An Examination of Prevalence of Earnings Management in Asia REITs

Abstract

This study examines the prevalence of earnings management in Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) funds in Asia. Discretionary Accruals (DA) is used as the measurement of earnings management. A panel data covering all REIT firms in three countries: Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, from year 2007 to 2015 is used for this purpose. The results show all firms having the absolute value of discretionary accruals indicating that earnings management exists in Asian REITs. Further, independent t-test shows that earnings management activities are significantly prevalent in all these three countries despite the regulatory structure of REITs.