MD&A 모범사례 스타일 참조와 이익조정

초록

This study investigates the relationship between the quality of corporate Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) disclosures and earnings management by quantifying their textual similarity to the best practice guidelines issued by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). We aim to provide empirical evidence on how MD&A disclosure quality—measured by stylistic similarity to regulatory exemplars—affects the transparency of financial reporting, offering practical implications for investor protection and disclosure policy. The similarity between each firm’s MD&A and the FSS’s best practice guidelines was assessed using a Python-based Jupyter Notebook environment in Google Colaboratory, employing the eKoNLPy Mecab morphological analyzer and cosine similarity based on TF-IDF vectors. Earnings management was proxied by discretionary accruals estimated using the performance-matched modified Jones model [19], and the relationship between MD&A similarity and earnings management was examined through regression analysis. We find that firms whose MD&A disclosures more closely resemble the FSS guidelines engage in significantly lower levels of both upward and downward earnings management. We also show that the effect of MD&A similarity is stronger for firms with lower information asymmetry. The findings highlight the potential of best practice adherence to curb earnings management and underscore the value of policy initiatives that encourage high-quality, voluntary disclosures.

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