Earnings Quality and the Agency Costs of Managerial Discretion: The Corporate Governance Effect of Accounting Information

Author(s):  
Lu Chuang ◽  
Li Xiuhong ◽  
Zhu Li
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 527-541
Author(s):  
Mauricio Melgarejo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether firms with good corporate governance practices in countries with high levels of political and economic uncertainty, such as Peru, present a higher quality of accounting information. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a multivariate regression analysis to investigate the impact of good corporate governance practices on the quality of accounting information for the firms listed in the Lima Stock Exchange (LSE). Findings Firms included in the Good Corporate Governance Index, in the LSE, present more value relevant, more persistent and more conservative accounting reports. These results hold after controlling for a self-selection bias. Originality/value It is the first paper to explore the impact of good corporate practices on earnings quality in Peru. Also, this study uses a two-state regression methodology to control for the self-selection bias in the sample.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Adel Elzahaby

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to propose an analytical model that investigates both a direct path between corporate governance quality and earnings quality and an indirect path, in which firms' performance is a mediating variable that is influenced by corporate governance quality and that, in turn, influences earnings quality.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a structural equation modelling (SEM), to a sample of Egyptian listed firms during 2011–2017, to test the proposed analytical model and to determine the relative importance of both the direct and indirect paths.FindingsThe findings show a statistically significant evidence of both a direct path from corporate governance quality to earnings quality, and an indirect path that is mediated by firms' performance, suggesting that both corporate governance quality and performance have a complementary effect on earnings quality. However, the weight of the evidence favouring the direct path is more important in case of accounting-based performance measures; and the weight of the evidence favouring the indirect path is more important in case of market-based performance measures.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study has some limitations. First, the study focuses specifically on one proxy for measuring earnings quality which is the absolute value of discretionary accruals. Other proxies of earnings quality could be examined in future research, such as income smoothing, earnings persistence and timely loss recognition. Another limitation is that only financial performance measures were examined, namely, return on assets, return on equity, price-to-earnings ratio and market-to-book value. Notwithstanding, non-financial performance measures could be investigated in future studies, such as balanced scorecard (BSC). Furthermore, considering cultural, political and legislative differences among countries, the results may not be generalised outside the scope of the current sample (i.e. Egyptian listed firms).Practical implicationsThe implications of the findings for both theory and practice are discussed.Originality/valueThis study is distinguished by validating an analytical model that has been overlooked by prior studies. Moreover, it provides a new constructed index for measuring corporate governance quality. Furthermore, it uses a new sophisticated statistical technique, which is SEM, for testing the proposed model.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samza Fatima ◽  
Muhammad Ishtiaq ◽  
Adnan Javed

Purpose Efficient corporate governance is always important to safeguard the interest of all the stakeholders in the business environment. Therefore, this study focuses on the investigation of the relationship between accounting information systems (AIS) and corporate governance in the textile sector of Pakistan. The textile sector is the backbone of the Pakistani economy and has an important contribution toward the gross domestic product and as well as exports of the country. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from the finance managers with the sample size of 300 firms of All Pakistan textile mills association, self-delivery and collection method used. Both descriptive and inferential statistics used to analyze data through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences 23. Findings The findings of this study proved that AIS has a significant impact on corporate governance. It is important from the management point of view to record the daily transaction in a better way with the use of a specific system and every member uses the computerized system to accomplish their tasks in the organization. Originality/value The textile industry is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. The study conducted in this paper by primary data and drawing original contributions in the existing literature. Moreover, the findings of this study are going to have considerable theoretical and practical implications for the market.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Vallejos Villa

The objective of this paper is to analyze the capital structure, the concentration of property and the policy of dividends as determinants of the problems of agency in Chilean companies. As a measure of agency costs, the asset turnover ratio was used as a benchmark for management efficiency in the use of the company's assets, which is an inverse measure of agency costs. The results show that a higher level of indebtedness seems to favor the discretional behavior of managers. However, there is also evidence that when the debt is a short-term debt, the divergence of interest decreases between shareholders and managers. The concentration of property on the other hand has a non-linear effect on the costs of agency, which means that, first, it acts as a mechanism to attenuate managerial discretion, but when it reaches a certain level, an effect of expropriation of major shareholders over minor shareholders seems to be produced. In relation to the dividend policy, a positive relationship is observed with efficiency in the use of assets, mainly in the presence of high growth opportunities.


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