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Earnings Management to Avoid Losses: a cost of debt explanation

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  • José A. C. Moreira

    (CETE, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto)

  • Peter F. Pope

    (ICRA, Management School, Lancaster University)

Abstract

In this paper we analyze firms’ earnings management behavior to avoid losses conditional on the (asymmetric) incentive underlying market (positive/negative) returns. Our intuition is that firms with negative returns in the period (bad news, BN) face a higher incentive to undertake earnings management, and that their ultimate intention is to hide from credit markets a signal (loss) that could be translated into a negative impact on their cost of debt. The empirical evidence supports this intuition. BN firms show higher earnings management pervasiveness than their counterparts with good news (GN), and the set with simultaneous BN and prior period positive earnings undertake more pervasive earnings manipulation than BN firms in general. Within this restricted set of firms, and consistent with a cost of debt explanation, we find that firms with larger needs of debt show a higher incidence of earnings management to avoid losses. The overall empirical evidence challenges the implicit assumption in Burgstahler and Dichev (1997) that the incentive to manage earnings is homogeneous to all firms, and suggests that the discontinuities around zero in the earnings distributions are driven, at least partly, by firms’ earnings management behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • José A. C. Moreira & Peter F. Pope, 2007. "Earnings Management to Avoid Losses: a cost of debt explanation," CEF.UP Working Papers 0704, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    • Handle: RePEc:por:cetedp:0704
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. 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.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sondes Draief Chouaya, 2008. "Gestion des résultats, atteinte des seuils et coût d'endettement," Post-Print halshs-00522515, HAL.
    2. Nooraisah Katmon & Omar Al-Farooque, 2019. "The Reciprocal Relationship Between Earnings Management, Disclosure Quality and Board Independence: UK Evidence," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(5), pages 63-80, December.
    3. Jan Svitlík & Marcela Zárybnická Žárová, 2018. "Earnings Discontinuity as the Proxy for Earnings Management: Empirical Study from the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic," European Financial and Accounting Journal, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2018(4), pages 25-40.
    4. Souad Chaieb, 2021. "The Impact of Cash Holding on Debt Cost," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 11(6), pages 75-93.
    5. Sondes Draief & Adel Chouaya, 2012. "Effet de la gestion comptable et réelle des résultats sur le coût de la dette : analyse avant et après SOX," Post-Print hal-00691020, HAL.
    6. Nooraisah Katmon & Omar Al Farooque, 2017. "Exploring the Impact of Internal Corporate Governance on the Relation Between Disclosure Quality and Earnings Management in the UK Listed Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 345-367, May.
    7. Julia, 2011. "About some difficulties with interpreting and measuring corporate performance," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 42(5), pages 41-60.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    earnings management; earnings thresholds; earnings discontinuities; cost of debt;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • L29 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Other

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