Development of the Income Smoothing Literature 1893-1998

And Role in Earnings Management Research -- Definition of Income Smoothing -- Smoothing Instruments and Tactics -- Smoothing Objects -- Taxonomies -- Taxonomy of Smoothing Tactics -- Taxonomy of Document Objectives -- Taxonomy of Literature Types -- Scope of the Study and Method of Entry Identification -- Income Smoothing in Accounting and Business Literature Prior to 1954 -- Secret Reserves -- LIFO and Other Base Stock Inventory Methods -- Empiricism -- Hepworth (1953) -- Antecedents of Modern Earnings Management Research: Income Smoothing in Literature, 1954-1965 -- Overview of Chapter -- Gordon (1964) -- Smoothing as a Criterion for Accounting Choice by Regulators -- Stockholder Satisfaction as the Motivator for Income Smoothing -- Other References to Income Smoothing -- Early Modern Income Smoothing Research, 1966-1981 -- Evidence from Income Smoothing Studies -- Statistical Properties of Accounting Income, Efficient Markets and Income Smoothing Incentives --^

Some Conceptual Difficulties -- Random Effects that Appear as Smoothing Behavior -- Determining a Target Income -- Smoothing Tactics: Long-run and Short-run Smoothing -- Unobservable Smoothing versus Observable Tactics -- Pre-smoothed Income Deviation from Target Income -- Regulatory Smoothing and Smoothing by Convention -- Income Smoothing in Accounting Historical Literature -- Income Smoothing in the Professional Literature and the Popular Press -- Income Smoothing in Modern Accounting Literature -- Evidence from Income Smoothing Studies -- Analytical Modeling and Income Smoothing Research -- Continuing and Newly Recognized Conceptual Problems -- Target Income -- Cash Flow Effects of Non-regulatory Accounting Smoothing -- Long-run versus Short-term Smoothing -- Easily Detectable versus Difficult to Detect Smoothing Tactics -- Smoothing Behavior May Vary Over Time -- The Big Bath and Income Smoothing -- Regulatory Smoothing --^

Smoothing in Professional Literature and the Popular Press -- Income Smoothing in Historical Literature -- Conclusion and Restatement of the Income Smoothing Hypothesis -- Some Definitional and Conceptual Issues -- Asymmetry of Information -- Target Income -- Target Income as a Range -- Expense Preference -- The Big Bath -- Implications for Income Smoothing -- Multi-period Accounting Commitments -- Implications for Future Research -- Chronological Listing of Some Modern Definitions of Smoothing -- Annotated Bibliography of Income Smoothing References: Chronological Listing of Entries -- Studies to Identify Smoothing Behavior -- Other Empirical Studies Related to Income Smoothing -- An Evaluation of the Use of ABI Inform for an Extensive Literature Review -- Non-Smoothing References Not Included in Annotated Bibliography.