Research on the Impact of Real Earnings Management on Abnormal Audit Fees

This paper takes A-share listed enterprises in China from 2014 to 2023 as research samples to study the impact of real earnings management on abnormal audit fees. The empirical results show that real earnings management significantly increases the abnormal audit fees of enterprises, and this promotion is particularly significant in non-state-owned enterprises and high-tech enterprises. Mechanism tests indicate that real earnings management increases business operational risk, leading to higher audit effort and audit risk compensation for auditors, thereby increasing abnormal audit fees. Moreover, financing constraints strengthen the promotion of real earnings management to abnormal audit fees.