Syftet med denna studie är att jämföra hur förekomsten av resultatmanipulering ser ut i företag med olika ägarstrukturer noterade på de svenska börslistorna under åren 2005-2008. Vi har valt att definiera tre grupper av företag: familjeägda företag, företag ägda av investmentbolag och övriga företag. För att identifiera skillnader i resultatmanipulering väljer vi att jämföra medelvärden på godtyckliga periodiseringar hos de olika företagsgrupperna genom ett oberoende t-test, sedan utförs regressioner för att försöka förklara potentiella skillnader. Studiens resultat visar i likhet med tidigare forskning att förekomsten av resultatmanipulering är lägre i familjeföretag i jämförelse med övriga företag. Vårt resultat tyder även på att det inte existerar någon signifikant skillnad mellan företag ägda av investmentbolag och övriga företag vad gäller förekomsten av resultatmanipulering.

Samtliga företag ska varje år upprätta en årsredovisning. Syftet med årsredovisningen är att tillgodose investerare och till viss del långivare med information. För att attrahera kapital från dessa aktörer åligger det incitament för företag att anpassa sin årsredovisning med syfte att framställa dess finansiella ställning i bättre dager än den i själva verket är. Majoriteten av de metoder företag kan använda för att manipulera dess resultat går under begreppet Earnings Management eller Designad redovisning, där Big Bath Accounting ingår. Big Bath Accounting skildrar de åtgärder ledningen vidtar för att väsentligt minska en periods vinst för att öka nästkommande periods vinst. Tidigare forskning har inte kunnat demonstrera en koppling mellan Big Bath Accounting och förändringar i företagens aktiekurs eller vinst. Trots detta förekommer fall där företag påstås använda sig av redovisning liknande Big Bath Accounting. Det föreligger därmed intresse att undersöka huruvida det går att statistiskt påvisa fenomenets existens.

To consider the international trend and enhance the global competitiveness of Taiwan enterprises, the Government committed to convert the domestic accounting standards to International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). Taiwan Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No.10, ¡§Inventories¡¨, was revised to adopt IFRS and effective on January 1, 2009 under this background. New SFAS No.10 has different rules on inventory evaluation and has significant impacts on inventory decision-making and operating profits, which may cause much high pressure on companies¡¦ operating performance. Based on this assumption, this research would like to know whether adopting the new SFAS No.10 can affect earnings management behavior by studying the relations between inventories related financial factors and accrual-based earnings management. This research takes the absolute value of discretionary accruals (ADA) from the Modified Jones Model as a measuring indicator of earnings management; and selects six sequential quarterly financial statements of listed companies in Taiwan Stock Exchange Market before and after adopting new SFAS No.10. The total sampling periods are twelve quarters from the third quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2010. The empirical results of this study are summarized as follows: 1.After adopting New SFAS No.10, the levels of using discretionary accruals for earnings management are significantly reduced. 2.Gross Profit Margin and Inventory Turnover Rate both have significant correlations with using discretionary accruals for earnings management. 3.Companies have shorter product life cycles are more evident in using discretionary accruals for earnings management. 4.Fixed Assets to Total Assets Rate and Provision of Inventory Loss both have no significant correlations with using the discretionary accruals for earnings management.

