• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.91-98
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• 2019

Dividend policy is an important business decision and is considered a channel to communicate a firm's performance to shareholders. Given the empirical findings that earnings quality significantly affects financial analysts' forecasting activities, it is predicted that higher earnings quality would positively influence forecast accuracy. Specifically, it is expected that financial analysts would forecast dividends more accurately for firms with higher earning quality. Unlike the research on financial analysts' earnings forecasts was heavily conducted, there is little study about financial analysts' dividend forecasts. This paper examines the effect of earnings quality on financial analysts' dividend forecast accuracy. We use a sample of South Korean firms for the period of 2011-2015 for multivariate regression. Earnings quality is measured by accruals quality and performance-adjusted discretionary accruals followed by prior studies. We first compare the accuracy between dividend forecasts and earnings forecasts using t-test and Wilcoxon singed-rank test. It is confirmed that financial analysts' dividend forecasts are more accurate than earnings forecasts in Korea. We find that financial analysts' dividend forecasts are more accurate for firms with higher earnings quality. We also find that the result is still valid after controlling for the accuracy of financial analysts' earnings forecasts. This confirms that earnings quality positively affects financial analysts' dividend forecasts.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.33-42
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• 2019

Purpose - We investigate whether a firm's engagement in socially responsible activity affects the quality of financial reporting within the retail industry of Korean market. Recent studies argue that more socially responsible firms tend to show a better quality of financial reporting. Research design, data, and methodology - We use a variety of proxy variables related to the use of discretionary accruals and real activity manipulation to measure the quality of financial reporting. The total of environmental, social and governance score is used to represent the degree of socially responsible activity in the retail industry. We use regression models to examine whether more socially responsible firms show a higher quality of financial reporting. The sample of publicly traded Korea retail firms is analyzed from 2011 to 2016. Results - Our analysis finds supporting evidence for limited earning management via the use of discretionary accruals. We find, however, no significant relationship between the degree of social responsibility and the quality of financial reporting within chaebol affiliates unlike non-chaebol affiliates. Conclusions - Our results weakly support a better quality of financial reporting for more socially responsible firms. The results highlight the importance of firm characteristics in deciding the effect of socially responsible activity on corporate policies.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2020

This study investigates the influence of individual blockholder on accounting quality. Prior studies investigating Korean blockholders' influence focus on the influence of controlling shareholders or institutional investors; however, they rarely examine individual blockholders' influence. This paper investigates how individual blockholders in Korean stock markets affect accounting quality of firms listed in Korean Stock Exchange. I analyze individual blockholders' influence on proxies of accounting quality using multivariate regression with hand-collected individual blockholder data. Korean law requires public firms to disclose the list of shareholders having no less than 5% of ownership. From the list of blockholders, individuals who have no explicit personal relation with controlling shareholders were classified as individual blockholders. My empirical results show that firms having individual blockholder(s) use more income-decreasing accruals than those having no individual blockholder. Furthermore, accounting information of firms having individual blockholders(s) is more conservative than that of firms having no individual blockholders. However, the presence of individual blockholder increases the tendency of loss avoidance and earnings management using overproduction and reduction of discretionary expenditure. This paper contributes to the literature by presenting the first evidence of the monitoring role of an individual blockholder on financial reporting of firms listed in the Korean stock markets.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.121-127
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• 2020

This study analyzed through GEM-listed companies for verifying the interrelationship between positive and negative impacts on accounting information GEM-listed companies, whether venture firms operate the internal control operation system stably. Hong Kong's GEM listed company is a securities market similar to Korea's KOSDAQ market. To analyzing this study, used regression analysis method through internal control index to evaluate the operation of internal control system and discretionary accruals to evaluate the quality of accounting information. In this study, because profit adjustments used to realize through discretionary accruals, so analyzed using the modified Jones model to check whether the management deliberately transformed the company to realize future profits. In the empirical analysis, the correlation between the internal control index and the discretionary accruals to assess the quality of accounting information was able to find highly correlated. This study can provide useful guidance for evaluating the form and value of profit management of venture firms in the future, also would expect to help understand the financial environment of emerging venture firms.

