IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/80164.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Earnings Management to Avoid Losses and Earnings Declines in Croatia

Author

Listed:
  • Degiannakis, Stavros
  • Giannopoulos, George
  • Ibrahim, Salma
  • Rozic, Ivana

Abstract

This paper provides empirical evidence that Croatian companies manage reported earnings to avoid losses and earnings declines. Specifically, we find that the cross-sectional distribution of scaled earnings and changes in earnings show high frequencies of small positive earnings and small increases in earnings while the frequencies of small losses and small decreases in earnings are less frequent. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these discontinuities are likely due to discretionary accruals. We examine the frequency distribution of reported earnings after removing discretionary accruals and find that the cross sectional distributions of non-discretionary scaled earnings shows lower frequencies of small positive earnings and higher frequencies of small negative earnings. Additionally, the cross sectional distribution of non-discretionary change in earnings demonstrates mixed frequencies of non-discretionary changes in earnings. Overall, this paper adds new empirical evidence to the benchmark-beating literature by demonstrating international evidence of earnings management around zero earnings and zero earnings changes benchmarks.

Suggested Citation

  • Degiannakis, Stavros & Giannopoulos, George & Ibrahim, Salma & Rozic, Ivana, 2017. "Earnings Management to Avoid Losses and Earnings Declines in Croatia," MPRA Paper 80164, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:80164
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/80164/1/MPRA_paper_80164.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/96273/1/MPRA_paper_80164.pdf
    File Function: revised version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sam Han & Tony Kang & Stephen Salter & Yong Keun Yoo, 2010. "A cross-country study on the effects of national culture on earnings management," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(1), pages 123-141, January.
    2. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    3. Chen, Shaw K. & Lin, Bing-Xuan & Wang, Yaping & Wu, Liansheng, 2010. "The frequency and magnitude of earnings management: Time-series and multi-threshold comparisons," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 671-685, October.
    4. Iatridis, George & Kadorinis, George, 2009. "Earnings management and firm financial motives: A financial investigation of UK listed firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 164-173, September.
    5. Grubisic Seba, Mihaela, 2013. "Financing Policies Of Croatian Publicly Listed Firms," UTMS Journal of Economics, University of Tourism and Management, Skopje, Macedonia, vol. 4(2), pages 127-141.
    6. Degeorge, Francois & Patel, Jayendu & Zeckhauser, Richard, 1999. "Earnings Management to Exceed Thresholds," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(1), pages 1-33, January.
    7. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. David Holland & Alan Ramsay, 2003. "Do Australian companies manage earnings to meet simple earnings benchmarks?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 43(1), pages 41-62, March.
    9. David C. Burgstahler & Michael J. Eames, 2003. "Earnings Management to Avoid Losses and Earnings Decreases: Are Analysts Fooled?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 253-294, June.
    10. Mandira Roy Sankar & K. R. Subramanyam, 2001. "Reporting Discretion and Private Information Communication through Earnings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 365-386, September.
    11. Othman, Hakim Ben & Zeghal, Daniel, 2006. "A study of earnings-management motives in the Anglo-American and Euro-Continental accounting models: The Canadian and French cases," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 406-435, 012.
    12. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    13. David Burgstahler & Michael Eames, 2006. "Management of Earnings and Analysts' Forecasts to Achieve Zero and Small Positive Earnings Surprises," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5-6), pages 633-652.
    14. Bergstresser, Daniel & Philippon, Thomas, 2006. "CEO incentives and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 511-529, June.
    15. Key, Kimberly Galligan, 1997. "Political cost incentives for earnings management in the cable television industry," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 309-337, November.
    16. Leuz, Christian & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter D., 2003. "Earnings management and investor protection: an international comparison," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 505-527, September.
    17. Fields, Thomas D. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Vincent, Linda, 2001. "Empirical research on accounting choice," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 255-307, September.
    18. Pascal Dumontier & Bernard Raffournier, 2002. "Accounting and capital markets: a survey of the European evidence," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 119-151.
    19. David Burgstahler & Michael Eames, 2006. "Management of Earnings and Analysts' Forecasts to Achieve Zero and Small Positive Earnings Surprises," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5‐6), pages 633-652, June.
    20. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    21. 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.
    22. Hansen, James C., 2010. "The effect of alternative goals on earnings management studies: An earnings benchmark examination," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 459-480, September.
    23. Ilia D. Dichev & Douglas J. Skinner, 2002. "Large–Sample Evidence on the Debt Covenant Hypothesis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 1091-1123, September.
    24. DeFond, Mark L. & Jiambalvo, James, 1994. "Debt covenant violation and manipulation of accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 145-176, January.
    25. Charoenwong, Charlie & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2009. "Earnings management to exceed thresholds: Evidence from Singapore and Thailand," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 221-236, July.
    26. Healy, Paul M., 1985. "The effect of bonus schemes on accounting decisions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1-3), pages 85-107, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pavol Durana & Lucia Michalkova & Andrej Privara & Josef Marousek & Milos Tumpach, 2021. "Does the life cycle affect earnings management and bankruptcy?," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 12(2), pages 425-461, June.
    2. 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.

