IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v62y2020ics0927538x17303372.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Earnings management in financial institutions: A comparative study of Islamic banks and conventional banks in emerging markets

Author

Listed:
  • Zainuldin, Mohd Haniff
  • Lui, Tze Kiat

Abstract

This study seeks to examine earnings management practices of Islamic banks and conventional banks in emerging markets. Built upon the notion that organisations with higher ethical considerations are likely to have less severe agency problems, this study hypothesises that Islamic banks with their emphasis on religious and ethical principles would engage in lower earnings management practices as compared to conventional banks. In addition, this study also examines the effects of ownership structure towards earnings management of Islamic banks and conventional banks. This study employs a unique hand-collected financial dataset of 53 Islamic banks and 111 conventional banks over the period of 2006 to 2011 with a total of 838 bank-year observations. Inconsistent with the study's expectation, the results indicate that Islamic banks employ higher earnings management practices through abnormal loan loss provisions (ALLP) as well as to report small positive earnings (SMPOS) compared to their conventional counterparts. These findings are not parallel with Islamic notions of accountability, fairness and justice ethical concepts that should be embedded in all aspects of Islamic banks business activities. The results also show that high ownership concentration exacerbates earnings management practices through ALLP which suggest the entrenchment effect of the controlling owners to hide their private benefit extractions. This study offers some useful insights that in order to uphold the authenticity of Islamic ethical values in Islamic banks business practices, bank regulators should monitor the number of debt-based financial instruments and at the same time encourage the use of profit and loss sharing (PLS) mode of financial products in Islamic banking operations.

