The majority of the prior empirical literature that inquired about the direct role of corporate sustainability practices (CSP) as a composite construct in mitigating earnings management (EM) has produced equivocal outcomes. Therefore, this study examines the role of CSP not only as a combined construct but also as its three separate dimensions—social, economic, and environmental sustainability in restricting EM directly and with the distinct moderation of firm size that has rarely been probed in the past. Using the data of 255 Pakistani companies from 2018 to 2022, the estimations of ordinary least squares with panel-corrected standard errors revealed that CSP and its separate dimensions significantly control accruals-based earnings management, and all these relationships are further amplified by the moderation of firm size. However, neither CSP nor any of its dimensions, either directly or with the moderation of firm size, have a significant role in reducing real-based earnings management. The additional analysis also validated these findings but only for large companies rather than small companies after splitting the sample based on the firm's size. The findings endorse the stakeholder theory and ethical perspective but oppose managerial opportunism in Pakistan. Besides enriching the existing body of knowledge, this research also offers several important implications for the theory, methodology, practice, and policy.

中文翻译：

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企业可持续发展实践是否会削弱盈余管理？企业规模的调节作用

大多数先前的实证文献都询问了企业可持续发展实践（CSP）作为缓解盈余管理（EM）的复合结构的直接作用，但得出了模棱两可的结果。因此，本研究不仅考察了 CSP 的作用，不仅将其作为一个组合结构，而且还考察了它的三个独立维度——社会、经济和环境可持续性在直接限制新兴市场方面的作用，以及对企业规模的明显调节，这在过去很少被探讨过。 。使用 2018 年至 2022 年 255 家巴基斯坦公司的数据，采用面板修正标准误的普通最小二乘估计表明，CSP 及其单独维度显着控制基于应计利润的盈余管理，并且所有这些关系都通过调节公司规模。然而，无论是 CSP 还是其任何维度，无论是直接的还是随着公司规模的调整，在减少实际盈余管理方面都没有显着的作用。额外的分析也验证了这些发现，但仅针对大公司，而不是根据公司规模划分样本后的小公司。研究结果支持利益相关者理论和伦理观点，但反对巴基斯坦的管理机会主义。除了丰富现有的知识体系之外，这项研究还为理论、方法、实践和政策提供了一些重要的启示。