IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jiaata/v26y2016icp1-12.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Earnings management in India: Managers’ fixation on operating profits

Author

Listed:
  • Nagar, Neerav
  • Sen, Kaustav

Abstract

We present evidence that the managers of Indian firms fixate on operating profits, and thus manage such earnings. Specifically, they shift operating expenses to income-decreasing special items in order to inflate operating earnings (McVay, 2006. The Accounting Review, 81(3), 531). We also shed light on another form of classification shifting and find that the managers of Indian firms also engage in netting income-increasing special items against the core expenses in order to inflate core earnings. Given the environment of comparatively weaker corporate governance and investor protection, our results suggest that the magnitude of classification shifting is much more in Indian firms as compared to firms in the United States and East-Asian countries. We also find financial distress to be an important firm characteristic that is likely to influence the managers to engage in classification shifting, and find that financially distressed firms are more likely to engage in both types of classification shifting.

Suggested Citation

  • Nagar, Neerav & Sen, Kaustav, 2016. "Earnings management in India: Managers’ fixation on operating profits," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 1-12.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jiaata:v:26:y:2016:i:c:p:1-12
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2016.02.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1061951816300039
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2016.02.003?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. Niranjan Chipalkatti & Meenakshi RishiAuthor-Email: rishim@seattleu.edu, 2007. "Do Indian banks understate their bad loans?," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 40(2), pages 75-91, January-M.
    2. Vasiliki Athanasakou & Norman C. Strong & Martin Walker, 2011. "The Market Reward for Achieving Analyst Earnings Expectations: Does Managing Expectations or Earnings Matter?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1-2), pages 58-94, January.
    3. 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.
    4. Mark C. Anderson & Rajiv D. Banker & Surya N. Janakiraman, 2003. "Are Selling, General, and Administrative Costs “Sticky”?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 47-63, March.
    5. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy: A Discriminant Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 193-194, March.
    6. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    7. Barth, Mary E. & Beaver, William H. & Landsman, Wayne R., 1998. "Relative valuation roles of equity book value and net income as a function of financial health," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 1-34, February.
    8. Bartov, Eli & Givoly, Dan & Hayn, Carla, 2002. "The rewards to meeting or beating earnings expectations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 173-204, June.
    9. DeFond, Mark L. & Hung, Mingyi, 2003. "An empirical analysis of analysts' cash flow forecasts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 73-100, April.
    10. In†Mu Haw & Simon S.M. Ho & Annie Yuansha Li, 2011. "Corporate Governance and Earnings Management by Classification Shifting," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 517-553, June.
    11. 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.
    12. Katherine A. Gunny, 2010. "The Relation Between Earnings Management Using Real Activities Manipulation and Future Performance: Evidence from Meeting Earnings Benchmarks," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 855-888, September.
    13. Edward I. Altman, 1968. "Financial Ratios, Discriminant Analysis And The Prediction Of Corporate Bankruptcy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 589-609, September.
    14. DeAngelo, Harry & DeAngelo, Linda & Skinner, Douglas J., 1994. "Accounting choice in troubled companies," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 113-143, January.
    15. John L. Abernathy & Brooke Beyer & Eric T. Rapley, 2014. "Earnings Management Constraints and Classification Shifting," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5-6), pages 600-626, June.
    16. Philbrick, Dr & Ricks, We, 1991. "Using Value Line And Ibes Analyst Forecasts In Accounting Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 397-417.
    17. Francis, J & Hanna, JD & Vincent, L, 1996. "Causes and effects of discretionary asset write-offs," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34, pages 117-134.
    18. Mark T. Bradshaw & Richard G. Sloan, 2002. "GAAP versus The Street: An Empirical Assessment of Two Alternative Definitions of Earnings," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(1), pages 41-66, March.
    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. Priyesh Valiya Purayil & Jijo Lukose P. J., 2022. "Does cross‐border acquisition reduce earnings management of emerging market acquirers? Evidence from India," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 22(1), pages 143-168, March.
    2. Nagar, Neerav & Desai, Naman & Jacob, Joshy, 2021. "Do Big 4 auditors limit classification shifting? Evidence from India," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    3. Kalyani Mulchandani & Ketan Mulchandani, 2022. "Does institutional ownership limit classification shifting: evidence from Indian firms," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 466-477, December.
    4. Boahen, Eric O. & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel C., 2021. "What are the effects of culture and institutions on classification shifting in India?," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    5. Desai, Naman & Nagar, Neerav, 2016. "A research note: Are auditors unable to detect classification shifting or merely not willing to report it? Evidence from India," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 111-120.