Suggested Citation

  • Zainuldin, Mohd Haniff & Lui, Tze Kiat, 2020. "Earnings management in financial institutions: A comparative study of Islamic banks and conventional banks in emerging markets," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0927538x17303372
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2018.07.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X17303372
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2018.07.005?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. Mohammad Mansoor Khan & Muhammad Ishaq Bhatti, 2008. "Developments in Islamic Banking," Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-58230-9, June.
    2. Laeven, Luc & Majnoni, Giovanni, 2003. "Loan loss provisioning and economic slowdowns: too much, too late?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 178-197, April.
    3. Mohamed Ariff & Munawar Iqbal, 2011. "Introduction to Islamic Financial Institutions," Chapters, in: Mohamed Ariff & Munawar Iqbal (ed.), The Foundations of Islamic Banking, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Gerald J. Lobo & Dong†Hoon Yang, 2004. "Joint Tests of Signaling and Income Smoothing through Bank Loan Loss Provisions," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(4), pages 843-884, December.
    5. Frederic S. Mishkin, 2011. "Over the Cliff: From the Subprime to the Global Financial Crisis," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 49-70, Winter.
    6. Hilary, Gilles & Hui, Kai Wai, 2009. "Does religion matter in corporate decision making in America?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 455-473, September.
    7. Patricia M. Dechow & Richard G. Sloan & Amy P. Sweeney, 1996. "Causes and Consequences of Earnings Manipulation: An Analysis of Firms Subject to Enforcement Actions by the SEC," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 1-36, March.
    8. Demsetz, Harold & Lehn, Kenneth, 1985. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership: Causes and Consequences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(6), pages 1155-1177, December.
    9. International Monetary Fund, 2002. "Islamic Financial Institutions and Products in the Global Financial System: Key Issues in Risk Management and Challenges Ahead," IMF Working Papers 2002/192, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Burkart, Mike & Panunzi, Fausto, 2006. "Agency conflicts, ownership concentration, and legal shareholder protection," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 1-31, January.
    11. Timothy W. Koch & Larry D. Wall, 2000. "Bank loan-loss accounting: a review of theoretical and empirical evidence," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 85(Q2), pages 1-20.
    12. Mervyn K. Lewis, 2001. "Islam and accounting," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 103-127, June.
    13. James Brickley & Clifford W. Smith & Jerold L. Zimmerman, 1994. "Ethics, Incentives, And Organizational Design," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 7(2), pages 20-30, June.
    14. 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.
    15. Bouvatier, Vincent & Lepetit, Laetitia & Strobel, Frank, 2014. "Bank income smoothing, ownership concentration and the regulatory environment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 253-270.
    16. Kanagaretnam, Kiridaran & Lim, Chee Yeow & Lobo, Gerald J., 2010. "Auditor reputation and earnings management: International evidence from the banking industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2318-2327, October.
    17. Ahmed, Anwer S. & Takeda, Carolyn & Thomas, Shawn, 1999. "Bank loan loss provisions: a reexamination of capital management, earnings management and signaling effects," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-25, November.
    18. Kousenidis, Dimitrios V. & Ladas, Anestis C. & Negakis, Christos I., 2013. "The effects of the European debt crisis on earnings quality," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 351-362.
    19. Claessens, Stijn & Djankov, Simeon & Lang, Larry H. P., 2000. "The separation of ownership and control in East Asian Corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 81-112.
    20. Kamla, Rania, 2009. "Critical insights into contemporary Islamic accounting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 20(8), pages 921-932.
    21. Barth, James R. & Caprio, Gerard, Jr. & Levine,Ross Eric, 2008. "Bank regulations are changing : for better or worse ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4646, The World Bank.
    22. Hasan, Zubair, 2007. "Fifty Years of Malaysian Economic Development:Policies and Achievements," MPRA Paper 5967, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2007.
    23. Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi, 2000. "Islamic Banking: An Evaluation," IIUM Journal of Economics and Management, IIUM Journal of Economis and Management, vol. 8(1), pages 41-70.
    24. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-488, June.
    25. Gerard Caprio & James Barth & Ross Levine, 2008. "Bank Regulations Are Changing: But For Better or Worse?," Center for Development Economics 2008-04, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    26. Bouvatier, Vincent & Lepetit, Laetitia & Strobel, Frank, 2014. "Bank income smoothing, ownership concentration and the regulatory environment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 253-270.
    27. Jerry Sun & Guoping Liu & George Lan, 2011. "Does Female Directorship on Independent Audit Committees Constrain Earnings Management?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(3), pages 369-382, March.
    28. Farook, Sayd & Hassan, M. Kabir & Clinch, Gregory, 2014. "Islamic bank incentives and discretionary loan loss provisions," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 152-174.
    29. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    30. Fonseca, Ana Rosa & González, Francisco, 2008. "Cross-country determinants of bank income smoothing by managing loan-loss provisions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 217-228, February.
    31. Jesus Sáenz González & Emma García-Meca, 2014. "Does Corporate Governance Influence Earnings Management in Latin American Markets?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 419-440, May.
    32. 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.
    33. Mr. Jemma Dridi & Maher Hasan, 2010. "The Effects of the Global Crisison Islamic and Conventional Banks: A Comparative Study," IMF Working Papers 2010/201, International Monetary Fund.
    34. Fan, Joseph P. H. & Wong, T. J., 2002. "Corporate ownership structure and the informativeness of accounting earnings in East Asia," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 401-425, August.
    35. Christian Laux & Christian Leuz, 2010. "Did Fair-Value Accounting Contribute to the Financial Crisis?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 93-118, Winter.
    36. DeBoskey, David Gregory & Jiang, Wei, 2012. "Earnings management and auditor specialization in the post-sox era: An examination of the banking industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 613-623.
    37. Scott D. Dyreng & William J. Mayew & Christopher D. Williams, 2012. "Religious Social Norms and Corporate Financial Reporting," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(7-8), pages 845-875, September.
    38. Rania Kamla & Hussain G. Rammal, 2013. "Social reporting by Islamic banks: does social justice matter?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(6), pages 911-945, August.
    39. 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.
    40. Claessens, Stijn & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2013. "Corporate governance in emerging markets: A survey," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-33.
    41. Cornett, Marcia Millon & McNutt, Jamie John & Tehranian, Hassan, 2009. "Corporate governance and earnings management at large U.S. bank holding companies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 412-430, September.
    42. Norashikin Ismail & Pauline Weetman, 2008. "Regulatory Profit Targets and Earnings Management in Initial Public Offerings: The Case of Malaysia," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(1), pages 91-115, January.
    43. James R Barth & Gerard Caprio & Ross Levine, 2008. "Bank Regulations are Changing: For Better or Worse?," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 50(4), pages 537-563, December.
    44. Mohamed Ariff & Mervyn K. Lewis, 2014. "Similarities and differences in Islamic and conventional banking," Chapters, in: Mervyn K. Lewis & Mohamed Ariff & Shamsher Mohamad (ed.), Risk and Regulation of Islamic Banking, chapter 4, pages 55-70, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    45. McNichols, Maureen F., 2000. "Research design issues in earnings management studies," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4-5), pages 313-345.
    46. Stergios Leventis & Panagiotis Dimitropoulos, 2012. "The role of corporate governance in earnings management: experience from US banks," Journal of Applied Accounting Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(2), pages 161-177, September.
    47. Jaggi, Bikki, 1997. "Accuracy of forecast information disclosed in the IPO prospectuses of Hong Kong companies," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 301-319.
    48. Ali, Ashiq & Chen, Tai-Yuan & Radhakrishnan, Suresh, 2007. "Corporate disclosures by family firms," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 238-286, September.
    49. Beaver, William H. & Engel, Ellen E., 1996. "Discretionary behavior with respect to allowances for loan losses and the behavior of security prices," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1-3), pages 177-206, October.
    50. Moyer, Susan E., 1990. "Capital adequacy ratio regulations and accounting choices in commercial banks," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 123-154, July.
    51. Hakim Ben Othman & Hounaida Mersni, 2014. "The use of discretionary loan loss provisions by Islamic banks and conventional banks in the Middle East region," Studies in Economics and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(1), pages 106-128, February.
    52. Merchant, Kenneth A. & Rockness, Joanne, 1994. "The ethics of managing earnings: An empirical investigation," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 79-94.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Md Din Islam Miah & Rosalan Ali & Norhanim Mat Sari, 2023. "Challenges and Solutions for Mudarabah as the Prime Investment Tool of Islamic Financing: A Literature Review," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(9), pages 2168-2185, September.
    2. Tze Kiat Lui & Mohd Haniff Zainuldin, 2022. "Do foreign banks disclose corporate social responsibility practices more than their local counterparts? Empirical evidence of an emerging market context," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1855-1870, September.