    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. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    2. Halaoua, Sameh & Hamdi, Badreddine & Mejri, Tarek, 2017. "Earnings management to exceed thresholds in continental and Anglo-Saxon accounting models: The British and French cases," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(PA), pages 513-529.
    3. Tsipouridou, Maria & Spathis, Charalambos, 2012. "Earnings management and the role of auditors in an unusual IFRS context: The case of Greece," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 62-78.
    4. Chang, Chu-Hsuan & Lin, Hsiou-Wei William, 2018. "Does there prevail momentum in earnings management for seasoned equity offering firms?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 111-129.
    5. Iatridis, George & Kadorinis, George, 2009. "Earnings management and firm financial motives: A financial investigation of UK listed firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 164-173, September.
    6. Pelham Gore & Peter Pope & Ashni Singh, 2007. "Earnings management and the distribution of earnings relative to targets: UK evidence," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 123-149.
    7. Aljughaiman, Abdullah A. & Nguyen, Tam Huy & Trinh, Vu Quang & Du, Anqi, 2023. "The Covid-19 outbreak, corporate financial distress and earnings management," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Dauth, Tobias & Pronobis, Paul & Schmid, Stefan, 2017. "Exploring the link between internationalization of top management and accounting quality: The CFO’s international experience matters," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 71-88.
    9. Persakis, Anthony & Iatridis, George Emmanuel, 2015. "Earnings quality under financial crisis: A global empirical investigation," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 1-35.
    10. Jorge Farinha & Luis Filipe Viana, 2006. "Board structure and modified audit opinions: the case of the Portuguese Stock Exchange," CEF.UP Working Papers 0609, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    11. Xingqiang Du & Wei Jian & Shaojuan Lai & Yingjie Du & Hongmei Pei, 2015. "Does Religion Mitigate Earnings Management? Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 699-749, October.
    12. VLADU ALINA BEATTRICE Author-Workplace-Name: BABES-BOLYAI UNIVERSITY CLUJ-NAPOCA, 2013. "EARNINGS MANGEMENT OCCURENCE IN TIMES OF CRISIS: INSIGHTS FROM THE LITERATURE Abstract: This paper discusses the main findings in the literature and offers interesting insights in order to understandi," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 5, pages 115-119, October.
    13. Dung Viet Tran & M. Kabir Hassan & Reza Houston, 2020. "Discretionary loan loss provision behavior in the US banking industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 605-645, August.
    14. Filip, Andrei & Raffournier, Bernard, 2014. "Financial Crisis And Earnings Management: The European Evidence," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 455-478.
    15. Campa, Domenico, 2019. "Earnings management strategies during financial difficulties: A comparison between listed and unlisted French companies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 457-471.
    16. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    17. Martin Walker, 2013. "How far can we trust earnings numbers? What research tells us about earnings management," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(4), pages 445-481, August.
    18. Thomas Dilger & Sabine Graschitz, 2015. "Influencing Factors on Earnings Management, Empirical Evidence from Listed German and Austrian Companies," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 8(2), pages 69-86, October.
    19. Sidney J. Gray & Tony Kang & Zhiwei Lin & Qingliang Tang, 2015. "Earnings Management in Europe Post IFRS: Do Cultural Influences Persist?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 55(6), pages 827-856, December.
    20. Habib, Ahsan & Hossain, Mahmud, 2008. "Do managers manage earnings to ‘just meet or beat’ analyst forecasts?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 79-91.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Earnings management; Earnings Declines; Earnings Losses; Discretionary Accruals; Earnings frequency distribution.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C18 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Methodolical Issues: General
    • F30 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - General
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • G39 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Other
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:pra:mprapa:80164. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.