This paper explores the determinants of firm and country characteristics in explaining the
earnings management in a wide sample of listed firms from the tourism industry in 15 countries
over 2007 – 2013. We focus on the level of discretionary accruals as a dimension of earnings
management that is particularly responsive to firms’ financial statement incentives and examine
the variables that are potentially associated with the earnings management in hotel firms. The
results suggest that firm characteristics are the major determinant of earnings management in
the hotel industry around the world. Additionally, our results demonstrated that star rating
classification is the determinant of earnings management in high development countries. This
paper aims to contribute to knowledge about the tourism industry by examining the
determinants of earnings management across a large panel of firms and countries and by
focusing on both the characteristics of the firm and its institutional environment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio