Relations between Earnings Management, Pricing Power and Competition Of Industries

Abstract

Earnings management has a negative effect on earnings quality and it may weaken validity of financial reports. The main focus of researches about earnings management is why companies manipulate earnings. Pricing power of companies can potentially affect earnings management. Since the relation between product pricing power and earnings management has not been studied in Tehran Stock Exchange, this research tries to find a relation between product pricing power and earnings management and a relation between existing competition in industries and earnings management in Tehran Stock Exchange. The results show that there is not a significant relation between pricing power and earnings management. This is due to the mandatory nature of rules and regulations of product pricing in many internal industries. Also, those companies in more competitive industries may manage earnings in order to limit their competitors in obtaining precise information. The results of the present research show that there is a significant relation between existing competition of industries and earnings management in industries such as vehicle & parts, cement, gypsum & lime, chemicals, main metals, tile & ceramic, machinery & equipment, and pharmaceuticals. On the other hand, the results from the research model indicate no direct relation between the competitive pressure and earnings management.