Japanese Managers' Earnings Management Using Several Different Types of Reserve Accounts‪.‬

INTRODUCTION The Japanese economy was booming in the late 1980s. Now it is slowly trying to regain its economic glory days which preceded the market crash in 1990. Many of its leading industries lost their worldwide leadership positions to South Korea and other countries. Samsung has the highest market share in the world TV market surpassing Sony and Panasonic, even though Toyota is still the best auto manufacturing company in the world (http//news.chosun.com, February, 27, 2007). Since Japan does not own natural resources such as oil and lumber, most of their success depends on exports and the world economy. Currently China and other developing countries are demanding increasing quantities of oil. As a consequence, Japan still will continue to face hard times as long as oil prices remain high.