• Korean small business review
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.123-146
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• 2020

This study, targeting KOSDAQ-listed companies, examined the relationship between variability of accruals and corporate characteristics. First, the analysis results show that executives of companies with high debt ratios are more likely to violate debt contracts, so there is a strong temptation to use discretionary accrual items. Second, for companies with large volatility in operating cash flows, Executives of these companies are strongly inclined to utilize accruals for the purpose of abuse of discretion. Third, the larger the company, the more sensitive it is to political costs, so it is less tempted to use the accruals item than a smaller company. Fourth, the corporate age is thought to be the maturity of the company, Executives of such companies have little room to use accruals to abuse their discretion. Fifth, in the case of profit dummy variables, the companies reporting losses have more temporary accrual items than those reporting profits, so this increases the uncertainty in their accounting information than the latter. Sixth, for those companies that are indicated as inappropriate as a result of audit, the more likely their executives are to use the accrual items, and the lower the quality of their accounting profits is. Lastly, Companies audited by 4 Big domestic accounting firms have less discretionary accrual fluctuations than companies audited by non-big 4 accounting firms. Thus, it was found that the accrual amount allows the discretion of corporate executives differently according to the characteristics of the company.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.5-11
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• 2020

Purpose: We sought to investigate the operation status of internal accounting control systems in the distribution and service industries and verify whether investing in internal accounting personnel significantly influences the quality of the companies' financial reporting. Research design, data and methodology: We identified descriptive statistics and performed a univariate analysis. Furthermore, a regression analysis verified the impact of investing in internal accounting personnel on the absolute value of discretionary accruals, a proxy for financial reporting quality. Results: Distribution and service companies allocated a significantly higher number of accountants to their internal accounting control systems than companies in other industries. We also confirmed that the absolute value of discretionary accruals significantly decreased as the average working experience of internal accounting personnel in distribution and service companies, in months, increased. Conclusions: In this study, we confirmed that distribution and service companies are devoting efforts to establishing internal accounting control systems and found that financial reporting quality is more effectively controlled as companies allocate more experienced personnel in their internal accounting control system.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.173-188
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• 2023

This paper analyzed the Earnings management of firms selected as preliminary Unicorn. If a manager is selected as a preliminary unicorn firm, he can receive financial support of up to 20 billion won, creating a factor in managing the manager's earnings. The motive for management's earnings management is related to the capital market. Accounting information is used by investors and financial analysts, and corporate profits affect corporate value. Therefore, if the accounting earning is adjusted upward, the corporate value will be raised and investment conditions will be favorable. In this paper, earnings quality was measured by the modified Jones model of Dechow et al.(1995) by the ROA control model of Kothari et al.(2005) among the discretionary accruals estimated using an alternative accrual prediction model. Competing similar companies in the same market as the selected companies were formed, and the discretionary accruals were mutually compared to verify the research hypotheses, and only the selected companies were analyzed for the audit year and after the audit year. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the companies selected as preliminary unicorns had higher earnings management compared to the corresponding companies in question, which had a negative impact on the quality of accounting profits. It was found that the companies selected as preliminary unicorns continued to receive incentives for management's earnings management even after being selected. These results indicate that the companies selected as prospective unicorns are recognized for their value in the market through external growth rather than internal growth, and thus, incentives for management's earnings management to attract investment from external investors under favorable conditions are continuing. In the future preliminary unicorn selection evaluation, it was possible to present what needs to be reviewed on the quality of accounting earning. The implication of this paper is that the factors of management's earnings management eventually hinder investors and creditors from judging the reliability of accounting information. It was suggested that a policy alternative for the K-Unicorn Project, which enhances reliability were presented by reflecting the evaluation of earnings quality through discretionary accruals.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.75-80
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• 2016

