Firm Life Cycle and Real-Activity Based Earnings Management

We examine real-activity based earnings management, i.e., cuts in discretionary innovation/marketing spending and overproduction for meeting the earnings benchmark of avoiding losses across firms’ life cycle. We use the cash flow components to classify a firm’s life cycle. We hypothesize and find that firms in the growth and mature stages exhibit real-activity based earnings management to meet earnings target of avoiding losses; but firms in the introductory stage do not. We also hypothesize and find that such real-activity based earnings management to meet the earnings benchmark of avoiding losses is associated with future performance for mature firms, but not so for growth firms. Collectively, our evidence shows the importance of considering firm’s life cycle when examining real-activity based earnings management.