Tax incentives and earnings management: A study based on accelerated depreciation policy in China

This paper uses the accelerated depreciation policy for fixed assets implemented by Chinese tax authorities since 2014 to explore the relationship between tax incentives and earnings management. Results report the following: (1) The accelerated depreciation policy for fixed assets causes a significant increase in earnings management and the result persists after accounting for endogeneity problems; and (2) the accelerated depreciation policy for fixed assets has a more significant effect on firms with small pre-policy book-tax differences and low pre-policy investment growth. This paper supplements the research that tax policy affects earnings management behavior of firms.