Income Smoothing in Accounting and Business Literature Prior to 1954

Abstract

The origin of income smoothing in literature has been attributed to different authors in recent years. However, the attributions have been made based on research using a simple analysis of the term “income smoothing”. This study considers the modern concept of income smoothing rather than simply the term itself. Using this approach, income smoothing is either explicitly or implicitly recognized and discussed in literature long before the aforementioned authors. A lack of awareness has been the primary reason for modern income smoothing research overlooking the earlier literature on the subject. This awareness can be ascribed to weak citation analysis. Therefore, researchers should be more cautious in how they use citation analysis.

Kar Yönetimi Uygulamalarında İhtiyari Tahakkuklar ve Tahakkuk İptallerinin Etkisi: Bankacılık Sektörü Üzerine Bir Uygulama1 (Earnings Management Practices in terms of Discretionary Accruals and Accrual Reversals: An Empirical Study on Banking Sector )

“…En genel ve kabul edilebilir ifadeyle karın istikrarlı gösterilmesi, uygun muhasebe ilke, yöntem ve politikaları aracılığıyla kardaki dalgalanmaların azaltılarak hedef kar düzeyine çekilmesidir (Copeland, 1968). İlgili kar yönetimi literatürü incelendiğinde, karın istikrarlı gösterilmesi alanında yapılan ilk ampirik çalışmanın Gordon ve diğerleri (1966) tarafından (Buckmaster, 1992;Cushing, 1969;Dascher & Malcom, 1970;Imhoff, 1979) yapıldığı bilgisine ulaşılır. Kar yönetimine ait ilk teorik tartışma niteliğindeki çalışma ise Hepworth (1953) tarafından yapılmıştır (Imhoff, 1979) görülür.…”

Modes de financement et comptabilisation des immatériels : une approche historique de la gestion du résultat

“…Le choix de méthodes de valorisation des stocks est également un instrument de gestion du résultat. Ainsi, Buckmaster (1992) note que l'option pour la méthode FIFO notamment en période d'inflation permet d'afficher des niveaux de résultat supérieur. Il ajoute cependant que si les actionnaires sont en droit d'attendre des versements de dividendes supérieurs, la firme doit également financer des stocks plus coûteux et par conséquent limiter les sorties de trésorerie.…”

A Framework for the Classification of Accounts Manipulations

“…The hypothesis that management smoothes income was mainly suggested by Hepworth [1953] and elaborated on by Gordon [1964]. However, Buckmaster [1992Buckmaster [ , 1997 found earlier references. Since Hepworth's article, IS has been studied mostly in the US whether there had been also some researches in Canada, UK and France 2 .…”