Key Factors Associated to Earnings Management of the Listed Companies on Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE)

Due to the inherent flexibility in some of the accounting standards, interpretation and application of these practices is, in many cases, a function of managerial discretion and imposed views.Managers are provided with the opportunity which allows them through the use of diverse techniques, including accounting accruals, to manage the reported earnings.Earnings management is the manipulation of earnings aimed to secure achievement of management objectives through the use of safe methods and practices.A large body of the literature on earnings management consists of the studies primarily concerned with identification of certain relevant factors which are likely to have significant impact on earnings management.Present research highlights the key factors that contribute to earnings management in the listed companies on Tehran Stock Exchange.The research statistical population includes all listed companies on TSE with active trading record during 2007 through to 2012.Of this population, using systematic filtering procedure, 155 companies were selected as the research sample.The research hypotheses were tested at the hand of a particularly designed multivariate regression model aided by the fixed effects model and the ordinary least squares (OLS) technique.In this study, the effect of the independent variables difference between forecast and actual earnings per share on earnings management and prediction of the company's future earnings growth on earnings management was examined.Earnings management was measured using modified-Jones model.The obtained results from test of the hypotheses did not indicate any significant association between difference between forecast and actual earnings per share and earnings management, while prediction of the company's future earnings growth was found to be significantly associated with earnings management.