4.2. Measures of earnings management
The measures of accounting quality employed by previous researchers in regard to IFRS adoption have varied. In this study, we use Dechow et al. (1995) and the modified Dechow and Dichev models (McNichols, 2002) to measure earnings quality which have generally not been employed by the IFRS literature. The probable reason for this is data constraints resulting from the relatively recent adoption of IFRS (Jeanjean and Stolowy, 2008). These models in the past have been found to be robust measures of accounting quality. Consequently, their use in the current study provides useful insights into the success or otherwise of IFRS adoption (Chen et al., 2010).
The Jones model (1991) captures earnings management by calculating total accruals for a business. Total accruals consist of non-discretionary accruals (NDA) and discretionary accruals (DA). Dechow et al. (1995) provide a modification to the Jones model (1991) for the detection of earnings management.Dechow et al. (1995) measure earnings management as follows: