Title: National culture and earnings management in emerging markets: the role of IFRS mandatory adoption

Authors: Dante Baiardo C. Viana Jr.; Isabel Lourenço; Marília Ohlson; Gerlando Augusto S.F. de Lima

Addresses: Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, Av. das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal ' Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, Av. das Forças Armadas, 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal ' University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Luciano Gualberto, 908 – Butantã, São Paulo – SP, 05508-010, Brazil ' University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 S 6th St, Champaign, IL 61820, USA

Abstract: This study investigates the association between national culture and earnings management in emerging markets and analyses the role of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) mandatory adoption in dampening the influence of national culture on earnings management. Based on a sample of 12,209 firm-year observations from 14 emerging markets and using several proxies for both accrual-based earnings management (AEM) and real earnings management (REM), we provide empirical evidence that firms from countries with higher levels of uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and long-term orientation, and firms from countries with lower levels of indulgence and masculinity, are associated with higher levels of earnings management. Furthermore, the empirical findings suggest that the IFRS mandatory adoption (associated with a better financial reporting system) moderates the association between cultural factors and earnings management by dampening the influence of national culture on either AEM or REM.

Keywords: national culture; earnings management; emerging countries; International Financial Reporting Standards; IFRS; accrual-based earnings management; AEM; real earnings management; REM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMFA.2023.131755

International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, 2023 Vol.15 No.3, pp.316 - 345

Accepted: 21 Sep 2022
Published online: 30 Jun 2023 *

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