The Relationship between Auditor Characteristics and Earnings Management: An Empirical Study on Taiwanese Nonprofit Hospitals

Abstract

Previous studies have focused on researching earnings management behavior in nonprofit hospitals in the United Kingdom and the United States. However, the operational system and environment of hospitals in Taiwan are substantially different from the cases studied, and therefore cannot be considered equivalent. The objective of this study was to determine whether earnings management is practiced in NFP hospitals in Taiwan and to analyze their earnings management behavior. The ordinary least square method was used to examine the relationships in Taiwan’s nonprofit hospitals. Alternative procedures, such as the abnormal bad debt, abnormal non-operating or non-revenue generating activity expenditure, and abnormal net gain on the sale of property models were also developed and tested to measure abnormal real items. Research has indicated that auditor specialization and auditor tenure have a negative relationship with earnings management. The empirical results also showed that the abnormal net gain on the sale of property is ideal for evaluating earnings management in Taiwan’s nonprofit hospitals.