Earnings Management and Corporate Governance in Family Firms

2022 ◽  
pp. 417-443
Author(s):  
Elisabete Vieira ◽  
Mara Madaleno
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Ownership Effect ◽  
And Control

Earnings management and corporate governance relationships are examined for a sample of 49 Portuguese listed firms considering an unbalanced panel for the period 2002-2017, using panel corrected standard errors models and considering the family ownership effect. Empirical findings reveal that there is a positive relationship between corporate board independence and earnings management and that the presence of women on board decreases earnings management practices. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that earnings management practices are lower in family firms than in non-family firms. Size, being audited by the Big 4 companies, return on assets, loss, and the existence of an audit committee on board influence positively earnings management, but leverage, age, and ownership control are negatively related to earnings management. Results indicate that further auditing and control is necessary for Portuguese listed companies leading to strict recommendations to be followed by policymakers regarding control of these firms.

Earnings Management and Corporate Governance in Family Firms

2019 ◽  
pp. 127-153
Author(s):  
Elisabete Vieira ◽  
Mara Madaleno
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Corporate Board ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
Ownership Effect ◽  
And Control

Earnings management and corporate governance relationships are examined for a sample of 49 Portuguese listed firms considering an unbalanced panel for the period 2002-2017, using panel corrected standard errors models and considering the family ownership effect. Empirical findings reveal that there is a positive relationship between corporate board independence and earnings management and that the presence of women on board decreases earnings management practices. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that earnings management practices are lower in family firms than in non-family firms. Size, being audited by the Big 4 companies, return on assets, loss, and the existence of an audit committee on board influence positively earnings management, but leverage, age, and ownership control are negatively related to earnings management. Results indicate that further auditing and control is necessary for Portuguese listed companies leading to strict recommendations to be followed by policymakers regarding control of these firms.

Effect of audit committee independence, board ethnicity and family ownership on earnings management in Malaysia

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan Masliza Wan Mohammad ◽  
Shaista Wasiuzzaman
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Family Ownership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Panel Data Regression ◽  
Effect Theory ◽  
History Of

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of audit committee independence, board ethnicity and family ownership on earnings management in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The effect of audit committee independence, board ethnicity and family ownership on corporate governance is investigated via 1,206 firm-year observations between the fiscal years of 2004 and 2009 of Bursa Malaysia listed firms. Panel data regression analysis is used to analyze the relationship. Findings The findings of this study fail to associate the role of audit committee independence as proposed under RMCCG (2007) in curtailing earnings management activities, thus supporting the findings on power distance scores that power granted to the top management may result in less effective independent directors. Nonetheless, in support of the alignment effect theory, family ownership is found to reduce earnings management activities. The findings show that corporate governance is more effective in developing country family firms due to their long history of family reputation and the importance of institutional culture factors. Research limitations/implications This study focuses on board ethnicity, family ownership and its influence on earnings management. Originality/value This study offers insights into the importance of family institutional structures on corporate governance reforms in Malaysia as Malaysian family firms are mostly traditional firms that have built their reputation and strength in the industry for many generations.

scholarly journals Corporate Disclosure, Ownership Structure And Earnings Management: The Case Of French-Listed Firms

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Lakhal
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Ownership Structure ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Corporate Disclosure ◽  
Minority Shareholders ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Good Corporate Governance ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
The Relationship

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corporate governance devices on earnings management for French-listed firms. Particularly, it examines the relationship between corporate disclosure practices, ownership structure features and earnings management by French managers. Results show that the relationship between earnings management measures and disclosure scores is negative suggesting that less transparent firms are likely to engage in earnings management practices. The findings also show that families, institutional investors and multiple large shareholders negatively influence earnings management, and hence, act as good corporate governance devices to limit managerial discretion. This paper shed light on the monitoring role of corporate disclosures and ownership structure in the French context where minority shareholders interests are less protected than in common law countries.

scholarly journals Earnings Quality, Family Influence and Corporate Governance: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Wan Adibah Binti Wan Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Board Of Directors ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Family Influence ◽  
Family Ownership ◽  
The Board Of Directors ◽  
And Control

