Open AccessA Digital Analysis Of The Reported Earnings Of Asian Firms
Author(s) -
Kathy H. Y. Hsu,
Thomas E. Wilson
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the international business and economic research journal/the international business and economics research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2157-9393
pISSN - 1535-0754
DOI - 10.19030/iber.v1i2.3889
Subject(s) - earnings , china , business , demographic economics , accounting , economics , geography , archaeology
Prior research (Carslaw, 1988; Thomas, 1989) has noted unusual patterns in the frequency of occurrence of certain digits contained in reported earnings. Employing digital analysis, studies have found that managers in the U.S. and Australia may round reported earnings numbers to achieve income-smoothing objectives. This study extends prior literature by examining whether reported earnings of firms from six Asian countries: South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and China follow similar patterns.