The Impact on Dividend Policy in Real Earnings Management

• Main Authors: Shao-Fang Xie, 謝韶芳
• Other Authors: Feng-yi Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/nu79m3

碩士 === 國立臺北科技大學 === 經營管理系碩士班 === 101 === Investors and analysts from capital market when firms report their earnings. Given the importance of historical dividend policy to firms, this research provide whether dividend payers manipulate earnings through real activities to smooth dividend levels and dividend payout ratios. This research finds that dividend policy impacts both upward and downward real earnings management. Payers manipulate earnings upward through real activities to mitigate the shortfall of pre-managed earnings relative to prior year dividends when pre-managed earnings are lower than dividends paid in the prior year, suggesting that dividend levels are an important earnings benchmark. This research document a stronger relationship between changes in pre-managed earnings and real earnings management for payers than for non-payers, suggesting that dividend policies impact real earnings management. Consistent with the importance of dividend policy in real earnings management, this research show that dividend payers that follow conservative dividend policies manipulate earnings to a greater extent than dividend payers that do not follow conservative dividend policies.