IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pid/journl/v54y2015i2p79-96.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Earnings Management and Privatisations: Evidence from Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Abdullah Muhammad Iqbal

    (Kent School, University of Kent, Medway, Chatham Maritime, UK and National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.)

  • Iram Khan

    (Cabinet Division, Cabinet Secretariat, Islamabad.)

  • Zeeshan Ahmed

    (Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore.)

Abstract

This study examines the incidence of earnings management around the time of the privatisation of State Owned Enterprises in Pakistan during 1991-2005. Using the modified Jones model and a sample of large privatisations (minimum US$1 million), it shows that the sampled firms experienced increase in earnings, decrease in cash flows, and increase in current discretionary accruals in the year prior to and/or in the year of privatisation. The SOEs used both short term and long term accruals to inflate reported earnings. These accruals were reversed in the post-privatisation period. These findings suggest that managers of the firms slated for privatisation were engaged in earnings management to inflate their firms‘ financial worth to maximise the privatisation proceeds. Hence, we cannot reject the incidence of earnings management during privatisations in Pakistan. The results imply that the investors should carefully evaluate the to-be-privatised firms and keep in view the possibility of earnings management by the SOEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdullah Muhammad Iqbal & Iram Khan & Zeeshan Ahmed, 2015. "Earnings Management and Privatisations: Evidence from Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 54(2), pages 79-96.
    • Handle: RePEc:pid:journl:v:54:y:2015:i:2:p:79-96
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.pide.org.pk/pdf/PDR/2015/Volume2/79-96.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Farinos, Jose E. & Garcia, C. Jose & Ibanez, Ana Ma, 2007. "Operating and stock market performance of state-owned enterprise privatizations: The Spanish experience," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 367-389.
    3. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    4. Claude Laurin & Anthony E. Boardman & Aidan R. Vining, 2004. "Government Underpricing of Share‐Issue Privatizations," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(3), pages 399-429, September.
    5. Abdullah Iqbal & Susanne Espenlaub & Norman Strong, 2009. "Earnings management around UK open offers," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 29-51.
    6. Kothari, S. P., 2001. "Capital markets research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 105-231, September.
    7. Fluck, Zsuzsanna & John, Kose & Ravid, S. Abraham, 2007. "Privatization as an agency problem: Auctions versus private negotiations," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 2730-2750, September.
    8. Barth, ME & Elliott, JA & Finn, MW, 1999. "Market rewards associated with patterns of increasing earnings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 387-413.
    9. Ball, Ray & Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2008. "Earnings quality at initial public offerings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2-3), pages 324-349, August.
    10. A.R. Kemal, 1996. "Why Regulate a Privatised Firm?," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 35(4), pages 649-656.
    11. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    12. Malcolm Smith & Jo‐anne Kestel & Peter Robinson, 2001. "Economic Recession, Corporate Distress and Income Increasing Accounting Policy Choice," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 334-352, December.
    13. Joseph Aharony & Chan†Jane Lin & Martin P. Loeb, 1993. "Initial Public Offerings, Accounting Choices, and Earnings Management," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(1), pages 61-81, September.
    14. Jeffry M. Netter & William L. Megginson, 2001. "From State to Market: A Survey of Empirical Studies on Privatization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(2), pages 321-389, June.
    15. Muhammad Farooq Arby, 2001. "Long-Run Trend, Business Cycles and Short-Run Shocks in Real GDP," SBP Working Paper Series 01, State Bank of Pakistan, Research Department.
    16. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:6:p:1935-1974 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:3:p:1081-1110 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Barber, Brad M. & Lyon, John D., 1996. "Detecting abnormal operating performance: The empirical power and specification of test statistics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 359-399, July.
    19. Teoh, Siew Hong & Welch, Ivo & Wong, T. J., 1998. "Earnings management and the underperformance of seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 63-99, October.
    20. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:6:p:2835-2870 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Arby, Muhammad Farooq, 2001. "Long-run trend, Business Cycle & Short-run shocks in real GDP," MPRA Paper 4929, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Ahmad-Zaluki, Nurwati A. & Campbell, Kevin & Goodacre, Alan, 2011. "Earnings management in Malaysian IPOs: The East Asian crisis, ownership control, and post-IPO performance," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 111-137, June.
    23. Iram A. Khan, 2003. "Impact of Privatisation on Employment and Output in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 42(4), pages 513-536.
    24. Othman, Hakim Ben & Zeghal, Daniel, 2006. "A study of earnings-management motives in the Anglo-American and Euro-Continental accounting models: The Canadian and French cases," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 406-435, 012.
    25. Syed Nawab Haider Naqvi & A. R. Kemal, 1991. "The Privatization of the Public Industrial Enterprises in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 105-144.
    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. Sattar Khan & Yasir Kamal & Shahid Hussain & Muhammad Abbas, 2022. "Corporate governance looking back to look forward in Pakistan: a review, synthesis and future research agenda," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-32, December.
    2. Ali Meftah Gerged & Khaldoon Albitar & Lara Al‐Haddad, 2023. "Corporate environmental disclosure and earnings management—The moderating role of corporate governance structures," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 2789-2810, July.