Denna studie behandlar nedskrivning av goodwill i svenska börsnoterade företag, och beaktar fyra möjliga förklaringar till detta. Relevant regelverk för den finansiella rapporteringen är IFRS. Genom en kvantitativ metod och ett deduktivt angreppssätt uppmärksammar vi problematiken kring att forskningen genererat olika förklaringar till att en nedskrivning äger rum.   Studien omfattar 1260 observationer i form av räkenskapsår, som sträcker sig mellan åren 2006 till 2013. Vårt empiriska material är inhämtat via databaser och omfattar finansiell information för vart och ett av företagen, fördelat på de olika åren. Nedskrivningskostnaden för goodwill är manuellt insamlat från de företag där goodwill som tillgångspost minskat från år t-1 till år t.   Från vårt teoretiska ramverk deduceras hypoteser som tillhandahåller eventuella orsaker till varför en nedskrivning kan ha ägt rum. Studien undersöker inledningsvis om en nedskrivning kan härledas till rådande företagsekonomiska förhållanden, där vedertagna undersökningsmått baserat på nyckeltal beräknade från årsredovisningar används. Vidare undersöks om nedskrivning av goodwill kan kopplas till resultatmanipulerande åtgärder genom stålbad eller vinstutjämning. Dessa kompententer i studien undersöks utifrån befintlig metodik tillhandahållen genom likartad forskning, men som utförts på andra geografiska marknader. Slutligen testas även, baserat på en egenhändigt framtagen operationalisering, finanskrisens inverkan på nedskrivning av goodwill.   Vår studies statistiska moment innehåller binära regressionsanalyser som med ett antal förklarande variabler prövar vad som kan förklara om en nedskrivning äger rum eller inte, samt en multipel regression som söker determinanter för nedskrivningens storlek.   Studiens resultat påvisar ett signifikant negativt samband mellan nedskrivning av goodwill och räntabilitet på totala tillgångar, vilket implicerar att bolag med sämre avkastning mer sannolikt kan komma att utföra en nedskrivning av goodwill. Även bolag med en hög andel goodwill i förhållande till totala tillgångar kan förväntas genomföra en nedskrivning, vilket visas genom ett signifikant positivt samband mellan beroende och förklarande variabel. Samma parameter, andel goodwill, kan även förklara storleken på en nedskrivning.   Vidare kan studien, genom statistisk signifikans, visa att nedskrivning av goodwill sker i samband med den resultatmanipulerande åtgärden stålbad, vilket innebär att bolag med ett redan dåligt resultat försämrar det ytterligare genom en nedskrivning. Att stålbadets motsats, vinstutjämning, förekommer som resultatmanipulerande åtgärd kan inte påvisas. Finanskrisens eventuella inverkan på vår beroende variabel kan inte styrkas.     Sammantaget visar studien att bolag med svag avkastningseffekt tenderar att oftare skriva ned goodwill än andra bolag, vilket eventuellt kan indikera att de följer de rekommendationer som standarden, IFRS, förespråkar. Indikationer på att resultatmanipulering genom stålbad förekommer på stockholmsbörsen kan också identifieras.

Since Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) is an exogenous shock to the information environment of U.S.-listed firms, those firms might adjust their capital structures to reflect the new information environment. Using univariate and multivariate tests, including differences-in-differences, I examine SOX's effect on the capital structure of U.S.-listed firms relative to Canadian firms listed in Canada, which are treated as control firms since they are not subject to SOX. The results indicate that, after the passage of SOX, U.S.-listed firms raise their long-term debt ratios by two to three percentage points, relative to the control group. U.S. firms listed in the U.S. drive this result, while Canadian firms cross-listed in the U.S. do not alter their long-term leverage ratios after SOX. The higher debt ratios do not occur because of lower rates of growth in equity and short-term debt after SOX for U.S.-listed firms, relative to control firms. In addition, firms that heavily (lightly) manage earnings prior to SOX use less (more) debt after SOX. Previous research argues that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) could require managers to reveal bad news about their firms. Bad news may cause market participants, including credit rating agencies, to update their beliefs about those firms and conclude that their outlook is not as profitable as initially thought. In this paper, I examine short- and long-term credit ratings after SOX. The main finding is that, in the SOX era, aggressive earnings management is associated with lower short- and long-term credit rating levels. This result is robust to size and suppliers' outlook on the economy.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there is a correlation between the actuarial assumptions, of listed groups in Large Cap on the Nasdaq Stockholm, equity ratio and their pensionplans funding status. Method: The study is based on a quantitative research method, where the analysis of annual reports takes place. The quantitative research method has enabled the paper to perform related analyzes and comparisons of means between groups, for listed companies equity ratio and pension obligation, and the relation to its actuarial assumptions. Correlation measurements are made using a non-parametric method, Spearman's rho, then further tested using one-sided hypotheses t-test. Theory: The backbone of the thesis is presented using two theories, earnings management and the principal-agent theory. These theories are intertwined with the previous researches, which also dealt with the essay topic of earnings management in previous years and in other countries. Empirical: Correlation analyzes between the studied actuarial assumptions and corporate groups solidity and pension financial status is presentedusing tables and charts. These are further analyzed using hypothesis tests and scatterplots. Conclusion: All tests resulted in very weak correlation between the different variables and can there for not be classified as significant. The conclusion that companies, listed in Large Cap on Nasdaq Stockholm, tend to make its actuarial assumptions in order to try to achieve a certain equity ratio, or to try to get their unfunded pension plans seem more funded than they actually are, is not possible to make.

