Does integrated reporting offer firms more legitimacy?

Purpose - The study delves into the impact of integrating reporting (IR) on three earnings management tools, namely classification shifting (CS), real-based earnings management (REM) and accrual-based earnings management (AEM) under the Indian institutional settings. Design/methodology/approach - The data analysis involved the application of panel data regression models. Our dataset comprises 2,244 firm-years listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange spanning over financial years from March 2015 to 2021. To address endogeneity and self-selection bias concerns, a propensity score matching technique has been employed. Findings - Our empirical results exhibit that IR-adopting firms are engaged in earnings management. Further, we find that IR-adopting firms have reduced their engagement in AEM and REM, however, their CS practices have been increased, indicating the substitution relationship between earnings management tools after the adoption of IR. It implies that firms shift their preference from more to less observable earnings management tools after the adoption of the IR, which aligns with the idea that firms adopt IR to gain legitimacy, however, their intention to deceive stakeholders through earnings management remains unchanged. The inclination of firms toward CS can be ascribed to its cost-effectiveness, as it leaves net profit unchanged, hence less likelihood of being detected by auditors. Overall, our results align with the principle of legitimacy theory. Research limitations/implications - The study focuses exclusively on three primary forms of accounting manipulation and assesses IR holistically, rather than investigating the influence of each capital individually within IR. Practical implications - With a shift towards less detectable methods like CS, auditors must adapt their scrutiny and be mindful of their clients' IR adoption. Investors should scrutinize IR-adopting firms' financial disclosures, especially line items, as CS does not impact the net profits. Originality/value - It is the pioneering research to thoroughly explore the impact of IR on different earnings management tools and strengthen the conceptual frameworks of legitimacy theory by documenting that firms adopt IR to gain legitimacy, however their intention to engage in earnings management remains intact.