Abstract
Two earnings management techniques are based on R&D expenditures: (i) reducing R&D spending and (ii) capitalization of R&D spend-ing. In this paper, we examine whether both techniques are used by French firms to meet earnings thresholds (zero earnings and prior year earnings). Firstly, we study each technique separately. Our results show that R&D spending iscapitalized in order to meet these thresholds, and managers reduce R&D in order to meet them. We then investigate whether managers use the two earnings management techniques in a coordinated way, and show that they are used in combination. More precisely, these earnings management techniques are substitutes for each other: low use of one is balanced by greater use of the other. We contribute to the literature by showing an earnings management process in which managers combine more than one earnings management technique.