IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/rpbfmp/v21y2018i02ns0219091518500121.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Management of Revenue and Earnings in Korean Firms Influenced by Cognitive Reference Points

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Lacina

    (Department of Accounting, University of Houston-Clear Lake, 2700 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX 77058, USA)

  • B. Brian Lee

    (Department of Accounting, Finance, & MIS, Prairie View A & M University, P.O. Box 519, MS2310, Prairie View, TX 77446, USA)

  • Dong Wuk Kim

    (Jeju National University, 1, Arail-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea)

Abstract

We investigate how Korean officers manage revenue and earnings to achieve cognitive reference points (round up). In Korea, revenue has traditionally served as one of the key financial statement figures. Thus, we study revenue management around cognitive reference points both in isolation and to influence earnings around cognitive reference points through a chain effect. Our study compares the distributions of the second (from the left) and first digits in revenue and various proxies for earnings with their corresponding Benford distributions (Benford, 1938). Also, we perform a logistic regression analysis and compute probabilities based on this analysis. The results show that revenue observations have more first digit 1’s and second digit 0’s and fewer first and second digits 9’s than under a Benford distribution. Korean managers appear to round up revenues with high second digits to improve first digits. In addition, we document that revenue observations with second digits of 0 are associated with higher proportions of positive earnings (gross margin and earnings from operations) with second digits of 0. This suggests that Korean firms simultaneously convert the second digits of revenue and earnings to improve the first digits of those numbers. Results from additional tests convey more upward management of the second digit of revenue for firms that have characteristics that indicate higher ex ante benefits and stronger ex post effects from revenue management.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Lacina & B. Brian Lee & Dong Wuk Kim, 2018. "Management of Revenue and Earnings in Korean Firms Influenced by Cognitive Reference Points," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 21(02), pages 1-36, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:rpbfmp:v:21:y:2018:i:02:n:s0219091518500121
    DOI: 10.1142/S0219091518500121
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219091518500121
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S0219091518500121?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shiyou Li & Emeka Nwaeze & Jennifer Yin, 2016. "Earnings management in the electric utility industry: profit incentives," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 633-660, April.
    2. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1997. "Trade Credit: Theories and Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(3), pages 661-691.
    3. Jyrki Niskanen & Matti Keloharju, 2000. "Earnings cosmetics in a tax-driven accounting environment: evidence from Finnish public firms," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 443-452.
    4. David Burgstahler & Elizabeth Chuk, 2017. "What Have We Learned About Earnings Management? Integrating Discontinuity Evidence," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(2), pages 726-749, June.
    5. Brenner, Gabrielle A & Brenner, Reuven, 1982. "Memory and Markets, or Why Are You Paying $2.99 for a Widget?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(1), pages 147-158, January.
    6. Burgstahler, David & Dichev, Ilia, 1997. "Earnings management to avoid earnings decreases and losses," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 99-126, December.
    7. Denis Davydov & Steve Swidler, 2016. "Reading Russian Tea Leaves: Assessing the Quality of Bank Financial Statements with the Benford Distribution," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(04), pages 1-20, December.
    8. Yang, Joon-Mo & Kim, Tae-Wan & Han, Hyun-Ok, 2006. "Understanding the economic development of Korea from a co-evolutionary perspective," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 601-621, October.
    9. Itay Kama, 2009. "On the Market Reaction to Revenue and Earnings Surprises," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1‐2), pages 31-50, January.
    10. Robert M. Bowen & Angela K. Davis & Shivaram Rajgopal, 2002. "Determinants of Revenue†Reporting Practices for Internet Firms," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 523-562, December.
    11. Youngtae Yoo & Jaehong Lee & Jinho Chang, 2014. "Distinctive Features of BBB- and BB-Graded Firms Using Earnings Management and Conservatism: Evidence from the Korean Market," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(01), pages 1-31.
