In recent time a number of high-profile accounting scandals highlighted the problem of optimal allocation of savings to investment opportunities. To resolve this problem and to reduce damage caused to stakeholders of a company, it is important to understand the negative implications of earnings management and the conditions under which earnings management occurs. The study begins with the discussion of the earnings quality concept and the summary of prior evidence on the motivations for and the constraints of earnings management. The following empirical analyses shed some light on the effect of accounting standards and competing incentives on the level of earnings management.