本研究之目的在於探討金融商品價值變動、公司特性與盈餘管理之關聯性，研究對象2006年1月1日至2009年6月30日金融業以外之上市公司作，並分為兩部分進行分析。第一部份檢視公司特性與其持有金融商品的關係，並觀察全球金融危機是否會影響公司對於金融商品之持有程度。第二部份探討金融商品價值變動以及公司特性是否會影響公司之盈餘管理行為。 本研究結果顯示，管理當局持股愈高、債務比率愈低、公司規模愈大、現金股利率愈高、流動性愈高以及研發費用率愈高之公司，其持有金融商品之程度愈高。產業為電子業之公司較其他產業之公司持有較少之金融商品。全球金融危機發生之後，公司對金融商品之持有程度有明顯下降之情況。 此外，金融資產評價利益、金融資產評價損失與金融負債評價損失與盈餘管理之關係符合損益平穩化之理論；金融商品減損損失與盈餘管理之關係則符合洗大澡之理論。管理當局持股比率愈高時，愈會將裁量性應計向上操縱或向下操縱，而債務比率愈高之公司，愈會將裁量性應計向下操縱。公司資金愈多，管理階層愈不會操縱裁量性應計，但其差異較不明顯。而電子業公司之盈餘管理幅度則小於非電子產業公司。 / This purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between value changes in financial instruments, firm characteristics and earnings management. The study includes two parts and uses a sample of the companies (excluding financial firms) listed at the Taiwan Stock Exchange from January 2006 to June 2009. First, I examine the relationship between company characteristics and their holdings of financial instruments. It also examines whether the global financial crisis affected these companies’ holdings of financial instruments. Secondly, I examine whether the value changes of financial instruments and company characteristics affect the sample companies’ earnings management behavior. The empirical results show that the companies with higher management ownership, lower debt ratio, larger size, higher cash dividend yield, higher liquidity, and higher rates of R&D have tend to hold more financial instruments. Companies in the electronics industry hold less financial instruments. Companies kept less financial instruments decreased after the global financial crisis. In addition, the relationship between valuation gain and loss on financial assets, valuation loss on financial liabilities and earnings management conforms to the theory of income smoothing. And the relationship between financial instruments impairment losses and earnings management is consistent with the big bath theory. Management with higher ownership tends to manipulate more discretionary accruals. Companies with higher debt ratio tend to manipulate discretionary accruals downward. For the companies with more funds, their management manipulates less discretionary accruals, although the difference is less obvious. Earnings management by the companies in the electronics industry is less than those in other industries.

