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EARNINGS MANAGEMENT AND CORPORATE OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE: AN EXAMINATION OF EXTRAORDINARY ITEM REPORTING
Author(s) -
Dempsey Stephen J.,
Hunt Herbert G.,
Schroeder Nicholas W.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of business finance and accounting
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.282
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1468-5957
pISSN - 0306-686X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5957.1993.tb00270.x
Subject(s) - accounting , earnings management , business , discretion , financial statement , earnings , classification scheme , income statement , actuarial science , audit , balance sheet , political science , computer science , law , information retrieval
This study examines the empirical relation between a three‐way classification of corporate ownership structure and earnings management through the use of extraordinary item (EI) reporting. The EI reporting decisions examined are those made during 1960‐1966, a time period when US reporting standards allowed considerable management discretion with respect to both the classification of EIs and their placement in the financial statements (i.e., income. versus retained earnings statement). Overall, the results provide strong support for income‐increasing behavior by non‐owner managers. Importantly, the results also suggest that the three‐way ownership classification scheme used in this study is superior to the dichotomous owner‐controlled/managercontrolled classification typically used in accounting studies.