조합장 선거가 산림조합의 이익조정에 미치는 영향

[Purpose]The study investigates how payment of divined to members of the Forestry Cooperative in a pre－election year influence the re－election of the Executive Director of the Cooperative. It is anticipated that compared to the post－election year, the Cooperative will pursue aggressive earnings management in the pre－election year to finance dividend payment. [Methodology]Discretionary accrual, the proxy for earnings management, is computed using the cross－sectional model of Kothari et al.,(2005). Regression analysis is then use to test the hypotheses stated. [Findings]The result shows that the absolute value of discretionary accruals (ABSDACC) was greater in the post－election year than in the pre－election year. This result differs from the prior expectation. On the other hand, however, without the absolute value, the discretionary accrual (DACC) value in the pre－election year is positive (＋) compared to the post－election year. Empirically this means there is a pursuit of income increasing discretionary accruals in the immediate pre－election year. To probe the result further, a year－over－year analysis of the descriptive statistics was performed and the result shows that DACC is negative and greater in the post－election year compared to the pre－election year. These results can be interpreted to mean that, earnings management is pursued not only through aggressive income increasing in the pre－election, but also through deferring losses in the pre－election to the post－election year. [Implications]Examining the effect of election of the leader on earnings management is very important because it broadens our understanding in the earnings management discourse, something that has not yet been explored in the Forestry Cooperative －a non－profit organization.