The impact of the foreign ownership on the real earnings management of firms in Vietnam

Abstract

The paper analysed the impacts of the foreign ownership on the behaviour of the real earnings management of firms in Vietnam and the difference in the quality of operating income between firms with high and low levels of the foreign ownership. Data of 167 firms listed on the Vietnam Stock Exchange for the duration from 2011 to 2015 was taken as the case study and the regression models which are OLS, Robust and 2SLS were applied. Results of this study demonstrated that the foreign ownership contributed to the behaviour of the real earnings adjustment of firms; a high level of the foreign ownership was found to positively affect the real earnings management of firms in Vietnam. In addition, this study supported the knowledge spillover theory that highly skilled foreign investors had the tendency to assist their owned firms to improve the earnings quality on financial reports. Therefore, it was important for financial managers to develop appropriate strategies to manage and improve the quality of financial reports according to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This helped increase competitiveness and transparency of firms to attract more foreign investors on the Vietnam Stock Exchange.