Abstract :
Earnings management is the way managers manipulate financial reports in
order to meet certain target. Managers manage earnings through accrual-based
manipulation or real activities or both of them, but managers prefer real activities
manipulation than accrual-based manipulation. It?s happen because depends on
accrual-based manipulation alone entails risks. In Indonesia, there are several
studies on earnings management through real activities manipulation and these
studies are success to prove the existence of real activities manipulation in
manufacturing companies, but none of them use the same approach as
Roychowdhury, the contributor to literature of earnings management who success
to detect earnings management on companies? operational activities.
This study aims to prove earnings management through real activities in
Indonesia, especially the manufacturing companies. There are three things that
companies use to manage earnings; sales manipulation, reduction of discretionary
expense, and overproduction.
An empirical study was carried out in this research. The instrument used was
secondary data from Indonesia Stock Exchange website. Purposive sampling was
employed to choose the samples. Samples are manufacturing companies which
listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2009 to 2011 and their financial reports
must be available on www.idx.co.id. In relation to the estimation models, the
manufacturing companies also must be listed, at least from 2007. The estimation
models used in this study were from Roychowdhury (2006).
Through the data analysis, it is concluded that all of hypotheses are rejected,
means that earnings management through real activities in Indonesia cannot be
proved using Roychowdhury?s estimation models. There is a possibility that the
companies manage earnings not with real activities but discretionary accrual.