The Relationship between Non-audit Services and Real Earnings Management: Evidence on Auditor Independence

학위논문 (석사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 : 경영학과 회계학 전공, 2016. 2. 곽수근.I examine the relationship between non-audit services fee ratio and auditor independence by considering not only accounting earnings management (AEM) but also real earnings management (REM). I examine a sample of US firms covering 2000 to 2012 and find that, while non-audit fee ratio has no relationship with AEM, corroborating prior studies, it does have a positive relationship with REM, suggesting the impairment of auditor independence. This positive relationship is weaker in B4 firms and in the post-SOX period, suggesting that high-quality auditors and a strong legal regime can mitigate REM.1. Introduction 1 2. Hypothesis development 5 2.1 Backgrounds 5 2.2 Non-audit services and REM 7 2.3 Non-audit services and REM in big 4 and non-big 4 firms 9 2.4 Non-audit services and REM in pre and post-SOX period 11 3. Research design 13 3.1 Variable measurement 13 3.2 Empirical specification 16 3.3 Sample selection 20 4. Empirical results 20 4.1 Descriptive statistics 20 4.2 Non-audit services and earnings management 21 4.3 Non-audit services and earnings management in big 4 and non-big 4 firms 22 4.4 Non-audit services and earnings management in pre and post-SOX period 24 5. Conclusion 25 References 28 Appendix: Variable Definitions 32 Table 1 : Sample Selection Procedure 34 Table 2 : Descriptive Statistics 35 Table 3 : Correlation Matrix 39 Table 4 : Non-audit services and earnings management 40 Table 5 : Non-audit services and earnings management in big 4 and non-big 4 firms 42 Table 6 : Non-audit services and earnings management in pre and post-SOX period 44 국문초록 46Maste