기업지배구조가 실제 이익조정에 미치는 영향

This paper examines the impact of corporate governance on real earnings management in the Korean manufacturing firms from 2006 to 2012, using corporate governance rating data of Korea Corporate Governance Service. Our findings are consistent with previous literature in that real earnings management tends to be lower as firm's corporate governance rating is good. And high debt ratio was related with the increase of real earnings management, supporting the debt covenant hypothesis. Next, the entire sample was divided into two subsamples depending on the direction of real earnings management, upward or downward. Regression results show that in the upward earnings management samples, real earnings management tends to be lower as firm's corporate governance rating is good, whereas real earnings management tends to be higher as firm's corporate governance rating is bad in the downward earnings management samples. Upward earnings management decreases as items of corporate governance ratings, board of directors, disclosure, audit systems are good. Downward earnings management increases as items of corporate governance ratings, protection of rights of stockholders, audit systems are good. These results show that directions of real earnings management should be considered.