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Earnings Management and Performance in Family-Controlled Firms:Evidence from an Emerging Economy

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  • Mauricio Jara-Bertin
  • Jean P. Sepulveda

    (School of Business and Economics, Universidad del Desarrollo)

Abstract

This study introduces an earnings management dimension to compute premanipulated accounting performance to determine whether family-controlled firms have higher performance relative to non-family-controlled firms. Using a premanipulated return on assets measure for Chilean firms dataset, we find that the premanipulated performance of familycontrolled firms is superior to that of non-family-controlled firms. We also show that the presence of institutional investors in the firm’s ownership structure has a positive influence on performance of family companies. The results suggest that earnings management behavior is not sufficient to explain the higher performance of family-controlled firms that has been reported in the literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Mauricio Jara-Bertin & Jean P. Sepulveda, 2014. "Earnings Management and Performance in Family-Controlled Firms:Evidence from an Emerging Economy," Serie Working Papers 01, Universidad del Desarrollo, School of Business and Economics, revised Nov 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:dsr:wpaper:01
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    Cited by:

    1. Espinosa-Méndez, Christian & Jara-Bertín, Mauricio & Maquieira, Carlos, 2018. "The influence of family and pyramidal ownership on corporate diversification in Chile," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 158-168.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Family-controlled firms; earnings management; accounting performance.;
    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
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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