Earnings management and initial public offerings among Indonesian manufacturing companies

Abstract

Earnings management (EM) refers to the common use of accounting techniques in various economic settings, such as Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), to produce financial statements. This study, therefore, analyzes the effect of firm size, operating cash flow, the used IPO proceeds, earnings changes, and leverage on EM of manufacturing companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 1989 to 2013. This sector comprises the essential chemical industry, miscellaneous organizations, and consumer goods, with 63 firms being used to meet the selection criteria. The regression analysis showed that the intended use of funds and leverage had a negative and significant impact on EM. Furthermore, the process is measured using Friedlan’s (1994) Discretionary Current Accruals model with similar results found in each industry group and their insignificant differences used to regulate the level of discretionary accruals between the three sectors. This study implies that the EM level is qualitatively similar among IPO companies in the three sub-sectors examined. AcknowledgmentsThe authors are grateful to the audience for their comments during the 11th Environmental and Sustainability Management Accounting Network-Asia Pacific (EMAN-AP) Conference held at the Danang University of Economics, Danang, Vietnam, 12-13 August 2019. The early draft was titled “Earnings Management and Initial Public Offerings on Manufacturing Sectors Companies”.