本研究旨在探討在COVID-19衝擊下，所造成的需求端銳減與全球供應鏈斷鏈危機，是否影響企業管理者從事實質盈餘管理之行為。本文以臺灣上市櫃公司為研究對象，研究期間為2018年至2021年。從實證結果發現，在新冠疫情流行期間，企業經理人顯著增加從事正向實質盈餘管理之行為。此外，當企業營運以外銷為主，或是企業為全球供應鏈之一環，且於境外設有重要子公司時，經理人在新冠疫情流行期間從事正向實質盈餘管理之行為更加顯著。本研究於額外分析中發現，不論COVID-19僅爆發於境外，亦或是擴散至臺灣本土，經理人均有從事正向實質盈餘管理之跡象。本研究也發現，在新冠疫情流行期間，即便企業獨立董事的比例較高，也無法有效抑制經理人從事實質盈餘管理之行為。

This paper investigates whether the sharp drop in demand and the crisis of global supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19 affect the behavior of corporate managers to engage in real earnings management. The research sample consists of Taiwan listed companies from 2018 to 2021. Empirical results show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, corporate managers significantly increased their behaviors in real earnings management. In addition, managers engaging in real earnings management during the COVID-19 pandemic are even more pronounced when the company has a higher percentage of foreign sales or when the company is part of a global supply chain. In additional analyses, we find that managers engage in real earnings management regardless of whether the outbreak only occurred overseas or spread to Taiwan. I also find that the higher percentage of independent directors in a company was unable to effectively restrain managers from engaging in real earnings management during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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