Ledningsprognosers egenskaper - Hur påverkar de mängden Earnings Management

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between Earnings Management (EM) and certain characteristics of management forecasts, among a sample of Swedish listed companies. The forecast characteristics studied are: 1) Forecast venue: How explicitly is the forecast presented? 2) Forecast precision: How detailed is the estimated number? 3) Forecast measure: Which measure(s) are forecasted? We use a sample of 68 annual management forecasts, obtained from year-end reports between the years 2007-2011. EM during the forecasted year (2008-2012) is estimated using the cross-sectional modified-Jones model. The forecast characteristics are then related to the degree of EM during the forecasted period. The findings of the study are that EM is higher for firms which provide forecasts with a high degree of explicitness as well as for firms which provide forecasts of sales. Possible relationships among these characteristics and EM are put under scrutiny. Finally, we discuss the limitations of the study and call for further research on the subject.