Corporate Governance Characteristics and Earnings Management of Quoted Non-Financial Firms in Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between some corporate governance attributes and earnings management of listed firms in Nigeria. This study uses the correlational research design and purposively sampled secondarily sourced data over the period from 2005 to 2020 of 75 non-financial firms listed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NXG). The Robust Least Squares Estimators results reveal that board independence (BODI) is positively significant with earnings management; board size (BODS board gender diversity (BGDIV) and audit committee size (ACS) are negatively significant with it while managerial ownership (MOWN); chief executive officer with military experience (CEOME) and number of foreign directors (NFODIR) are insignificant. While foreign income (FINCOME), year fixed effects (YDUM) and industry fixed effects (IDUM) dummies are negatively and statistically significant, the Big4 auditors is positively insignificant. The study concludes with some recommendations that management, among others, should maintain or increase the present level of board size, audit committee size and the number of females in the board since these variables deter management in managing earnings for the period under review.