Level Governance on Financial Reporting Quality: Revisiting the Evidence," CIRANO Working Papers 2013s-03, CIRANO.
    14. Himanshu & Jatinder P. Singh & Ashwani Kumar, 2020. "Prioritizing and Establishing Cause and Effect Relationships Among Financial Reporting Quality Metrics," Vision, , vol. 24(3), pages 330-344, September.
    15. Dichev, Ilia D. & Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2013. "Earnings quality: Evidence from the field," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 1-33.
    16. J�rgen Ernstberger & Michael Stich & Oliver Vogler, 2012. "Economic Consequences of Accounting Enforcement Reforms: The Case of Germany," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 217-251, August.
    17. Dimitropoulos, Panagiotis E. & Asteriou, Dimitrios & Kousenidis, Dimitrios & Leventis, Stergios, 2013. "The impact of IFRS on accounting quality: Evidence from Greece," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 108-123.
    18. Marco Fasan & Carlo Marcon, 2018. "Accounting Choice under IFRS: The Role of Accounting Tradition and Managerial Opportunism," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 8(3), pages 209-223, July.
    19. Bona-Sánchez, Carolina & Pérez-Alemán, Jerónimo & Santana-Martín, Domingo Javier, 2019. "Earnings credibility in politically connected family firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 316-332.
    20. repec:hal:journl:hal-00862683 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Kjærland, Frode & Kosberg, Fredrik & Misje, Mathias, 2021. "Accrual earnings management in response to an oil price shock," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial crisis; Earnings management; Europe; IFRS; Investor protection; Accounting quality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:accoun:v:49:y:2014:i:4:p:455-478. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620179 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.