Investigating income smoothing: Empirical evidence from Vietnam’s listed companies

Abstract

    The income smoothing is a dimension of the accounts manipulation theme that has been attracting a greatattention in the accounting literature. A goal of manipulation is widely ascribed to managers who wants incomesmoothing. The author has tried to investigate income smoothing at listed companies on the Stock Exchange. Forthis purpose, we chose a stratified random sample of 285 companies from formula listed companies on VietnamStock Exchange. We carried the mechanism for smooth and non-smoothing companies Eckel model (coefficient ofvariation of a distribution of profits to sales). We have compared 111 smoothing companies and 174 non-smoothingcompanies. The study results suggest that the Eckel index is suitable for the Vietnam stock market and show a slightincrease compared to the previous research.