Purpose - A growing demand for sustainability reporting has placed pressure on firms with non-financial information that affects firm valuation, growth, and development. In particular, a number of researchers have investigated various topics in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), non-financial information. Prior studies suggest that CSR may affect corporate outcomes like corporate reporting, financial performance, and disclosures. However, the results from prior studies are not clear whether CSR affects corporate outcomes. This is partially due to the measurement issues with CSR. In this study, we examine whether CSR affects the quality of corporate reporting, one of the popular measures in corporate outcomes. We find an evidence that CSR positively affects the quality of corporate reporting. Research design, data, and methodology - In this study, we collected a unique dataset of CSR from MSCI. Total 169 firms listed in the Korean Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2014 were collected and analysed with the detailed CSR reports. Using a correlation test, we found a weak association between CSR and the quality of corporate reporting. However, the regression tests provided a strong relationship between CSR and the quality of corporate reporting after controlling for other variables that may affect the quality of corporate reporting. Additionally, we calculated the t-statistics based on heteroskedaticity-consistent standard errors (White, 1980). Results - Before we run the regression test, we sort the measures of the two dependent variables into each rating of CSR (from AAA to CCC). The results indicate that the quality of corporate reporting measured by discretionary accruals and performance-matched discretionary accruals monotonically decrease as the CSR ratings increase. This supports our hypothesis. In the regression tests, the coefficient on MJDA (PMDA) is -0.183 (-0.173) and significant at the 5% level. We can interpret the results as CSR affecting the quality of corporate reporting in positive ways. Other coefficients on control variables are consistent with prior studies. For example, the coefficients on both LOSS and LEV are positive and significant at conventional level, meaning that firms with financial difficulty may harm their quality of corporate reporting. Conclusion - We found an evidence that CSR is positively associated with the quality of corporate reporting. This study contributes to the literature in various ways. First, this study extends the line of CSR research by providing additional evidence in the setting of ethical behaviors by managements. This is consistent with the hypothesis and supports the results of prior studies. Second, to the best of my knowledge, this is the first study using the MSCI CSR ratings. In contrast with prior studies using different measures of CSR, the MSCI CSR ratings allow us to provide in-depth analysis. Third, the additional measure of dependent variable (PMDA) allows us to improve the robustness of our results. Overall, the results provided this study to extend the findings in prior studies by providing incremental evidence.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.65-72
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• 2023

This study's purpose is to verify how the periodically designated auditor in the recently implemented periodic auditor designation system affects audit quality. In this study, hypotheses were established by reviewing previous studies, and 980 samples of 2019 and 2020 were selected for KOSPI-listed companies. Dechow & Dichev (2002)'s accrual quality was used as the dependent variable, and the effect of whether or not a company was periodically designated as an auditor and whether or not a Big 4 auditor was selected was empirically analyzed. As a result of the analysis and correlation analysis, a statistically significant difference was confirmed in the quality of the dependent variable accrual and the independent variable designated auditor (PA). However, as a result of the regression analysis model 1, it was found that the designated auditor was not significant, but it was confirmed that there was a significant difference in the control variables. Further analysis confirmed the difference in audit quality according to the Big 4 auditors. This study is significant in that it is a study that uses empirical data to study the effect of audit quality and the selection of regularly designated auditor companies after the introduction in 2019 and 2020. Due to the non-disclosure of government-designated companies, there is a limit that there may be a difference from the selection based on the researcher's published selection criteria.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.5-11
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• 2013

Purpose - The main question in this study is whether there is any relationship between corporate governance variables and earnings quality. The size of the board and audit committee, the number of stockholding managers and non-executive directors, and management quality are considered as independent corporate governance variables in the hypotheses. Research design, data, and methodology - Earnings quality is used as the dependent variable. Input from the abovementioned variables are drawn from 94 listed companies in the Tehran Stock Exchange for the period between 2006 and 2010. Results - This study examines corporate governance aspects such as the size of the board of directors, the number of shares held by the board, the board's independence, and the percentage of non-executive directors. The results show that establishing an audit committee has a significant role in ensuring higher quality reported earnings. Conclusions - The regression statistics output reveals a meaningful relationship between earnings quality and the size of the board of directors, the number of non-executive directors, and the size of the audit committee. This result indicates that improving earnings quality requires that the size of the board of directors be taken into account.