Earnings management in corporate enterprises in India

Purpose - The earnings management (EM) research on the impact of firm’s multi-nationality and reputation on the earnings’ quality is limited, particularly in the context of emerging economies like India. In India, the corporate ownership model is “Promoter-dominated shareholder model” wherein companies have global operations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the EM practices of corporate enterprises in India about multi-nationality, reputation and related determinants. Design/methodology/approach - The present study employs DeAngelo model for calculating discretionary accruals for detecting EM. Multi-nationality, reputation and related determinants are measured as accounting indices. The statistical tools applied for testing the accuracy of results include correlation and regression analysis,t-test and descriptive statistics, like arithmetic mean, median and standard deviation. Findings - The results show that multi-nationality is the driving force for EM and significantly affects the accounting choices of management in the sample units. The firm’s reputation and other related determinants, except size, vary with accruals. The earnings behavior of the corporate is influenced by other factors, like growth and leverage as well. Research limitations/implications - A total of 12 units out of top 25 units, taken for the study, met the sampling requirements. So, the present study is confined to 12 profit-making private listed companies in India. These companies constitute a significant size of BSE’s market capitalization for completeness of data; still the size and diversity of units can be extended for further study. The period in the study is of five years (2003–2004 to 2007–2008) to find the effects of global recession on EM practices in India. Researchers may like to select a different time-period based on their objective. Practical implications - The study draws new dimensions about the quality of financial reporting in case of global firms and with high-perceived reputation. The findings are of significance to standard setters and regulators, particularly for emerging economies, like India where companies have international operations. They are equally important for other companies that are based in economies with relatively mature corporate governance mechanisms because of common regulatory focal points. Social implications - It brings out the importance of financial reporting process of global corporations for shareholders’ value creation. It is likely to enrich the knowledge and understanding of the EM phenomenon in developing economies like India. Originality/value - It is an original paper, which highlights the EM motivation about multi-nationality, reputation and related variables in Indian corporate.