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This paper undertakes an extensive and systematic review of the literature on earnings management (EM) over the past three decades (1992–2022). Furthermore, the study identifies emerging research themes and proposes future avenues for further investigation in the realm of EM.

For this study, a comprehensive collection of 2,775 articles on EM published between 1992 and 2022 was extracted from the Scopus database. The author employed various tools, including Microsoft Excel, R studio, Gephi and visualization of similarities viewer, to conduct bibliometric, content, thematic and cluster analyses. Additionally, the study examined the literature across three distinct periods: prior to the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (1992–2001), subsequent to the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002–2012), and after the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (2013–2022) to draw more inferences and insights on EM research.

The study identifies three major themes, namely the operationalization of EM constructs, the trade-off between EM tools (accrual EM, real EM and classification shifting) and the role of corporate governance in mitigating EM in emerging markets. Existing literature in these areas presents mixed and inconclusive findings, suggesting the need for further theoretical development. Further, the study findings observe a shift in research focus over time: initially, understanding manipulation techniques, then evaluating regulatory measures, and more recently, investigating the impact of global accounting standards. Several emerging research themes (technology advancements, cross-cultural and cross-national studies, sustainability, behavioral aspects and non-financial indicators of EM) have been identified. This study subsequent analysis reveals an evolving EM landscape, with researchers from disciplines like data science, computer science and engineering applying their analytical expertise to detect EM anomalies. Furthermore, this study offers significant insights into sophisticated EM techniques such as neural networks, machine learning techniques and hidden Markov models, among others, as well as relevant theories including dynamic capabilities theory, learning curve theory, psychological contract theory and normative institutional theory. These techniques and theories demonstrate the need for further advancement in the field of EM. Lastly, the findings shed light on prominent EM journals, authors and countries.

This study conducts quantitative bibliometric and thematic analyses of the existing literature on EM while identifying areas that require further development to advance EM research.

The rapid growth of Fintech presents a growing challenge for banking institutions, particularly those with more traditional, service backgrounds. This paper aims to examine the relationship between Fintech innovation and bank performance by exploiting novel Chinese market data.

Guided by the work of Dietrich and Wanzenried (2011, 2014) and Phan et al. (2019), the authors construct a regression model to investigate the effect of Fintech innovation on the profitability of Chinese listed banks. The authors include their measures of Fintech innovation in each of their selected structures.

Results indicate that Fintech innovation is negatively associated with bank performance and that state-owned banks, joint-stock commercial banks and long-established banks are more negatively impacted by Fintech innovation relative to city and rural commercial banks and younger banks.

Risk tolerance levels, internal structure and efficiency and recent debt repayment performance channels are each shown to be significant, robust explanatory factors underpinning such results.

Exploiting a novel measure of innovation, the authors investigate whether independent directors improve innovation efficiency. This novel measure of innovation captures the extent to which the firm generates revenue from its research & development and is, therefore, more economically meaningful. The authors also use a text-based measure of innovation.

The authors rely on a quasi-natural experiment based on the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that compelled certain firms to raise board independence. The difference-in-difference analysis is far less vulnerable to endogeneity and is more likely to show a causal influence, rather than a mere association.

The results show that more independent directors improve innovation efficiency significantly. Specifically, firms forced to raise board independence experienced a much higher increase in innovation than those not required to change their board composition. The authors also explore another novel measure of innovation, a text-based metric of innovation.

The research is original in several ways. First, the authors take advantage of an exogenous regulatory shock as a quasi-natural experiment. This approach is far less susceptible to endogeneity. Second, the authors use a novel measure of innovation efficiency, i.e. research quotient, which is more economically meaningful. Finally, the authors use a unique measure of innovation derived from powerful textual analysis.

Drawing on organizational learning and dynamic capabilities literature, this study aims to explore how suppliers from traditional emerging economies (STEE) can acquire, assimilate and use new knowledge essential for the development of production and marketing capabilities. These capabilities then facilitate suppliers in climbing the value chain from B-to-B to B-to-C.

The study adopted a longitudinal and multiple case study design to examine the practices of suppliers operating in a traditional emerging economy setting. This study selected Pakistan textile industry as an empirical setting, which is a predominantly supplier market for global buyers. Data sources entail semi-structured interviews with top executives and senior-level managers in four case firms and secondary data obtained from diverse sources.

The study identified transitionary phases of capabilities development that are facilitated by boundary-spanning knowledge acquisition and transformation in a dynamic manner. These capabilities are essential for a supplier’s entry into downstream international markets (i.e. launching its own products/brands in the end consumers’ market).

The findings could help managers in STEEs to understand the strategic importance of supply chain ties in their learning and capabilities development. It also provides strategic insights on what, how and why involved parties do engage over an extended period of time. Moreover, the findings of this study could help other firms to know and adopt the right type of technology(s) and systems that can help them reduce the technological gap in producing and marketing market-winning products.

