IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v63y2022ics0275531922001581.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How does the COVID-19 affect earnings management: Empirical evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Yan, Huanmin
  • Liu, Zhenyu
  • Wang, Haoyu
  • Zhang, Xuehua
  • Zheng, Xilei

Abstract

Using China’s A-share listed companies from 2018 to 2020, this paper examines the impact of COVID-19 on earnings management. The results reveal that: (1) The COVID-19 shock intensifies earnings management, which is reflected in the increasing accrual-based earnings management and real earnings management. Moreover, when enterprises face a higher degree of financial constraints, this shock effect is more evident. (2) Enterprises in industries and regions where COVID-19 is more severe are more affected by the suspension of work and production caused by the epidemic prevention policies, so these enterprises choose accrual-based earnings management through accounting items rather than carrying out earnings management through real activities. (3) Further analysis finds that, enterprises with more investment opportunities have more evident earnings management caused by the COVID-19 shock. However, high-quality auditing has an inhibitory effect on accrual-based earnings management caused by the COVID-19 shock but has no inhibitory effect on real earnings management.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan, Huanmin & Liu, Zhenyu & Wang, Haoyu & Zhang, Xuehua & Zheng, Xilei, 2022. "How does the COVID-19 affect earnings management: Empirical evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:63:y:2022:i:c:s0275531922001581
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101772
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531922001581
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2022.101772?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. Ashraf, Badar Nadeem & Goodell, John W., 2022. "COVID-19 social distancing measures and economic growth: Distinguishing short- and long-term effects," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    2. Martin S Eichenbaum & Sergio Rebelo & Mathias Trabandt, 2021. "The Macroeconomics of Epidemics [Economic activity and the spread of viral diseases: Evidence from high frequency data]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(11), pages 5149-5187.
    3. Stefano Ramelli & Alexander F Wagner, 2020. "Feverish Stock Price Reactions to COVID-19," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 622-655.
    4. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    5. Ben S. Bernanke, 1983. "Irreversibility, Uncertainty, and Cyclical Investment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(1), pages 85-106.
    6. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    7. Tarek A. Hassan & Stephan Hollander & Laurence van Lent & Ahmed Tahoun, 2020. "Firm-Level Exposure to Epidemic Diseases: Covid-19, SARS, and H1N1," Working Papers Series inetwp119, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    8. Liu, Qiao & Lu, Zhou (Joe), 2007. "Corporate governance and earnings management in the Chinese listed companies: A tunneling perspective," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 881-906, December.
    9. 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).
    10. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    11. Veronica Guerrieri & Guido Lorenzoni & Ludwig Straub & Iván Werning, 2022. "Macroeconomic Implications of COVID-19: Can Negative Supply Shocks Cause Demand Shortages?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(5), pages 1437-1474, May.
    12. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2015. "On the notion of regional economic resilience: conceptualization and explanation," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 1-42.
    13. Elena Carletti & Tommaso Oliviero & Marco Pagano & Loriana Pelizzon & Marti G Subrahmanyam, 2020. "The COVID-19 Shock and Equity Shortfall: Firm-Level Evidence from Italy," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 534-568.
    14. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    15. Graham, John R. & Harvey, Campbell R. & Rajgopal, Shiva, 2005. "The economic implications of corporate financial reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1-3), pages 3-73, December.
    16. Xu, Weiju & Ma, Feng & Chen, Wang & Zhang, Bing, 2019. "Asymmetric volatility spillovers between oil and stock markets: Evidence from China and the United States," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 310-320.
    17. Dai, Ruochen & Feng, Hao & Hu, Junpeng & Jin, Quan & Li, Huiwen & Wang, Ranran & Wang, Ruixin & Xu, Lihe & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): Evidence from two-wave phone surveys in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    18. Wang, Jingjing & Wang, Xiaoyang, 2021. "COVID-19 and financial market efficiency: Evidence from an entropy-based analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    19. Vasia Panousi & Dimitris Papanikolaou, 2012. "Investment, Idiosyncratic Risk, and Ownership," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 1113-1148, June.
    20. Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2010. "New Evidence on Measuring Financial Constraints: Moving Beyond the KZ Index," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(5), pages 1909-1940.
    21. Scott R Baker & Robert A Farrokhnia & Steffen Meyer & Michaela Pagel & Constantine Yannelis & Jeffrey Pontiff, 0. "How Does Household Spending Respond to an Epidemic? Consumption during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 834-862.
    22. Ma, Feng & Liao, Yin & Zhang, Yaojie & Cao, Yang, 2019. "Harnessing jump component for crude oil volatility forecasting in the presence of extreme shocks," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 40-55.
    23. 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.
    24. Park, Cyn-Young & Shin, Kwanho, 2021. "COVID-19, nonperforming loans, and cross-border bank lending," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    25. Wuchun Chi & Linda A. Myers & Thomas C. Omer & Hong Xie, 2017. "The effects of audit partner pre-client and client-specific experience on audit quality and on perceptions of audit quality," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 361-391, March.
    26. Huang, Wei & Goodell, John W. & Zhang, Hong, 2019. "Pre-merger management in developing markets: The role of earnings glamor," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    27. Ma, Feng & Wahab, M.I.M. & Huang, Dengshi & Xu, Weiju, 2017. "Forecasting the realized volatility of the oil futures market: A regime switching approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 136-145.
    28. Katherine A. Gunny, 2010. "The Relation Between Earnings Management Using Real Activities Manipulation and Future Performance: Evidence from Meeting Earnings Benchmarks," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 855-888, September.
    29. Zalata, Alaa Mansour & Tauringana, Venancio & Tingbani, Ishmael, 2018. "Audit committee financial expertise, gender, and earnings management: Does gender of the financial expert matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 170-183.
    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. Sun, Zeyu & Kong, Ningning & Wu, Lei & Bao, Yu, 2024. "Does contingent payment in M&As induce acquirers’ earnings management? Evidence from performance commitment," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    2. Hung Chi Chen & Hsiang-Tsai Chiang & Dessy Voren, 2023. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Quality of Financial Reports," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 13(4), pages 1-1.
    3. Zhang, Jintao & Su, Taoyong & Meng, Li, 2024. "Corporate earnings management strategy under environmental regulation: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 154-166.
    4. Cui, Di & Ding, Mingfa & Han, Yikai & Suardi, Sandy, 2023. "Regulation-induced financial constraints, carbon emission and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).

