Eduardo da Silva Flores, Joelson Oliveira Sampaio, Aziz Xavier Beiruth and Talles Vianna Brugni
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated earnings management among publicly traded companies in Brazil and the USA.
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated earnings management among publicly traded companies in Brazil and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyzed the above-mentioned effects based on 22,244 observations of Brazilian companies and 139,856 observations of American companies from 1998 to 2020. The proxy used to detect earnings management based on discretionary accruals (DAC) was obtained by using the Modified Jones Model (MJM) (Dechow et al., 1995), with adjustments suggested by Kothari et al. (2005). In accordance with previous studies (e.g. Brown et al., 2015; Enomoto et al., 2015; Galdi et al., 2020; Huang and Sun, 2017; Roychowdhury, 2006), the authors also employed a second proxy to detect earnings management through real activities associated with unusual losses for fixed assets (property, plant and equipment (PPE)).
Findings
The study’s findings indicate that the discretionary accruals of Brazilian companies varied in a more accentuated manner during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it possible to deduce that a recent history of economic depression may entail greater incentives for earnings management in an emerging economy. In addition, the authors verified that the effects of the current crisis on earnings management proxies denote a signal that is distinct from previous economic crises, which may be interpreted as an attempt to postpone the effects of the pandemic on financial statements, especially those of the Brazilian capital markets.
Originality/value
Unlike previous crises, this pandemic has led to direct restrictions on a wide variety of economic segments rather than indirect contagion due to anomalies in the financial markets, making it a phenomenon with the characteristics of a quasi-natural experiment for studies related to the quality of accounting information. Considering that both Brazil and the USA provide an opportune economic contrast, given their discrepancies in terms of economic growth over the past two decades, the researchers believe that there is an unusual opportunity to understand how earnings management can be an incentive for managers in environments where crises arose from natural causes.
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Vitor Azzari, Emerson Wagner Mainardes and Aziz Xavier Beiruth
This study aims to develop and validate a scale for measuring accounting service quality (ASQ), which is named ACCOUNTQUAL.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop and validate a scale for measuring accounting service quality (ASQ), which is named ACCOUNTQUAL.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors initially investigated the service quality literature in the context of accounting. To develop the scale, the authors carried out three studies. First, the authors conducted 20 in-depth interviews to generate the ASQ items. Then, they undertook a survey with 174 accounting services clients to group these items into factors through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Finally, the authors carried out another survey with 330 clients to purify and validate the scale through a confirmatory composite analysis (CCA) and structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
The authors were able to validate the ACCOUNTQUAL scale, which is composed of the following dimensions: efficiency, trust, technological innovation and accountant knowledge, the latter being composed of three aspects: consultative view, technical capacitation and knowledge about clients.
Originality/value
The authors concluded that ASQ is a multidimensional construct that covers the assessment of technical, tooling, relationship and qualification aspects of the accounting service. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that developed and validated a scale for measuring ASQ. If accounting service providers meets the elements presented in the scale, they will potentially deliver a high-quality service.