Earnings Management Among Firms During the Pre-SEC Era: A Benford's Law Analysis

Authors

Jeffrey Archambault, Marshall UniversityFollow
Marie E. Archambault, Marshall UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Winter 12-2011

Abstract

This paper examines the existence of financial statement manipulation in the U.S. during a time period when many of the current motivations did not exist. The study looks for types of manipulations that would be motivated by the pre-SEC operating environment. To examine this issue, a sample of U.S. firms from the 1915 Moody's Analyses of Investments is divided into industrial firms, railroads, and utilities. The railroad and utility companies faced rate regulatiori during this time period, providing incentives to manipulate the financial reports so as to maximize the rate received. Industrial firms were not regulated. These companies wanted to attract investors, motivating manipulations to increase income and net assets. To determine if manipulations are occurring, a Benford's Law analysis is used. This analysis examines the frequency of numbers in certain positions within an amount to determine if the distribution of the numbers is similar to the pattern documented by Benford's Law. Some manipulations consistent with expectations are found.

Comments

Copyright © 2011 Academy of Accounting Historians. Printed with permission. All rights reserved.

Recommended Citation

Archambault, J. J., & Archambault, M. E. (2011). Earnings management among firms during the pre-sec era: A Benford’s Law analysis. Accounting Historians Journal, 38(2), 145-170.