    12. Itay Kama, 2009. "On the Market Reaction to Revenue and Earnings Surprises," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1-2), pages 31-50.
    13. Basu, S, 1977. "Investment Performance of Common Stocks in Relation to Their Price-Earnings Ratios: A Test of the Efficient Market Hypothesis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(3), pages 663-682, June.
    14. Christopher Edmonds & Ryan Leece & John Maher, 2013. "CEO bonus compensation: the effects of missing analysts’ revenue forecasts," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 149-170, July.
    15. Das, Somnath & Zhang, Huai, 2003. "Rounding-up in reported EPS, behavioral thresholds, and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 31-50, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sebastian Lebert & Ulf Mohrmann & Ulrike Stefani, 2021. "Rounding up performance measures in German firms: Earnings cosmetics or earnings management on a larger scale?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3-4), pages 564-586, March.
    2. Andrzej Piosik, 2021. "Revenue Identification in Attaining Consensus Estimates on Income Predictions: The Function of Ownership Concentration and Managerial Ownership Confirmation from Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Geertsema, Paul & Lu, Helen, 2020. "The correlation structure of anomaly strategies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    4. Jiaju Miao & Pawel Polak, 2023. "Online Ensemble of Models for Optimal Predictive Performance with Applications to Sector Rotation Strategy," Papers 2304.09947, arXiv.org.
    5. Tran, Vu Le, 2023. "Sentiment and covariance characteristics," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Byzalov, Dmitri & Basu, Sudipta, 2019. "Modeling the determinants of meet-or-just-beat behavior in distribution discontinuity tests," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2).
    7. Tom Van Caneghem, 2004. "The impact of audit quality on earnings rounding-up behaviour: some UK evidence," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 771-786.
    8. De Nard, Gianluca & Zhao, Zhao, 2022. "A large-dimensional test for cross-sectional anomalies:Efficient sorting revisited," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 654-676.
    9. Alhababsah, Salem & Alhaj-Ismail, Alaa, 2023. "Does shared tenure between audit committee chair and engagement partner affect audit outcomes? Evidence from the UK," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    10. Guanhao Feng & Stefano Giglio & Dacheng Xiu, 2020. "Taming the Factor Zoo: A Test of New Factors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1327-1370, June.
    11. Hoang, Khoa & Cannavan, Damien & Gaunt, Clive & Huang, Ronghong, 2019. "Is that factor just lucky? Australian evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    12. Weichuan Deng & Pawel Polak & Abolfazl Safikhani & Ronakdilip Shah, 2023. "A Unified Framework for Fast Large-Scale Portfolio Optimization," Papers 2303.12751, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    13. Kristoffer Pons Bertelsen, 2022. "The Prior Adaptive Group Lasso and the Factor Zoo," CREATES Research Papers 2022-05, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    14. Gianluca De Nard & Simon Hediger & Markus Leippold, 2022. "Subsampled factor models for asset pricing: The rise of Vasa," Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(6), pages 1217-1247, September.
    15. Avkiran, Necmi K. & Morita, Hiroshi, 2010. "Predicting Japanese bank stock performance with a composite relative efficiency metric: A new investment tool," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 254-271, June.
    16. Lacina, Michael & Lee, B. Brian & Kim, Dong Wuk, 2018. "Benford’s Law and the effects of the Korean financial reforms on cosmetic earnings management," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 2-17.
    17. Hediger, Simon & Michel, Loris & Näf, Jeffrey, 2022. "On the use of random forest for two-sample testing," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    18. Waleed Khalid & Kashif Ur Rehman & Muhammad Kashif, 2019. "The Impact of Merger and Acquisition Firms on Stock Market Bubble," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 4(1), pages 335-342, March.
    19. Thomas A. Gilliam, 2021. "Detecting Real Activities Manipulation: Beyond Performance Matching," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 57(4), pages 619-653, December.
    20. Henselmann, Klaus & Scherr, Elisabeth & Ditter, Dominik, 2012. "Applying Benford's Law to individual financial reports: An empirical investigation on the basis of SEC XBRL filings," Working Papers in Accounting Valuation Auditing 2012-1, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Accounting and Auditing.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:rpbfmp:v:21:y:2018:i:02:n:s0219091518500121. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/rpbfmp/rpbfmp.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.