This paper examines the effects of the global financial crisis of 2008 on real and accrual-based earnings management activities of foreign companies listed in the United States as American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). The ADR firms are classified according to whether they report under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Accrual-based earnings management is measured using the absolute value of performance-matched discretionary accruals. We also use the positive and negative values of performance-matched discretionary accruals to examine income-increasing and income-decreasing earnings management, respectively. Real earnings management proxies are measured using performance-matched measures of the abnormal levels of cash flow from operations, production costs, and discretionary expenses. In summary, our findings indicate no difference in accrual-based earnings management for ADRs reporting under IFRS and U.S. GAAP but suggest that ADRs reporting under IFRS are more likely to manage earnings using income-decreasing discretionary accruals and aggregate real earnings management than ADRs reporting under U.S. GAAP during the financial crisis.

中文翻译：

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US GAAP 和 IFRS 下的金融危机和盈余管理

本文考察了 2008 年全球金融危机对在美国以美国存托凭证 (ADR) 形式上市的外国公司的实际和应计盈余管理活动的影响。ADR 公司的分类依据是它们是根据美国公认会计原则 (GAAP) 还是国际财务报告准则 (IFRS) 报告。应计盈余管理是使用与业绩匹配的可自由支配应计项目的绝对值来衡量的。我们还分别使用与业绩匹配的可自由支配应计项目的正负值来检验收入增加和收入减少的盈余管理。实际盈余管理代理是使用绩效匹配措施来衡量运营现金流、生产成本、和可自由支配的费用。总之，我们的研究结果表明，根据 IFRS 和 US GAAP 报告的 ADR 在应计盈余管理方面没有差异，但表明根据 IFRS 报告的 ADR 比根据金融危机期间的美国公认会计原则。