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Real Earnings Management Uncertainty and Corporate Credit Risk

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  • Tsung-Kang Chen
  • Yijie Tseng
  • Yu-Ting Hsieh

Abstract

This study examines the accounting information uncertainty effects on corporate credit risk from the perspective of real earnings management (RM) activities by investigating 9565 American bond observations from year 2001 to 2008. The main results show that the volatilities of RM activities significantly and positively affect corporate bond yield spreads when well-known bond spread determinant variables are controlled. In addition, the results are robust to alternative model specifications, including the suspect firm analyses, another less ambiguous measure of abnormal cash flows from operations, and abnormal production cost analyses in manufacturing industry or with control of the input price variation. This research also finds that the positive effects of RM volatilities become weaker if a firm has a lower credit rating. Finally, our results remain hold with considering endogeneity issues and analyst characteristic variables and for another estimation period of RM volatilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsung-Kang Chen & Yijie Tseng & Yu-Ting Hsieh, 2015. "Real Earnings Management Uncertainty and Corporate Credit Risk," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 413-440, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:24:y:2015:i:3:p:413-440
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2014.918518
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    2. Huma Fatima & Abdul Haque & Muhammad Usman, 2020. "Is there any association between real earnings management and crash risk of stock price during uncertainty? An evidence from family-owned firms in an emerging economy," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-12, December.
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    7. Ahsan Habib & Dinithi Ranasinghe & Julia Yonghua Wu & Pallab Kumar Biswas & Fawad Ahmad, 2022. "Real earnings management: A review of the international literature," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4279-4344, December.
    8. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Xu, Zhi-Ting, 2023. "Signaling effect of cash holdings adjustment before bond issuance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. L ' Effet & Yao Maurice & Yves Mard & Éric Séverin, 2020. "The Effect of Earnings Management on Debt Maturity: An International Study," Post-Print hal-03029366, HAL.
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