IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jiaata/v30y2018icp2-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Benford’s Law and the effects of the Korean financial reforms on cosmetic earnings management

Author

Listed:
  • Lacina, Michael
  • Lee, B. Brian
  • Kim, Dong Wuk

Abstract

We utilize a Benford distribution to examine the earnings management change following the Korean financial reforms. We examine the propensity of Korean firms to convert high second-from-the-left and third-from-the-left digits of their net income in the post-financial reform period (2000–2012) compared to the pre-financial reform period (1990–1996). We show that managers convert high second (third) digits of positive net income to improve first (second) digits, but try to retain high second digits of negative net income to avoid an increase in first digits. However, these results are stronger in the post-financial reform period than in the pre-financial reform period. This is possibly due to an increase in performance-based evaluation and market-oriented systems following the financial reforms. Additional analyses indicate that the existence of stock options was a driver of this increase in earnings management.

Suggested Citation

  • Lacina, Michael & Lee, B. Brian & Kim, Dong Wuk, 2018. "Benford’s Law and the effects of the Korean financial reforms on cosmetic earnings management," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 2-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:30:y:2018:i:c:p:2-17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2017.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S106195181730071X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2017.12.002?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. Jyrki Niskanen & Matti Keloharju, 2000. "Earnings cosmetics in a tax-driven accounting environment: evidence from Finnish public firms," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 443-452.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    5. Brenner, Gabrielle A & Brenner, Reuven, 1982. "Memory and Markets, or Why Are You Paying $2.99 for a Widget?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(1), pages 147-158, January.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Cohen, Daniel A. & Zarowin, Paul, 2010. "Accrual-based and real earnings management activities around seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 2-19, May.
    9. E. Han Kim & Woochan Kim, 2008. "Changes in Korean Corporate Governance: A Response to Crisis," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 20(1), pages 47-58, December.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. Jeong†Bon Kim & Cheong H. Yi, 2006. "Ownership Structure, Business Group Affiliation, Listing Status, and Earnings Management: Evidence from Korea," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(2), pages 427-464, June.
    13. 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.
    14. Joseph Fuller & Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "Just Say No to Wall Street: Putting a Stop to the Earnings Game," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 59-63, January.
    15. Aono, June Y. & Guan, Liming, 2008. "The impact of Sarbanes-Oxley act on cosmetic earnings management," Research in Accounting Regulation, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 205-215.
    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. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Dung Viet Tran & M. Kabir Hassan & Reza Houston, 2020. "Discretionary loan loss provision behavior in the US banking industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 605-645, August.
    7. George Batta & Ricardo Sucre Heredia & Marc Weidenmier, 2014. "Political Connections and Accounting Quality under High Expropriation Risk," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 485-517, December.
    8. Ludovic Vigneron & Yves Mard, 2016. "Earnings management across publicly traded and privately held French SMEs," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 29(3), pages 416-440.
    9. Campa, Domenico & Camacho-Miñano, María-del-Mar, 2015. "The impact of SME’s pre-bankruptcy financial distress on earnings management tools," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 222-234.
    10. 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.
    11. David Folsom & Paul Hribar & Richard D. Mergenthaler & Kyle Peterson, 2017. "Principles-Based Standards and Earnings Attributes," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(8), pages 2592-2615, August.
    12. Michael J. Ahearne & Jeffrey P. Boichuk & Craig J. Chapman & Thomas J. Steenburgh, 2016. "Real Earnings Management in Sales," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 1233-1266, December.
    13. Kałdoński, Michał & Jewartowski, Tomasz & Mizerka, Jacek, 2020. "Capital market pressure, real earnings management, and institutional ownership stability - Evidence from Poland," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. 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.
    15. Erik Peek & Roger Meuwissen & Frank Moers & Ann Vanstraelen, 2012. "Comparing Abnormal Accruals Estimates across Samples: An International Test," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 533-572, September.
    16. Massimiliano Bonacchi & Antonio Marra & Paul Zarowin, 2019. "Organizational structure and earnings quality of private and public firms," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1066-1113, September.
    17. Iatridis, George, 2010. "International Financial Reporting Standards and the quality of financial statement information," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 193-204, June.
    18. Gao, Jie & Gao, Baichao & Wang, Xiao, 2017. "Trade-off between real activities earnings management and accrual-based manipulation-evidence from China," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 66-80.
    19. Fargher, Neil & Wee, Marvin, 2019. "The impact of Ball and Brown (1968) on generations of research," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 55-72.
    20. Paul Coram & James R. Frederickson & Matthew Pinnuck, 2024. "Earnings management: Who do managers consider and what is the relative importance of ethics?," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 49(2), pages 214-248, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Benford’s law; Earnings management; Korean financial reforms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M4 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • C89 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Other

    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:jiaata:v:30:y:2018:i:c:p:2-17. 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: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-international-accounting-auditing-and-taxation .

    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.