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Advantageous Comparison and Rationalization of Earnings Management

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  • TIMOTHY J. BROWN

Abstract

This paper proposes that psychological factors can change managers' beliefs about earnings management when they choose to engage in it. I show that, under certain circumstances, engaging in a small amount of earnings management alters a manager's beliefs about the appropriateness of the act, which may increase the likelihood of further earnings management. Specifically, I predict and find in two experiments that participants who initially choose to manage earnings are motivated to rationalize their behavior. Participants who are exposed to an egregious example of earnings management (commonly the focus of enforcement actions and press reports) have the opportunity to rationalize their behavior through a mechanism called “advantageous comparison,” where participants compare their behavior against the egregious example and conclude that what they did was relatively innocuous and appropriate. My analysis also indicates that presenting participants with an example of earnings management that is similar to the initial decision they made mitigates advantageous comparison. These results have implications for academics interested in how earnings management, and perhaps fraud, can accrete over time and for regulators and practitioners who are interested in preventing it.

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  • Timothy J. Brown, 2014. "Advantageous Comparison and Rationalization of Earnings Management," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 849-876, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:joares:v:52:y:2014:i:4:p:849-876
    DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12054
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    Cited by:

    1. Gibson, Rajna & Sohn, Matthias & Tanner, Carmen & Wagner, Alexander F., 2021. "Earnings Management and Managerial Honesty: The Investors' Perspectives," LawFin Working Paper Series 7, Goethe University, Center for Advanced Studies on the Foundations of Law and Finance (LawFin).
    2. Anna M. Rose & Jacob M. Rose & Ikseon Suh & Jay Thibodeau & Kristina Linke & Carolyn Strand Norman, 2021. "Why Financial Executives Do Bad Things: The Effects of the Slippery Slope and Tone at the Top on Misreporting Behavior," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 174(2), pages 291-309, November.
    3. Jonathan Farrar & Tisha King, 2023. "To Punish or Not to Punish? The Impact of Tax Fraud Punishment on Observers’ Tax Compliance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 289-311, February.
    4. Reckers, Philip & Samuelson, Melissa, 2016. "Toward resolving the debate surrounding slippery slope versus licensing behavior: The importance of individual differences in accounting ethical decision making," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-16.
    5. Ikseon Suh & John T. Sweeney & Kristina Linke & Joseph M. Wall, 2020. "Boiling the Frog Slowly: The Immersion of C-Suite Financial Executives into Fraud," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 645-673, March.
    6. Jingyu Gao & Adi Masli & Ikseon Suh & Jingchang Xu, 2021. "The Influence of a Family Business Climate and CEO–CFO Relationship Quality on Misreporting Conduct," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 99-122, June.
    7. Libby, Robert & Rennekamp, Kristina M. & Seybert, Nicholas, 2015. "Regulation and the interdependent roles of managers, auditors, and directors in earnings management and accounting choice," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 25-42.
    8. Audrey Wen-Hsin Hsu & Chih-Hsien Liao, 2023. "Auditor industry specialization and real earnings management," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 607-641, February.

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