Earnings management: Local or global phenomenon in the Visegrad Four?

¹ University of Zilina, Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, Department of Economics, Univerzitna 1, 010 26 Zilina, Slovakia
² University of Presov, Faculty of Management, Department of Economics, Konstantinova 16, 080 01 Presov, Slovakia

^* Corresponding author: pavol.durana@fpedas.uniza.sk

Abstract

Research background: Increasing number of national scientific studies related to business finance shows that the earnings management phenomenon as a legal apparatus of manipulation business profit plays a significant role in financial reports in conditions of Slovak economy. Slovakia belongs to Visegrad Four, group of very historically and developmentally close countries. That is why it is relevant to compare the issue of earnings manipulation it these countries’ context.

Purpose of the article: The main purpose of the article is to confirm global approach to manipulation of earnings in the Visegrad Four’s enterprises and justify that managers incline to earnings management systematically in all analysed group not only at a local level in chosen country.

Methods: This econometric investigation used the observations of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 1,058 Slovak enterprises, 688 Czech enterprises, 1,376 Polish enterprises and 731 Hungarian enterprises. It was investigated nine-years period from 2010 to 2018. Non-parametric time series trend modelling was run by Mann-Kendall test and estimation of the slope of the trend by Sen’s method used a linear model.

Findings & Value added: The article focused on nine-years development of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the Visegrad Four’s enterprises. It was found out the systematic trend manipulation in all analysed countries. This fact highlighted that earnings management is not local phenomenon, but its development is globally preferred tool of business finance.