Verdier, Marie-Anne and Boutant Lapeyre, Jennifer (2016) Les dirigeants gèrent-ils les résultats comptables avant d’annoncer une réduction d’effectifs ? Le cas des entreprises françaises cotées. Comptabilité, contrôle, Audit, vol. 22 (n° 3). pp. 9-45.

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Abstract

This paper examines whether firms engage in earnings management activities in the context of workforce reductions. We assume that firms use income-decreasing accruals before workforce reduction announcements to show that the operation is necessary and thus to avoid incurring political costs. Based on 120 workforce reduction announcements for 104 French listed companies over the period 2007-2012, our results confirm that firms manage earnings downwards in the year before workforce reduction announcements (approximately 4% of total assets). Overall, the results validate the political cost hypothesis in the context of workforce reductions.