This study advances the recent academic discussion that focusses on learning by supplying and the value-chain movement of suppliers (i.e. B-to-C) from their B-to-B engagements. The findings identified the vital and beneficial role of long-term relationships with global value chain partners in learning and capabilities development that led to value creation in the traditional emerging economy.

Motivated by the findings of Bhabra and Hossain (2017) that highlight an improvement in US market performance in the post-Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) period, this paper aims to investigate how this change varies with the methods of payment used for the deals.

Deductive in nature and using an event study approach, this paper uses a sample of 675 deals between 1999 and 2006 to test three research hypotheses in a pre-post setting.

Results show that at the aggregate level, there is a significant improvement in the market performance of US acquirers around the announcement day in the aftermath of the passage of SOX 2002. Considered separately, both US stock acquirers and cash acquirers did not experience any significant improvement in market performance in the post-Sarbanes–Oxley period. These results are robust to controlling for governance, firm and deal variables, as well as industry and year fixed effects.

Exploratory in nature, the results are to be interpreted in light of the sample size and the period under investigation.

The results provide evidence for regulators and legislators on the contribution of SOX 2002 to curbing managerial misconduct. Significant improvement in the market performance also signals more confidence in managerial decisions and a reduction in agency problems. The insignificant change in stock acquirers’ market performance can be an indication that policymakers should exert more efforts to improve shareholders' confidence in the quality of disclosure.

This investigation provides unique insights on whether SOX has been effective in mitigating mispricing concerns associated with stock-financed acquisitions and whether it was effective in moderating the governance mechanism associated with cash-financed acquisitions.

This paper aims to contribute to international business research by providing an integrative framework of the factors determining the learning process of outsourcing companies in developing countries.

A systematic review of the literature was performed with an analysis of 84 articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals, published between 2000 and 2020.

The results show that the different factors should be seen as complementary and not mutually exclusive. It is the interaction between macro and micro factors that jointly shape the learning of developing country subcontractors. Moreover, the results of the analysis show that many existing studies have not been based on specific theoretical frameworks.

This study develops a roadmap of the current state of research on the determinants of learning among developing country subcontractors and offers suggestions to guide future research. The authors conclude with a call for methodological advancement and theory development on the topic.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study proposes the first comprehensive review of the literature on the factors determining the learning of subcontractors in developing countries. The authors have tried to provide an integrative analytical framework to discuss what has been known and what needs to be known in this regard.

The primary objective of this research is to chronicle how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other United States Federal Government Agencies (USFGA) agencies have played a role in shaping the trajectory of financial reporting for sustainability, with a particular emphasis on triple bottom line (TBL). This exploration extends to other indexes reporting sustainability data encompassed within financial, social and environmental reporting.

This study adopts an illustrative methodology, utilizing data sourced from governmental, business and international organizational documents.

Sustainability accounting predominantly finds its place within the framework of TBL. However, it is crucial to note that sustainability reporting remains voluntary rather than mandatory. Nevertheless, accounting firms and professional accounting societies have embraced it as a supplementary facet of financial accounting reporting.

The research highlights the historical evolution of sustainability within the USFGA and corporate entities. Corporations’ interest in accounting for sustainability performances has significantly contributed to the emergence of voluntary sustainability accounting rules, as embodied by the TBL.

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) establish a wide range of alliances to access the critical resources that they may need at any one time. Although inter-organizational relationships (IORs) constitute the channels through which social capital flows, MNEs should consider which mechanisms or characteristics of the relations facilitate their actual mobilization.

A definition of alliance types yielded the parameters for an ordinary least squares regression of a sample from top global-reach MNEs from the airline industry.

The results showed that certain kind of alliances favored the actual mobilization of social capital.

Managers of MNEs must select the type of IOR taking into account the objective they pursue and the type of activity they will include.

Analyzing the factors that influence the degree of mobilization of social capital and how MNEs actually use the resources of the partners require the establishment of a theoretical framework and the development of empirical evidence.

las Empresas Multinacionales (MNEs) establecen una amplia gama de alianzas para acceder a los recursos críticos externos que puedan necesitar en cualquier memento. Las MNEs deben considerar qué mecanismos o características de las relaciones facilitan su movilización real.

una definición de los tipos de alianza produjo los parámetros para una regresión de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios de una muestra de las principales MNEs de alcance global de la industria de las aerolíneas.

Los resultados mostraron que ciertos tipos de alianzas favorecieron la movilización real del capital social.

Analizar los factores que influyen en el grado de movilización del capital social y cómo las MNEs utilizan en la práctica los recursos de sus socios, requiere del establecimiento de un marco teórico y el desarrollo de evidencia empírica.