Earnings management and audit in private firms

Abstract

This chapter examines the relationship between the level of earnings management and the audit in private firms under the influence of financial crisis recuperation, using a sample of Ireland and Portuguese firms from 2008 to 2016. The authors use accruals methodology, namely four earnings management measures to capture earnings management in private firms. Multivariate statistical analysis was applied using the traditional multiple regression technique. Empirical results show that private firms with audited financial statements have powerful incentives to expropriate wealth from minority shareholders, pursuing their own interests at the expense of non-controlling shareholders. They also find that the private firms with audited financial statements in years under adjustment programs demonstrated lower level of earnings management. This study contributes to the accounting literature by providing empirical evidence for the effects of audit and earnings management in private firms in a financial recuperation context.