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Venture capitalists and portfolio companies’ real activities manipulation

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  • Xiang Liu

Abstract

I study the relation between venture capitalists’ (VCs) presence and real activities manipulation (RM). I find that compared to non-venture-backed companies, venture-backed companies show significantly less RM in the first post-IPO fiscal year. The results are robust after controlling for the VC selection endogeneity. This is consistent with the argument that VCs do not inflate earnings when they exit the IPO firm but instead exercise a monitoring role to reduce the RM by other insiders. By the end of the second post-IPO fiscal year when VCs exit the portfolio companies, their impact on portfolio companies’ RM decreases dramatically. This suggests that the impact of VCs on portfolio companies is mainly through direct monitoring rather than through the establishment of a governance structure. A partitioned sample analysis indicates that VCs lapse their control and do not restrain RM during the Internet Bubble. VCs also tighten their control and reduce significantly RM in technology companies where managers engage in more aggressive RM, but they have no influence on RM in non-tech companies. Furthermore, using alternative VCs’ reputation proxies, I find that portfolio companies’ RM is negatively associated with VCs’ reputation. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Xiang Liu, 2014. "Venture capitalists and portfolio companies’ real activities manipulation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 173-210, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:43:y:2014:i:1:p:173-210
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-013-0369-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Denis Cormier & Daniel Coulombe & Luania Gomez Gutierrez & Bruce J. Mcconomy, 2018. "Firms in Transition: A Review of the Venture Capital, IPO, and M&A Literature," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(1), pages 9-88, March.
    2. Liu, Xiang & Saidi, Reza & Bazaz, Mohammad, 2014. "Institutional incentives and earnings quality: The influence of government ownership in China," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 248-261.
    3. Joseph R. Rakestraw & Raman Kumar & John J. Maher, 2020. "Industry-Average Earnings Management and IPO Pricing," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(04), pages 1-46, January.
    4. Beng Soon Chong & Zhenbin Liu, 2016. "CAR associated with SEO share lockups: Real or illusionary?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 513-541, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Venture capital; Real activities manipulation; Accruals manipulation; Initial public offerings; Monitoring; Moral hazard; G24; M41;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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