{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T15:14:52Z","timestamp":1774451692584,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,30]],"date-time":"2022-03-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1648598400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["ARJ"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,16]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The purpose of this study is to examine the association between financial distress and accruals-based earnings management in emerging markets, and the role that auditors play in that association.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study relies on a sample of 33,455 firm-year observations from 20 emerging markets, covering a large period of analysis of 20\u2009years. A multivariate analysis is performed by considering the level of financial distress as the dependent variable, and the accruals-based earnings management and dummies for the type of auditor as the main independent ones.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The authors predict and find empirical evidence that firms facing greater financial distress engage in income-increasing accruals-based earnings management in emerging markets, and that such engagement is lower in firms audited by Big 4 firms compared to those audited by non-Big 4 auditors. The authors also find significant differences across Big 4 audit firms in their role of constraining income-increasing earnings management strategies in firms with high levels of financial distress.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The study adds to previous literature by investigating the association between financial distress and accruals-based earnings management in a comprehensive sample of 20 emerging markets, by providing important overall cross-country empirical evidence that has not been addressed by previous literature. The authors also bring new knowledge by discussing the role played by the Big 4 audit firms in limiting earnings management practices by firms with high levels of financial distress. Such a limitation serves as an important external corporate governance mechanism to restrain managers\u2019 opportunistic behaviour in firms facing financial distress \u2013 especially in emerging economies characterized overall by institutional voids.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/arj-06-2021-0165","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,29]],"date-time":"2022-03-29T08:23:02Z","timestamp":1648542182000},"page":"660-675","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":41,"title":["Financial distress, earnings management and Big 4 auditors in emerging markets"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"35","author":[{"given":"Dante Baiardo C.","family":"Viana Jr","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Isabel","family":"Louren\u00e7o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ervin 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