The Influence of Managerial Motives on Earnings Management: Insights from Taiwan’s Publicly Listed Firms
Abstract
This study investigates how managerial motives—including ethical attitude beliefs and perceived stakeholder pressure—influence real earnings management (REM) among Taiwanese listed and OTC firms. Using matched survey–archival data from 265 firms and 1,590 firm-year observations (2018–2024), this study estimates abnormal operating cash flows, production costs, and discretionary expenses following Roychowdhury’s (2006) models. The results are derived from a hierarchical linear modeling framework and demonstrate robust reliability and multilevel effects. Robustness tests using lagged variables, accrual-based measures, and subsample analyses confirm the findings. These results highlight the importance of integrating psychological motives and industry context in understanding REM. The study offers implications for corporate governance, audit oversight, and regulatory policy.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Auditing
Earnings Management
Governance
Corporate Governance and Financial Management
Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Asian Journal of Economics Business and Accounting
- Publisher
- Sciencedomain International
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 339–361
- Publication date
- 16 January 2026
- Language
- EN