Income Smoothing through R&D Management and Earnings Informativeness
研究了企业通过研发管理平滑盈余是否让盈余信息更有用，发现这种平滑能提高盈余信息含量，但效果弱于应计项目平滑。
ABSTRACT We examine whether income smoothing via R&D management is associated with more informative earnings. While the literature finds earnings smoothing through accruals improves earnings informativeness, it is unclear whether smoothing through R&D management is used to inform investors because R&D management is relatively more difficult to detect and curb. We find that R&D management, which represents a subset of real activities management, is associated with more informative earnings, but the association is weaker relative to smoothing through accruals. We also document that R&D-based smoothing is associated with more accurate and less disperse analyst forecasts of earnings, but the association is weaker relative to smoothing through accruals. Overall, we provide novel evidence suggesting that managers use R&D management to smooth temporary shocks to earnings and inform investors. Data Availability: All data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: M41.