Research on executive military experience, financing constraints and earnings management behavior based on empirical evidence of Chinese listed companies

The frequent occurrence of corporate financial fraud undermines market trust, while the rising proportion of military background executives may exert unique impacts on financial compliance through their disciplinary and risk-averse characteristics. This study examines the mechanism by which executives' military service history influences earnings management behavior in Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2024, with particular focus on the mediating role of financing constraints. By constructing a self-developed database incorporating executive backgrounds, financing constraints, and earnings management indicators, we utilized Python technology to extract military service data, applied the KZ Index to measure financing constraints, calculated earnings management levels using the Modified Jones Model, and conducted empirical analysis via Stata software. The findings reveal that military service significantly suppresses earnings management behavior. Financing constraints partially mediate this relationshipspecifically, military service mitigates financing constraints to reduce earnings management intensity, with more pronounced inhibitory effects observed among executives who served in the military during periods of high financing constraints. These conclusions provide new perspectives for understanding how executive heterogeneity influences corporate financial behaviors, offering practical insights for listed companies to improve corporate governance structures and regulatory authorities to optimize market supervision mechanisms.