盈餘管理對選擇企業社會責任報告書確信服務提供者的影響

本研究旨在探討台灣上市櫃公司執行盈餘管理的程度，與企業社會責任報告書之第三方確信者及其特性之選擇關係。研究期間為2012年至2016年，試圖驗證盈餘管理程度越高的管理階層，在決策企業社會責任報告書第三方確信者時，會因其為認證機構、會計師或會計師之特性而有所變化。本文使用裁決性應計項目及實際交易活動將盈餘管理分為兩種模式進行分析。實證結果發現，(1)利用裁決性應計項目程度越高的企業，與企業社會責任報告書之確信服務提供者及其特性間無顯著的選擇偏好。(2)實質盈餘管理程度越高的企業相較於會計師，偏好委任確信業務於認證機構。此外，操弄實際交易越多的企業，當期傾向聘請非查核自身財務報表之會計師提供確信服務，但顯著多聘請產業知識較為豐富的會計師。因此預期查核財報之結果不被影響之前提下，企業社會責任報告書與確信會計師的專業能力除了可提升確信效率外，亦可被管理階層視作一項用來提升企業聲譽並獲得利害關係人支持之機制。

關鍵字

企業社會責任；盈餘管理；會計師確信；會計師特性

並列摘要

This paper investigates the relationship between earnings management and assurance providers' choices. More specifically, this paper attempt to figure out the degree of earnings management affects the company choosing a certified public accountant (CPA) or a certification organization and the characteristics of assurance provider with a sample of companies listed on Taiwan Stock Exchange and the Over-the-counter market during 2012-2016. We present two models each using discretionary accruals and the proxy for real activities manipulation, in order to capture the different effects in two kind of earnings management. Our empirical results show that: first, there are no statistically significant relationship between discretionary accruals and assurance providers, including the characteristics of assurance providers. Second, companies engage in real earnings management prefer verifying the CSR reports by hiring certification organizations instead of CPAs. On the other side, if the companies choosing CPA, the evidences show that companies engage in real earnings management are inclined to hire CPAs without audit their financial statements in the same time and it's significant positive correlation between real earnings management and CPA’s industry experience, therefore, we infer that managers may view CSR or assurance report as an instrument to promote reputation and increase the stakeholder's support by taking advantage of CPA's expertise.