Earnings Management: A Literature Review in the Actual Debate

Over the last years, earnings management came to light as a phenomenon which gathers numerous evidences from all over the world. It is actually one of the main topic in academic research on accounting. Adopting a content analysis approach, the paper offers a synthetic review of academic literature and empirical evidences all over the world on earnings management. First, the contribute takes place in considering the phenomenon looking at the various definitions and techniques. Secondly, it considers the earnings management policy and the differences between earnings management, creative accounting and fraud. The evidences gathered allow to state that the topic is still widely opened to further research. In synthesis, the paper contributes to highlight the earning management topic relating to different perspective of analysis.