<p>This study investigates whether family ownership and control, and corporate governance are associated with earnings quality, and whether family influence in firms weakens the association between corporate governance and earnings quality. This study uses a panel sample of 527 publicly traded firms over the period 2003-2008 from the Malaysia Stock Exchange (Bursa Malaysia). Identifying family firms as firms in which family members hold a significant portion of shares and possess control over the board of directors, this study finds that family firms have significantly higher earnings quality. The results remain unchanged, even after using alternative measures of earnings quality and family influence. This study also finds that the earnings quality of firms in Malaysia is positively associated with the size and independence of the audit committee and negatively associated with the size of the board of directors. However, these relationships exist only for nonfamily firms. These results on the corporate governance variables suggest that the effectiveness of corporate governance could be mediated by family influence. Using multivariate regressions that include interaction variables for corporate governance and family firms, the study finds that the relationship between corporate governance and earnings quality is mediated by family ownership and control. The result is consistent with the argument that the monitoring role of corporate governance reduces when there is substantial control by family owners in a firm. Overall, this study concludes that family ownership and control drives higher quality earnings for firms regardless of their corporate governance structure.</p>

Board and audit committee effectiveness in the post-ASX Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations era

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (10) ◽  
pp. 1137-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Safari
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Audit Committees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Aggregate Effect

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the corporate governance literature by examining the aggregate effect of board and audit committee characteristics on earnings management practices, particularly in the period following the introduction of the second edition of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations. Design/methodology/approach This paper begins by embarking on an extensive review of extant empirical research on boards of directors and audit committees. Then, the paper reports on the use of a quantitative analysis approach to specify the relationship between board and audit committee characteristics (introduced by the ASX Corporate Governance Council) and the level of absolute discretionary accruals as a proxy for earnings management. Findings The findings suggest that greater compliance with board and audit committee principles is linked to lower earnings management, indicating that deliberate structuring of boards and audit committees is an effective approach for enhancing a firm’s financial reporting quality and providing support for the efficacy of the second edition of principles and recommendations related to boards and audit committees suggested by the ASX Corporate Governance Council. Practical implications This study significantly extends the literature and has notable implications for financial reporting regulators, as the findings regarding the monitoring role of boards and audit committees should be beneficial for future revisions of corporate governance principles and recommendations. Originality/value This study focuses on the aggregate effect of board characteristics recommended by the Australian Corporate Governance Council on earnings management practices, and the results support the effectiveness of the board and audit committee characteristics recommended by the ASX Corporate Governance Council. New directions for future improvements to the principles and recommendations are identified.

scholarly journals Earnings Quality, Family Influence and Corporate Governance: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Wan Adibah Binti Wan Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Board Of Directors ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Earnings Quality ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Family Influence ◽  
Family Ownership ◽  
The Board Of Directors ◽  
And Control

<p>This study investigates whether family ownership and control, and corporate governance are associated with earnings quality, and whether family influence in firms weakens the association between corporate governance and earnings quality. This study uses a panel sample of 527 publicly traded firms over the period 2003-2008 from the Malaysia Stock Exchange (Bursa Malaysia). Identifying family firms as firms in which family members hold a significant portion of shares and possess control over the board of directors, this study finds that family firms have significantly higher earnings quality. The results remain unchanged, even after using alternative measures of earnings quality and family influence. This study also finds that the earnings quality of firms in Malaysia is positively associated with the size and independence of the audit committee and negatively associated with the size of the board of directors. However, these relationships exist only for nonfamily firms. These results on the corporate governance variables suggest that the effectiveness of corporate governance could be mediated by family influence. Using multivariate regressions that include interaction variables for corporate governance and family firms, the study finds that the relationship between corporate governance and earnings quality is mediated by family ownership and control. The result is consistent with the argument that the monitoring role of corporate governance reduces when there is substantial control by family owners in a firm. Overall, this study concludes that family ownership and control drives higher quality earnings for firms regardless of their corporate governance structure.</p>

scholarly journals Impact of Improved Corporate Governance and Regulations on Earnings Management Practices—Analysis of 7 Industries from the Indian National Stock Exchange

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 454
Author(s):  
Jose Joy Thoppan ◽  
Robert Jeyakumar Nathan ◽  
Vijay Victor
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Discretionary Accruals ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
The Impact

