a desired level of reported earnings' (Davidson et al., 1987). A specific example of earnings management included within this definition is income smoothing. Smoothing can be viewed in terms of the reduction in earnings variability over a number of periods, or, within a single period, as the movement towards an expected level of reported earnings. It should be noted that this definition relates, in the context of this study, to 'artificial' earnings management, which encompasses both changes in accounting methods and classificatory choice.