Political connections, government ownership, and earnings management: evidence from Jordan

This study examines the impact of political connections and government ownership on accrual real earnings management. Based a Jordanian sample 310 firm-year observations, finds evidence that politically-connected firms exhibit higher level management, compared to non-politically-connected firms. suggests in Jordan opportunistically manipulate reported income obtain private gain through use activities-based manipulation, at expense other minority shareholders. may be caused by management activities being less subject risk detection monitoring. Further, government-connected engage lower non-government-connected firms, suggesting positive effect for quality financial reporting.