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Does Change of Defined Benefit Plan Affect Accrual-Based Earnings Management?

Wei Chen et al.

Journal of Applied Business and Economics2026https://doi.org/10.33423/jabe.v28i2.8121article
ABDC C
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

This paper examines how modifications to defined benefit pension plans affect accrual-based earnings management (AEM). Firms are classified into four groups based on their pension plan changes: termination, hard freeze, soft/partial freeze, and no change. We hypothesize and find that firms engage in greater AEM following pension plan modifications, compensating for the reduced ability to manage earnings through pension-related mechanisms. This effect is stronger among firms that terminate their defined benefit plans, compared with those implementing hard or soft freezes.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.33423/jabe.v28i2.8121

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{wei2026,
  title        = {{Does Change of Defined Benefit Plan Affect Accrual-Based Earnings Management?}},
  author       = {Wei Chen et al.},
  journal      = {Journal of Applied Business and Economics},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.33423/jabe.v28i2.8121},
}

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Does Change of Defined Benefit Plan Affect Accrual-Based Earnings Management?

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.