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Let’s have a party! - Temporal landmarks and firm behaviour: How corporate anniversaries influence managerial decisions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This study examines how symbolic temporal landmarks, specifically corporate anniversaries, influence firm performance. Temporal landmarks simplify managerial decision-making by focusing attention and aligning strategic actions with stakeholder expectations. We investigate whether managers use anniversaries to enhance financial performance, potentially through earnings management (EM), while minimizing detection by stakeholders. Our analysis shows that firms exhibit stronger financial performance and adjusted EM behavior during anniversary years, suggesting strategic adaptation by managers. By linking temporal landmarks to heuristics, this research offers a novel perspective on symbolic management and extends the literature on managerial rationality and earnings management.

Source: Finance research letters

DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.107516

Authors: Thomas Niederkofler, Camila Sitonio, Christian Lechner

Institutions: Radboud University Nijmegen, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli

Language: English

Topic: Auditing, Earnings Management, Governance

Subfield: Accounting

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,730

OpenAlex ID: W4410197615

FWCI: 2.69

Cites: 36

Cited by: 1

Related to: 10