129 / 372
臺大管理論叢
第
26
卷第
2
期
129
management.
The sample comprises 158 chief accountants working at listed or over-the-counter-
traded companies as well as MBA students specializing in accounting. ANCOVA and
structural equation modeling (SEM) are used to test our hypotheses.
3. Findings
The primary findings of this study are as follows. First, in the behavioral intention
model, the explanatory power of the attitude construct with regard to behavioral intentions in
earnings management is significantly greater than those of subjective norms and perceived
behavioral control. As a result, it can be concluded that interventions aimed at correcting the
attitudes of accountants toward earnings management are more effective in mitigating
earnings management intention, compared to measures focusing on the norms of the system.
Secondly, differences in scenarios of agency problem have significant influence over
the behavioral intention of accountants engaging in earnings management. Accountants are
more likely to engage in earnings management in scenarios with self-benefiting incentives
and with opportunities to gain an advantage in information asymmetry, compared to
scenarios without either of the above features. This demonstrates that management
mechanisms aiming at curbing information asymmetry could be useful in curtailing earnings
management.
Third, accountants at lower levels of moral development display significantly greater
behavioral intention to engage in earnings management than those at higher levels in their
moral development.
Finally, the existence of agency problem and the degree of moral development exert
interaction effects on the intention of accountants to engage in earnings management.
4. Research Limitations/Implications
Statistical methods are applied to control the effect of social desirability bias. However,
we are not sure if the accountants provided honest answers regarding their decision-making
behavior. Since the questionnaires were distributed during the peak season in the industry,
and that a considerable number of the respondents were chief accountants in major
corporations, the recovery rate turns out to be low. In addition, this study deals with sensitive
issues, which may have discouraged many individuals from participating. Moreover, most of
the respondents are aged between 30 and 39, which means that they are far less likely to