Title: An investigation of earnings management through marketing actions
Description: Prior research hypothesizes managers use 'real actions,' including the reduction of discretionary expenditures, to manage earnings to meet or beat key benchmarks. This paper examines this hypothesis by testing how different types of marketing expenditures are used to boost earnings for a durable commodity consumer product which can be easily stockpiled by end-consumers as well as who, within the firm, is responsible for these actions.