Relationships between Firm Specific Factors and Management's Preferences for an Earnings Threshold

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE FA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Earning management and reaching the earnings threshold have long been in the center of different interested parties’ attention. Previous research has provided mixed evidence on the relative importance of three earnings thresholds which managers seek to achieve. These thresholds include avoiding losses، avoiding earnings declines and avoiding negative earnings surprises. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether firm specific factors influence management’s preferences for an earnings threshold. For this purpose three Logit models are estimated to determine the relationships between firm-characteristics and management’s perceptions of the relative importance of each threshold. Data from a sample of 104 affiliated firms in Tehran Stock Exchange with from year1385 to 1389 -520 firm-year observations- have been analyzed. The results show that firm specific factors influence management’s preferences toward a specific earnings threshold. Large firms are more prone to avoid losses; firms with high growth prospects are more prone to avoid earnings declines and firms with high turnover are more concerned with avoiding negative earnings surprises and earnings declines.