    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. Jo, Eun Hye & Lee, Jung Wha, 2024. "Economic policy uncertainty and managerial short-termism," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    2. Li, Chunyu & Lou, Chenxin & Luo, Dan & Xing, Kai, 2021. "Chinese corporate distress prediction using LASSO: The role of earnings management," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Kuo, Jing-Ming & Ning, Lutao & Song, Xiaoqi, 2014. "The Real and Accrual-based Earnings Management Behaviors: Evidence from the Split Share Structure Reform in China," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 101-136.
    4. Barrot, Jean-Noël & Bonelli, Maxime & Grassi, Basile & Sauvagnat, Julien, 2024. "Causal effects of closing businesses in a pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    5. Shan Lu & Peng Wu & Lei Gao & Richard Gifford, 2023. "Are State-Owned Enterprises Equally Reliable Information Suppliers? An Examination of the Impacts of State Ownership on Earnings Management Strategies of Chinese Enterprises," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-26, February.
    6. Loureiro, Gilberto & Silva, Sónia, 2022. "Earnings management and stock price crashes post U.S. cross-delistings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Özgür, Arslan-Ayaydin & Thewissen, James & Torsin, Wouter, 2021. "Earnings Management Methods and CEO Political Affiliation," LIDAM Discussion Papers LFIN 2021017, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Finance (LFIN).
    8. 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.
    9. Altig, Dave & Baker, Scott & Barrero, Jose Maria & Bloom, Nicholas & Bunn, Philip & Chen, Scarlet & Davis, Steven J. & Leather, Julia & Meyer, Brent & Mihaylov, Emil & Mizen, Paul & Parker, Nicholas &, 2020. "Economic uncertainty before and during the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    10. Saoussen Boujelben & Hela Khemakhem-Feki & Ahmad Alqatan, 2020. "Real earnings management and the relevance of operating cash flows: A study of french listed firms," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(4), pages 218-229, December.
    11. Min Liu, 2020. "Real and accrual-based earnings management in the pre- and post- engagement partner signature requirement periods in the United Kingdom," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 1133-1161, April.
    12. Ng, Jeffrey & Wu, Hong & Zhai, Weihuan & Zhao, Jing, 2021. "The effect of shareholder activism on earnings management: Evidence from shareholder proposals11We appreciate the helpful comments and suggestions from Stephen Taylor, Gary Biddle, Santosh Ramalingego," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    13. Chen, Yangyang & Rhee, S. Ghon & Veeraraghavan, Madhu & Zolotoy, Leon, 2015. "Stock liquidity and managerial short-termism," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 44-59.
    14. Ferragina, Anna Maria & Iandolo, Stefano, 2022. "Reacting to the economic fallout of the COVID-19: Evidence on debt exposure and asset management of Italian firms," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 530-547.
    15. Mao, Yaping & Renneboog, Luc, 2015. "Do managers manipulate earnings prior to management buyouts?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 43-61.
    16. Ramesh Chandra Das & Sarthak Kumar Jena, 2016. "Earnings Management and Equity Issue Firms: A Study in Indian Context," Jindal Journal of Business Research, , vol. 5(1), pages 64-85, June.
    17. Nitai Chandra Debnath & Suman Paul Chowdhury & Safaeduzzaman Khan, 2022. "The impact of audit quality on real earnings management: evidence from Bangladesh," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(2), pages 218-231, June.
    18. Xie, Xinmei & Chang, Yu-Shan & Shiue, Min-Jeng, 2022. "Corporate life cycle, family firms, and earnings management: Evidence from Taiwan," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    19. Qin, Yiyi & Cai, Jun & Rhee, S. Ghon, 2021. "Do Japanese firms systematically inflate expected rate of returns from defined benefit pension plans?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    20. Huang, Wei & Goodell, John W. & Zhang, Hong, 2019. "Pre-merger management in developing markets: The role of earnings glamor," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    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:riibaf:v:63:y:2022:i:c:s0275531922001581. 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/ribaf .

    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.