The Effect of Prior Financial Performance on Organizational Reputation and Earnings Management

The paper aims to investigate the linkage among prior fmancial performance, organizational reputation and earnings quality. Firstly, it examines the influence of prior financial performance on organizational reputation and on earnings quality. Secondly, this research explores the moderating role that prior fmancial performance plays in the causal relationship from organizational reputation to earnings quality. Thirdly, the mediating role of organizational reputation in the effect of prior financial performance on earnings quality is analyzed. The empirical findings show that, prior fmancial performance positively affects both earnings quality and organizational reputation that in turn partly mediates the causal connection from prior financial performance to earnings quality; whereas prior fmancial performance imposes a positive moderation in the influence of organizational reputation on earnings quality. This research is expected to provide scholars and practitioners with a thorough understanding of the complex link among prior financial performance, organizational reputation and earnings quality. That helps them to deliver good decisions on the investment of suitable resources in maintaining and enhancing their organizational reputation, which assures a higher quality of reported earnings that in turn improves involved stakeholders' confidence in their firm. This likely leads the firms to gain better performance in the future.