Earnings management under a global magnifier

¹ South-West University, Department of Economics, 2746 Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
² University of Zilina, Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, Department of Economics, Univerzitna 1, 010 26 Zilina, Slovakia

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

Abstract

Research background: Legal earnings manipulation is current hot topic, which is evidenced by a significant number of academic articles from the countries of developed markets. But this issue has been still the research gap for the emerging countries. Slovakia and Bulgaria are emerging counties with the similar economic and political history. The existence of the purposeful earnings management is confirmed in both countries. Therefore, the enterprises from these countries are selected to the common comparison.

Purpose of the article: The main purpose and the set target of delivered examination is to disclose significant conformity or discrepancy in the dimension of the legal managers’ earnings modification in the Slovakian and Bulgarian enterprises.

Methods: The provided financial modelling used 1,089 Slovak enterprises and 1,421 Bulgarian enterprises. Two parametric tests were computed for this study. Fisher’s F-test to detect the ratio between the variances of the populations, and t-test for two independent samples to test provided hypothesis of the article.

Findings & Value added: The paper aimed at the earnings before interest, taxes (EBIT) in two emerging countries under a global magnifier. It was detected that the dimension of financial managers’ earnings manipulations in the Slovakian and Bulgarian enterprises is not significantly different. The similar nature of the approach of the management to the earnings manipulation was identified.