    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. Nagar, Neerav & Sen, Kaustav, 2016. "Classification Shifting: Impact of Firm Life Cycle," IIMA Working Papers WP2016-03-06, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    2. Nagar, Neerav & Sen, Kaustav, 2015. "Investor Protection and Cash Flow Misclassification," IIMA Working Papers WP2015-12-03, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    3. Bansal, Manish & Kumar, Ashish & Bhattacharyya, Asit & Bashir, Hajam Abid, 2023. "Predictors of revenue shifting and expense shifting: Evidence from an emerging economy," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    4. Nagar, Neerav & Sen, Kaustav, 2016. "Earnings Management Strategies during Financial Distress," IIMA Working Papers WP2016-02-03, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    5. Poonawala, Sakina H. & Nagar, Neerav, 2019. "Gross profit manipulation through classification shifting," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 81-88.
    6. Frost, Carol Ann & Guragai, Binod & Rapley, Eric T., 2017. "Differences in responses to accounting-based and market-based benchmarks – Evidence from Nasdaq," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 46-62.
    7. Alaa Mansour Zalata & Collins Ntim & Ahmed Aboud & Ernest Gyapong, 2019. "Female CEOs and Core Earnings Quality: New Evidence on the Ethics Versus Risk-Aversion Puzzle," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 515-534, December.
    8. Shanshan Pan & Michael Lacina & Haeyoung Shin, 2019. "Income Classification Shifting and Financial Analysts’ Forecasts," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(02), pages 1-48, June.
    9. Fargher, Neil & Wee, Marvin, 2019. "The impact of Ball and Brown (1968) on generations of research," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 55-72.
    10. Malikov, Kamran & Manson, Stuart & Coakley, Jerry, 2018. "Earnings management using classification shifting of revenues," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 291-305.
    11. Desai, Naman & Nagar, Neerav, 2016. "A research note: Are auditors unable to detect classification shifting or merely not willing to report it? Evidence from India," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 111-120.
    12. Wil Martens & Prem W. S. Yapa & Maryam Safari, 2020. "The Impact of Financial Statement Comparability on Earnings Management: Evidence from Frontier Markets," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-25, November.
    13. Al-Shattarat, Basiem & Hussainey, Khaled & Al-Shattarat, Wasim, 2022. "The impact of abnormal real earnings management to meet earnings benchmarks on future operating performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Campa, Domenico & Camacho-Miñano, María-del-Mar, 2015. "The impact of SME’s pre-bankruptcy financial distress on earnings management tools," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 222-234.
    15. Ahsan Habib & Mabel D' Costa & Hedy Jiaying Huang & Md. Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan & Li Sun, 2020. "Determinants and consequences of financial distress: review of the empirical literature," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(S1), pages 1023-1075, April.
    16. Serrano-Cinca, Carlos & Gutiérrez-Nieto, Begoña & Bernate-Valbuena, Martha, 2019. "The use of accounting anomalies indicators to predict business failure," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 353-375.
    17. Al Mabsali, Yousuf Khamis & Hayward, Robert & Eliwa, Yasser, 2021. "Managerial tools used to meet or beat analyst forecasts: Evidence from the UK," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    18. Braam, Geert & Nandy, Monomita & Weitzel, Utz & Lodh, Suman, 2015. "Accrual-based and real earnings management and political connections," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 111-141.
    19. Lenard, Mary Jane & Petruska, Karin A. & Alam, Pervaiz & Yu, Bing, 2016. "Internal control weaknesses and evidence of real activities manipulation," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 47-58.
    20. Chen, Yangyang & Rhee, S. Ghon & Veeraraghavan, Madhu & Zolotoy, Leon, 2015. "Stock liquidity and managerial short-termism," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 44-59.

    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:eee:jiaata:v:26:y:2016:i:c:p:1-12. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-international-accounting-auditing-and-taxation .

    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.