    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. Bouvatier, Vincent & Lepetit, Laetitia & Strobel, Frank, 2014. "Bank income smoothing, ownership concentration and the regulatory environment," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 253-270.
    2. Lassoued, Naima & Attia, Mouna Ben Rejeb & Sassi, Houda, 2018. "Earnings management in islamic and conventional banks: Does ownership structure matter? Evidence from the MENA region," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 85-105.
    3. Doan, Anh-Tuan & Lin, Kun-Li & Doong, Shuh-Chyi, 2020. "State-controlled banks and income smoothing. Do politics matter?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    4. Ozili, Peterson K, 2017. "Bank Loan Loss Provisions Research: A Review," MPRA Paper 76495, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. repec:hal:wpaper:hal-00916674 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Di Fabio, Costanza & Ramassa, Paola & Quagli, Alberto, 2021. "Income smoothing in European banks: The contrasting effects of monitoring mechanisms," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Małgorzata Olszak & Mateusz Pipień & Iwona Kowalska & Sylwia Roszkowska, 2017. "What Drives Heterogeneity of Cyclicality of Loan-Loss Provisions in the EU?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 55-96, February.
    10. Alam, Nafis & Ramachandran, Jayalakshmy & Nahomy, Aisha Homy, 2020. "The impact of corporate governance and agency effect on earnings management – A test of the dual banking system," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    11. Olszak, Małgorzata & Pipień, Mateusz & Kowalska, Iwona & Roszkowska, Sylwia, 2014. "What drives heterogeneity of loan loss provisions’ procyclicality in the EU?," MPRA Paper 56834, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Elnahass, Marwa & Izzeldin, Marwan & Steele, Gerald, 2018. "Capital and Earnings Management: Evidence from Alternative Banking Business Models," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 20-32.
    13. Peterson K. Ozili & Thankom G. Arun, 2023. "What drives bank income smoothing? Evidence from Africa," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 274-295, September.
    14. Miller, Steve M. & Moussawi, Rabih & Wang, Bin & Yang, Tina, 2021. "Institutional investors and bank governance: An international analysis of bank earnings management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    15. Peterson, Ozili K. & Arun, Thankom G., 2018. "Income smoothing among European systemic and non-systemic banks," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 539-558.
    16. Elnahass, Marwa & Salama, Aly & Yusuf, Noora, 2022. "Earnings management and internal governance mechanisms: The role of religiosity," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    17. Hamadi, Malika & Heinen, Andréas & Linder, Stefan & Porumb, Vlad-Andrei, 2016. "Does Basel II affect the market valuation of discretionary loan loss provisions?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 177-192.
    18. Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Gerald Lobo & Chong Wang, 2015. "Religiosity and Earnings Management: International Evidence from the Banking Industry," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 277-296, December.
    19. Salem, Rami & Usman, Muhammad & Ezeani, Ernest, 2021. "Loan loss provisions and audit quality: Evidence from MENA Islamic and conventional banks," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 345-359.
    20. Fang, Yiwei & Hasan, Iftekhar & Li, Lingxiang, 2014. "Banking reform, risk-taking, and earnings quality – Evidence from transition countries," BOFIT Discussion Papers 19/2014, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    21. Jutasompakorn, Pearpilai & Lim, Chu Yeong & Ranasinghe, Tharindra & Ow Yong, Kevin, 2021. "Impact of Basel III on the discretion and timeliness of Banks’ loan loss provisions," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).

    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:pacfin:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0927538x17303372. 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: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pacfin .

    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.