本研究延伸Becker et al. ( 1998 )六大會計師事務所審計效率高於非六大的研究，探討會計師事務所在面對管理階層不同之盈餘管理動機時，也就是當會計師與管理階層兩者間的盈餘報導動機衝突或一致時，會計師事務所的監督功能是否對稱。本研究認為高審計品質的會計師事務所在決定盈餘報導時，會比低審計品質的會計師事務所更加保守，因為高品質之會計師事務所面對審計失敗伴隨而來的訴訟成本遠較其他會計師事務所來的高，使得會計師事務所對於客戶採用增加所得的會計政策會保持較高的專業懷疑態度，抑制客戶虛增盈餘，因此，當管理者產生增加所得的盈餘報導動機時，衝突就會發生；反之，當客戶採用減少所得的會計政策，基於會計上的穩健原則，會計師事務所干涉程度則較低，使客戶較易進行減少所得的盈餘管理，故會計師事務所的監督功能不具對稱性。 而本研究結果顯示，當客戶有增加所得的盈餘管理動機時，代表高審計品質的五大與產業專家會計師事務所的客戶所報導的裁量性應計顯著低於非五大與非產業專家之會計師事務所，表示在會計師事務所與管理階層的盈餘報導動機有衝突時，五大與產業專家會計師事務所的審計品質較佳，較能抑制客戶利用裁量性應計進行增加所得的盈餘管理；反之，當客戶有減少所得的盈餘管理動機時，五大與產業專家會計師事務所的客戶所報導的裁量性應計也顯著低於非五大與非產業專家之會計師事務所，表示在會計師事務所與管理階層的盈餘報導動機相一致時，五大與產業專家會計師事務所的審計品質反而較低，容許客戶利用裁量性應計進行減少所得的盈餘管理。此實證結果支持本研究之假說，當會計師事務所與管理階層的盈餘報導動機發生衝突(一致)時，五大與產業專家會計師事務所的審計品質高(低)於非五大與非產業專家會計師事務所，監督功能不具對稱性。 / The research of Becker et al ( 1998 ) found that the big 6 CPA firms’ audit efficiency was higher than the non-big 6 CPA firms’ audit efficiency. This research extends Becker’s research and discusses whether the surveillance function of CPA firms is symmetrical or not when CPA firms face different earnings management motives of the management. In other words, when the earnings management motives between CPAs and management are conflict or consistent, whether will result in different audit quality level or not. We thought that the CPA firms with high audit quality are more conservative than those with low audit quality when deciding the reported earnings. Because the lawsuit cost of the CPA firms with high audit quality is much greater than the lawsuit cost of other CPA firms when facing the audit defeat. Thus the high audit quality CPA firms maintain the higher specialized suspicion on their customers who use the accounting policy to increase their earnings and restrain their earnings management. Therefore, when the management has the motive to increase reported earnings, the conflict will occur; on the contrary, when the management has the motive to decrease reported earnings, the CPA firms will tolerate their customers making earnings management to decrease the reported earnings base on the conservatism of accounting, so the surveillance function of CPA firms will decline and become not symmetry. According to our research, we find that when the management has the motive to increase reported earnings, the reported discretionary accruals of the management audited by the big 5 and industrial expert CPA firms are much lower than those audited by the non-big 5 and non- industrial expert CPA firms. It means when the motive of earnings reporting between the CPA firms and management is conflict, the audit quality of the big 5 and industrial expert CPA firms is much better, and they can restrain their customer using the discretionary accruals to increase their earnings. On the other hand, when the management has the motive to decrease reported earnings, the reported discretionary accruals of the management audited by the big 5 and industrial expert CPA firms are also much lower than those audited by the non-big 5 and non- industrial expert CPA firms. It means when the motive of earnings reporting between the CPA firms and management is consistent, the audit quality of the big 5 and industrial expert CPA firms is much lower instead, and they tolerate their customer using the discretionary accruals to decrease their earnings. This result of statistics test supports our hypotheses. When the earnings reporting motive between the CPA firms and the management is conflict ( consistent ), the audit quality of big 5 and industrial expert CPA firms is higher ( lower ) than other CPA firms’ audit quality. The surveillance function does not have the symmetry.

從亞洲金融風暴、美國安隆等事件直到最近所爆發的博達事件，公司治理越來越為投資大眾所依靠，以往研究公司治理越佳，公司績效越好，但是否績效是經由盈餘管理所操縱？本研究以民國九十年及九十一年CLSA(里昂證券)對我國特定公司所做公司治理評分為樣本，探討我國公司治理與盈餘管理間之關聯性，及是否里昂證券所用公司治理指標更具解釋能力。本研究以Modified Jones所計算出裁量性應計原始值與絶對值代表盈餘管理，分別以一般公司治理變數與CLSA公司治理變數為自變數。本研究並用JA－test比較一般公司治理變數與CLSA公司治理變數間對盈餘管理解釋能力之差異。 實證結果顯示： 1.探討盈餘管理原始值與公司治理變數之關係時，盈餘管理原始值與CLSA公司治理加權分數有顯著負相關。但與CLSA分項變數及一般公司治理變數皆不相關。 2.探討盈餘管理程度與公司治理變數之關係時，盈餘管理程度與一般公司治理變數、CLSA公司治理加權分數或分項分數皆不顯著。 3.比較一般公司治理變數與里昂證券公司治理變數時，僅發現對於盈餘管理原始值，CLSA公司治理加權分數確實比一般公司治理變數有更多的解釋能力。

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-128). / Also available by subscription via World Wide Web / x, 128 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm