• How the Capital Market Affects Earnings Quality: Evidence from Taiwan

Abstract

Responding to the recent debates on how the functioning of capital markets affects earnings quality, this study compares the earnings quality of Taiwan listed firms to that of unlisted public firms. We investigate earnings quality in the following aspects: earnings conservatism, the likelihood of avoiding negative earrings, and income smoothness. The results show that, after controlling for firm size, the earnings quality of listed firms is consistently better than that of unlisted public firms. These findings are consistent with the proposition that the capital market plays a constructive role in enhancing earning quality.

Keywords: International accounting, Capital market, Earnings quality