Fraudulent financial reporting, corporate governance and ethics: 1987‐2007

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to review, critique, and integrate certain trends, events, and research streams involving earnings management, fraudulent financial reporting, corporate governance and ethics. Design/methodology/approach - The paper provides a brief history of relevant events and trends in financial reporting for the period 1987‐2007. Within this historical context, financial reporting and earnings quality are discussed from the academic and practitioner points of view. The influence of corporate governance and the role of ethics and behavior are introduced as part of an integrated discussion of academic and practitioner viewpoints of earnings management and fraudulent financial reporting. The last section of the paper provides final observations and recommendations for future research. Findings - The paper concludes that academic research in earnings management and fraudulent financial reporting has become increasingly narrow in addressing important issues and problems in practice. Research limitations/implications - The paper is limited in its depth of analysis in each individual research stream due to the breadth of research and time period that are addressed. The implications for future research are enhanced by the integration of several streams of research relevant to earnings management and fraudulent financial reporting. Practical implications - The paper may be useful to regulators and policy makers to better understand the significance and relevance of academic research. Originality/value - The paper introduces and integrates ethics and behavior as important aspects for understanding earnings management and fraudulent financial reporting.