An Empirical Test Of Politically-Motivated Income Smoothing In The Oil Refining Industry

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a study of income smoothing in the oil refining industry for years 1971 through 1989. Evidence of a political motivation to practice such smoothing behavior is also reported. The methodology follows closely that of Ronen and Sadan (1981) which found strong smoothing behavior for oil firms in the 1953 to 1972 period. Two types of smoothing behavior were examined classificatory and intertemporal. Based on the analysis, oil firms were found to have a strong political motivation to manage reported earnings. There was no evidence of significant classificatory smoothing behavior by the 26 firms in the study. However, there was significant intertemporal smoothing behavior suggested, although to a less degree than that suggested by Ronen and Sadan. This reduction in smoothing behavior seems to indicate that over the past 20 years standard setters have been somewhat successful in reducing purely arbitrary accounting choices.