Corporate Governance and Earnings Management: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Abstract

This paper examines the link between corporate governance and earnings management (EM) of firms in some selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A two-step estimation procedure using firm level data is applied. The first step employs a panel data estimation technique to analyze working capital discretionary accruals (WCDAC), a proxy for EM. Building on these results, the second stage examines the sources of EM, placing emphasis on the role of corporate governance and institutions. We find that EM of firms in Africa can be explained by the size of the board, its composition, return on assets, and debt ratio. In addition, our result reveals varying results as different corporate governance mechanisms affect EM across the various countries.