Female directors and earnings management: Evidence from UK companies

Thankom Gopinath Arun, Yousf Ebrahem Almahrog and Zakaria Ali Aribi

International Review of Financial Analysis, 2015, vol. 39, issue C, 137-146

Abstract: Since the gender diversity of boards and reporting of earnings are two most debated issues in the corporate world, the paper examined how the presence of women directors on the corporate board influence earnings management practices. We found that firms with a higher number of female and independent female directors are adopting restrained earnings management practices in the UK. We further made a distinction between complex (high debt) and simple (low debt) companies, and the outcomes reveal that female directors have a positive effect on the earnings management in simple companies. The paper contributes to the debate on gender diversity on boards, and its impact on the use of accounting discretion in financial reporting.

Keywords: Earnings management; Gender diversity of boards; Financial reporting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C50 J16 M10 M40 M41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (66)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:finana:v:39:y:2015:i:c:p:137-146

DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2015.03.002

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