IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijfss/v12y2024i2p54-d1408606.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of COVID-19 on Public and Private Sector Earnings Management: Evidence from Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Woo-sahng Kim

    (Graduate School of Business, Dankook University, 152 Suji-gu Juckjeon-ro, Yongin-si 16890, Kyunggi-do, Republic of Korea)

  • Bo-young Moon

    (Business Administration, Dankook University, 152 Suji-gu Juckjeon-ro, Yongin-si 16890, Kyunggi-do, Republic of Korea)

  • Dong-goo Jung

    (Graduate School of Business, Dankook University, 152 Suji-gu Juckjeon-ro, Yongin-si 16890, Kyunggi-do, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

This study investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted earnings management practices within both public and private firms in Korea. Amid active government efforts and policies to overcome the pandemic crisis, we anticipate that the earnings management of public sector managers, prioritizing public benefit as their key sustainability objective, will distinctly differ from those of private sector managers, who are influenced by a different set of pressures and incentives. Empirical analysis revealed a notable decrease in earnings management in the public sector post-COVID-19, with no significant change in the private sector. Our study distinguishes how public and private firms react to identical economic crises, deepening our insight into the ways different organizations handle financial reporting amid government intervention and economic stress. Such differentiation not only broadens our comprehension of strategies for managing earnings but also offers vital perspectives on the dynamics among corporate governance, regulatory environments, and sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Woo-sahng Kim & Bo-young Moon & Dong-goo Jung, 2024. "The Effect of COVID-19 on Public and Private Sector Earnings Management: Evidence from Korea," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-12, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijfss:v:12:y:2024:i:2:p:54-:d:1408606
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/12/2/54/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/12/2/54/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrei Shleifer, 1998. "State versus Private Ownership," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 133-150, Fall.
    2. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    3. Jose Miranda-Lopez & Ivan Valdovinos-Hernandez, 2019. "The impact of the global economic crisis of 2008 on earnings quality in Mexico," Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 9(3), pages 407-421, June.
    4. Emin Dinlersoz & Jeremy Greenwood & Henry Hyatt, 2017. "What Businesses Attract Unions? Unionization over the Life Cycle of U.S. Establishments," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 70(3), pages 733-766, May.
    5. 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.
    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. Tan, Youchao & Zhu, Zhenmei & Zeng, Cheng & Gao, Minghua, 2014. "Does external finance pressure affect corporate disclosure of Chinese non-state-owned enterprises?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 212-222.
    2. Wang, Qing (Sophie) & Anderson, Hamish & Chi, Jing, 2018. "VC political connections and IPO earnings management," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 148-163.
    3. Lily Fang & Josh Lerner & Chaopeng Wu & Qi Zhang, 2023. "Anticorruption, Government Subsidies, and Innovation: Evidence from China," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4363-4388, August.
    4. Hongjin Zhu & Yue Pan & Jiaping Qiu & Jinli Xiao, 2022. "Hometown Ties and Favoritism in Chinese Corporations: Evidence from CEO Dismissals and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(2), pages 283-310, March.
    5. Hu, Juncheng, 2021. "Do facilitation payments affect earnings management? Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    6. Jianghua Zhou & Rui Wu & Jizhen Li, 2019. "More ties the merrier? Different social ties and firm innovation performance," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 445-471, June.
    7. San, Ziyao & Huang, Zhizhong & Zhou, Ling & Zhou, Zejiang, 2024. "Different lies to different audiences: Tax avoidance versus earnings inflation," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    8. Wenzhou Li & Liang Chen & Pengfei Sheng, 2022. "The tone from above: Does tunnelling by ultimate owners impinge on the relations between managerial compensation and earnings management?," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 825-847, December.
    9. Jiang, Haiyan & Hu, Yuanyuan & Zhang, Honghui & Zhou, Donghua, 2018. "Benefits of Downward Earnings Management and Political Connection: Evidence from Government Subsidy and Market Pricing," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 255-273.
    10. Zhi Wang & Miao Yu, 2022. "Political embeddedness and firms' growth," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 127-153, February.
    11. Chen, Charles J.P. & Du, Jun & Su, Xijia, 2014. "A game of accounting numbers in asset pricing: Evidence from the privatization of state-owned enterprises," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 115-129.
    12. Xie, Sujuan & Lin, Bingxuan & Li, Jingjing, 2022. "Political Control, Corporate Governance and Firm Value: The Case of China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. 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.
    14. Liu, Qigui & Tang, Jinghua & Tian, Gary Gang, 2013. "Does political capital create value in the IPO market? Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 395-413.
    15. Zhang, Yufei & Liu, Deqiang, 2024. "China's mixed-ownership reform and SOE profitability," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 496-520.
    16. Wang, Qian & Wong, T.J. & Xia, Lijun, 2008. "State ownership, the institutional environment, and auditor choice: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 112-134, September.
    17. Johansson, Anders C. & Luo, Danglun & Rickne, Johanna & Zheng, Wei, 2016. "Government Intervention in the Capital Allocation Process: Firm Employment as an IPO Selection Rule in China," Stockholm School of Economics Asia Working Paper Series 2016-40, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm China Economic Research Institute.
    18. Carey, Peter & Liu, Li & Qu, Wen, 2017. "Voluntary corporate social responsibility reporting and financial statement auditing in China," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 244-262.
    19. Lu, Di & Liu, Guanchun & Liu, Yuanyuan, 2022. "Who are better monitors? Comparing styles of supervisory and independent directors," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    20. Pasquale Ruggiero & Daniela Sorrentino & Riccardo Mussari, 2022. "Earnings management in state-owned enterprises: bringing publicness back in," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(4), pages 1277-1313, December.

    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:gam:jijfss:v:12:y:2024:i:2:p:54-:d:1408606. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.