    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. Ahmad-Zaluki, Nurwati A. & Campbell, Kevin & Goodacre, Alan, 2011. "Earnings management in Malaysian IPOs: The East Asian crisis, ownership control, and post-IPO performance," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 111-137, June.
    2. Shivakumar, Lakshmanan, 2000. "Do firms mislead investors by overstating earnings before seasoned equity offerings?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 339-371, June.
    3. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Guay, Wayne R. & Weber, Joseph P., 2010. "The role of information and financial reporting in corporate governance and debt contracting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 179-234, December.
    4. Chahine, Salim & Mansi, Sattar & Mazboudi, Mohamad, 2015. "Media news and earnings management prior to equity offerings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 177-195.
    5. Iqbal, Abdullah & Akbar, Saeed & Shiwakoti, Radha K., 2013. "The long run performance of UK firms making multiple rights issues," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 156-165.
    6. Hatem Mansali, 2009. "La gestion des résultats et les performances comptables à long terme des entreprises françaises émettrices d’actions," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 12(4), pages 39-83, December.
    7. Joanna Lizińska & Leszek Czapiewski, 2018. "Towards Economic Corporate Sustainability in Reporting: What Does Earnings Management around Equity Offerings Mean for Long-Term Performance?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, November.
    8. Jeff L. McMullin & Bryce Schonberger, 2020. "Entropy-balanced accruals," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 84-119, March.
    9. B Korcan Ak & Patricia M Dechow & Yuan Sun & Annika Yu Wang, 2013. "The use of financial ratio models to help investors predict and interpret significant corporate events," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 38(3), pages 553-598, December.
    10. Chi Duong Thi, 2023. "Audit Quality, Institutional Environments, and Earnings Management: An Empirical Analysis of New Listings," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    11. Juan Manuel García Lara & Beatriz García Osma & Araceli Mora, 2005. "The Effect of Earnings Management on the Asymmetric Timeliness of Earnings," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3‐4), pages 691-726, April.
    12. Bergman, Nittai K. & Jenter, Dirk, 2007. "Employee sentiment and stock option compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 667-712, June.
    13. Kent Daniel & David Hirshleifer & Lin Sun, 2020. "Short- and Long-Horizon Behavioral Factors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(4), pages 1673-1736.
    14. 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.
    15. Pawel Bilinski & Norman Strong, 2013. "Managers’ Private Information, Investor Underreaction and Long†Run SEO Performance," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 19(5), pages 956-990, November.
    16. Hatem Mansali, 2005. "Les performances opérationnelles à long terme des entreprises françaises émettrices d’actions," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 8(2), pages 207-231, June.
    17. 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).
    18. Tatiana Fedyk & Zvi Singer & Mark Soliman, 2017. "The sharpest tool in the shed: IPO financial statement management of STEM vs. non-STEM firms," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1541-1581, December.
    19. 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.
    20. Joanna Lizińska & Leszek Czapiewski, 2019. "Is Window-Dressing around Going Public Beneficial? Evidence from Poland," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Earnings Management; Privatisations; SOEs; Pakistan; Accruals;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Comparison of Public and Private Enterprise and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:pid:journl:v:54:y:2015:i:2:p:79-96. 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: Khurram Iqbal (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/pideipk.html .

    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.