Impact of Debt Restructuring on Earnings Management——Empirical Evidence of Shanghai A-share Listed Companies

China's Ministry of Finance successively promulgated and revised the debt restructuring standards in 1998, 2001 and 2006, under which the recognition and measurement of debt restructuring gains and losses is different. In this article, listed companies that debt restructured in Shanghai A-stock market in 1999, 2006 and during 2007-2011 were selected as samples, using descriptive statistics and multivariate regression methods, the impact of debt restructuringon earnings management under different debt restructuring standards was researched. Results show that the earnings management degree of companies whose debt restructuring gains and losses accounted for as non- operating income and expenses is higher than those whose debt restructuring gains and losses included in capital reserves; ST companies through debt restructuring gains to whitewash statements to achieve the purpose of out of the red.