This study examines whether managers of Indian companies engage in earnings-increasing real earnings management practices, i.e., overproduction and reduction in discretionary expenses, viz., research and development (R&D) expenses and selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses, to meet two important earnings benchmarks, i.e., avoiding losses and sustaining last year’s earnings. It further examines reduction made in three components of SG&A expenses, viz., marketing (MRK) expenses, welfare and training (W&T) expenses, and other general and administrative (OG&A) expenses, with respect to the same. This study analyses large samples from panel data of Indian companies listed on National Stock Exchange of India during the period 2000 to 2016. The analysis is based on the production cost model of Roychowdhury (J Account Econ 42(3):335–370, 2006), the R&D expense model of Gunny (Contemp Account Res 27(3):855–888, 2010), the SG&A expense models of Roychowdhury (2006), Cohen and Zarowin (J Account Econ 50(1):2–19, 2010), Gunny (2010), and Badertscher (Account Rev 86(5):1491–1518, 2011). Additionally, the study based its analysis on modified estimation models recently developed by Srivastava (Rev Account Stud 24:1277–1316, 2019) of production cost and discretionary expenses. The modified estimation models of Srivastava (2019) provide control for firm’s strategy which is an important determinant of firm’s investing decisions, especially for discretionary expenses. Consistent with Srivastava (2019), the modified estimation models exhibit substantially higher explanatory power for SG&A expenses and its components in comparison with other models. The results indicate that managers are likely to overproduce to avoid losses and to sustain last year’s earnings. This insight, however, is not supported when control is provided for firm’s strategy. Managers do not reduce spending on R&D expenses to meet earnings benchmarks. They do reduce spending on SG&A expenses for the same, which again, however, is not supported after controlling for firm’s strategy. The results pertaining to components of SG&A expenses suggest that managers reduce spending on all of its three components, i.e., MRK expenses, W&T expenses, and OG&A expenses, to avoid losses. The evidence of reduction in spending on the latter two components for the same is reinforced when control for firm’s strategy is taken into consideration. To sustain last year’s earnings, managers appear to reduce spending only on W&T expenses. This evidence, however, is not supported after controlling for firm’s strategy. Overall, the findings indicate that managers in India are more likely to manage W&T expenses to show earnings in line with desired benchmark level.

这项研究调查了印度公司的经理是否从事增加收益的实际收益管理做法，即生产过剩和减少可支配费用，即研发（R＆D）费用以及销售，一般和行政（SG＆A）费用，达到两个重要的收益基准，即避免亏损和维持去年的收益。它进一步检查了SG＆A支出的三个组成部分的减少情况，即营销（MRK）支出，福利和培训（W＆T）支出以及其他一般和行政（OG＆A）支出的减少情况。本研究分析了2000年至2016年期间在印度国家证券交易所上市的印度公司的面板数据的大量样本。该分析基于Roychowdhury的生产成本模型（J Account Econ 42（3）：335-370，2006），Gunny的R＆D费用模型（Contemp Account Res 27（3）：855-888，2010）， Roychowdhury（2006），Cohen和Zarowin（J Account Econ 50（1）：2–19，2010），Gunny（2010）和Badertscher（Account Rev 86（5）：1491–1518，2011）的SG＆A支出模型。此外，该研究的分析基于Srivastava最近开发的修改后的估计模型（Rev Account Stud 24：1277-1316，2019）生产成本和可自由支配费用。Srivastava（2019）的修改后的估计模型为公司的策略提供了控制，这是公司投资决策的重要决定因素，尤其是可自由支配费用。与Srivastava（2019）一致，与其他模型相比，修改后的估算模型对营销，一般及行政费用及其组成部分的解释力要高得多。结果表明，经理人可能会生产过剩，以避免亏损并维持去年的收入。但是，当为公司的策略提供控制时，就不支持这种洞察力。管理人员不会减少研发支出以达到收益基准。他们的确减少了相同的营销，一般及行政费用，但是，在控制了公司的战略之后，这仍然没有得到支持。有关SG＆A支出组成部分的结果表明，经理可以减少所有三个组成部分的支出，即MRK支出，W＆T支出和OG＆A支出，以避免损失。当考虑对公司战略的控制时，可以减少在相同的后两个部分上减少支出的证据。为了维持去年的收入，经理们似乎减少了仅在W＆T支出上的支出。但是，在控制了公司的战略之后，该证据不被支持。总体而言，调查结果表明，印度的经理人更有可能管理W＆T费用，以使其收入符合期望的基准水平。