Earnings Management & Market Cap Borders : Indications of Opportunistic Management Behavior Motivated by Market Structure

Abstract: We investigate if firms close to entering, or exiting, a market capitalization list is more prone to manage their earnings upwards than other firms, due to the benefits of the extra liquidity and media coverage gained from being listed on a ‘larger’ list. In order to measure the level of earnings management in our focal firms we use the discretionary accruals as proxy with the Jones Model (1991) as base. Overall, the focal firms had higher discretionary accrual values. When correcting for size- and performance effect, we obtained significant results at a 10 % level that our focal firms manage their earnings in a wider extent. Also, firms close to the Small/Midcap border manage their earnings in a wider extent than the other firms listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.