AN OVERVIEW OF EARNINGS MANAGEMENT MEASUREMENT APPROACHES: DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION

Abstract

Earnings management practice has received much consideration and interest from regulators and practitioners as well as academics, with literature in the accounting field providing three key approaches for the identification of the various practice levels and techniques, including aggregate accruals, specific accruals and statistical distribution approach. Despite the fact that many studies have been directed towards enhancing the overall power and specification of each approach, there are nevertheless pros and cons linked with the application of each model. This paper provides and reviews the literature available on the development and assessment of such frameworks in an attempt to emphasis the various points studies should be considering when identifying earnings management.