This study investigates discretionary earnings management practices, tracing the changes over the years in selected top performing and highly liquid listed Indian firms. It empirically measures the impact of corporate governance, financial legislation and global reporting standards on the firms’ earnings management practices. The study analyses a sample of 712 firm-year data comprising 89 listed Indian companies across 7 different sectoral indices of the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) over 8 years (2011–2018). The Modified Jones model was used to compute Discretionary Accruals to measure Earnings Management based on data obtained using Bloomberg terminals. Statistical results and plots generated in Stata offer evidence that instances of earnings management have significantly reduced after the enactment of the Companies Act 2013 and the adoption of Indian Accounting standards which are converged with the IFRS. Findings suggest that services firms are engaging in relatively higher levels of earnings management compared to manufacturing firms. This study reveals the positive impact of improved corporate governance, regulation, and enforcement by significantly reducing the levels of earnings management among listed firms in India.

scholarly journals Good corporate governance and earnings management in Indonesian initial public offerings

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-565
Author(s):  
Tatang Ary Gumanti ◽  
Ari Sita Nastiti ◽  
Ayu Retsi Lestari
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Initial Public Offerings ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Governance Mechanism ◽  
Public Offerings ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Good Corporate Governance ◽  
Corporate Governance Mechanisms ◽  
Corporate Governance Mechanism

This study investigates the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management (as measured by discretionary current accruals) for Indonesian IPO firms. Previous studies have mainly focused on an examination of the effect of corporate governance on the earnings management of publicly traded firms, whilst this study examines newly listed firms. It employs a modified Jones model to measure earnings management as developed by Tykvova (2006). The hypothesis predicts that Indonesian IPO firms with good corporate governance will engage in less earnings management in the periods prior to the IPO year. The sample consists of 75 IPOs and the results show that the proportion of board of commissioners, public ownership, institutional ownership and managerial ownership constrain the extent of earnings management of IPO firms. This study contributes to the literature in showing that corporate governance mechanism is an important determinant in earnings management practices for Indonesian IPO firms.

scholarly journals Pengaruh Penerapan Mekanisme Good Corporate Governance Terhadap Praktik Manajemen Laba Pada Perusahaan Manufaktur Yang Terdaftar Di Bursa Efek Indonesia

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Elfrida Ambarita ◽  
Dian Anita Nuswantara
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Earnings Management ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Governance Mechanism ◽  
Good Corporate Governance ◽  
Corporate Governance Mechanism

AbstractThe conflict of interest between agent and principal, asymmetrical information and accounting method selection are able to be used by the manager to do earning management practices. However, it could be reduced by practicing the good corporate governance mechanism which can adjust agent and principal’s interest. The objective of this study is to test the effect of good corporate governance mechanism, as reflected by institutional ownership, managerial ownership, presence of independent board and audit committee existence on the earnings management practice. Using sample from 62 companies in the manufacturing sector at the Jakarta Stock Exchange, which publish financial statement from 2005-2006. This study shows that good corporate governance mechanism insignificantly influence earnings management practice simultaneously. We can infer that mechanism haven’t succeeded to minimize the earnings management practices. 

scholarly journals Audit Committee Effectiveness and Earnings Management Among Publicly Listed Firms in Kenya

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Collins Kapkiyai ◽  
Josephat Cheboi ◽  
Joyce Komen
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Audit Committees ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Listed Firms ◽  
Financial Expertise ◽  
Financial Scandals ◽  
Practical Implications

Objective: The paper sought to investigate the role of an effective audit committee in controlling earnings management practices. Design / Methodology: A panel data sourced from the audited financial reports of firms listed at the Kenyan Nairobi Securities Exchange for the periods between 2004 and 2017 were analyzed using a panel regression model. Findings: Audit committee effectiveness proved an important monitoring mechanism for earnings management. The independence, Meeting frequency, and financial expertise of the audit committee evidenced a negative and significant effect on earnings management. Practical Implications: Firms need to ensure that their audit committees operate effectively. This is achieved through enhancing their independence, ensuring optimal meeting frequency, and a higher number of members with financial expertise for fewer earnings management. Originality: The paper suggests the ways through which audit committee effectiveness can be enhanced to reduce earnings management amid rampant global financial scandals.

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