Fundamental performance and earnings quality in private firms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect on earnings quality in private firms caused by a negative shock to fundamental performance, while simultaneously addressing methodological challenges measuring fundamental performance present in prior accrual-based earnings management literature. Design/methodology/approach Fundamental performance is unobservable and, therefore, difficult to measure. Existing research has used proxies that are subject to estimation errors and endogeneity concerns (e.g. DeFond and Park, 1997, Balsam et al., 1995). This study attempts to overcome these issues by taking advantage of the exogenous shock in oil price which occurred in 2014 and by using a difference-in-differences approach to investigate the effect on earnings management caused by a negative shift in fundamental performance. Findings The results suggest that a negative shock in fundamental performance, indicated by the oil price shock in 2014, reduces earnings quality. This result holds for various robustness tests such as the use of propensity score matching, and the inclusion of firm fixed effects. Additional analysis suggests that the reduction in earnings quality is driven by an increase in positive discretionary accruals, suggesting that managers of private firms experiencing poor performance manage earnings upwards to conceal true performance. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by examining the effect of a negative shock to performance in a setting of private firms and by addressing methodological challenges in prior literature. Private firms are fundamentally different from public firms, with the consequence that results from public firms may not be generalizable to private firms (e.g. Hope et al., 2012, Burghstahler et al., 2006, Ball and Shivakumar, 2005).