Real earnings management

This thesis is my final act as a master-­‐student at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. This thesis began as a paper that I wrote with a co-­‐student regarding audit quality and accrual earnings management. With this paper as a backbone of this thesis I added new ingredients such as real earnings management, SOx and a more thorough investigation of the PCAOB inspections. I couldn’t have write this thesis all by myself and therefore I would like to thank several people who have supported me during the writing process. First, my supervisor R. van der Wal RA. His knowledge and experience were very helpful during the writing process. His comments provided me with new insights how to tackle certain problems and how see certain things. Therefore, I would like to thank him for his helpful comments and support. I would also like to thank my parents and sister who have helped me in various ways. Their support was essential for me to succeed and therefore I owe them my gratitude. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Knoops who assisted me during the seminar and the paper that I wrote. His guidance during the seminar has helped me to understand the essence of writing a thesis and therefore I would like to thank him.