Nguyen Vinh Khuong, Phung Anh Thu, Dinh Thi Thu Thao

Main Article Content

Abstract

The intent of this study is to investigate the top executive gender effect on earnings management of companies listed on the stock market. Based on data from 100 companies listed on the Vietnamese stock markets (HNX and HOSE) listed before 2009 in the period from 2011 to 2014, using quantitative research methods, we find a correlation between earnings management and top executive gender (GENDERCHAIR, GENDERCEO, GENDERCFO), the proxy of firm size and the tenure of the CEO. This paper extends prior research by addressing the potential effects of female executives on earnings management. The findings reported in this paper provide novel insights to the empirical financial accounting literature.


Keywords


Executive, gender, CEO, CFO, earnings management


References


[1] Holthausen, R., “Accounting method choice: Opportunistic behavior, efficient contracting,
and information perspectives”, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 12 (1990), 207-18.
[2] Christie, A. and Zimmerman, J., “Efficient and opportunistic choices of accounting procedures: Corporate control contests”, The Accounting Review, 69 (1994), 539-66.
[3] Beneish, M., “Earnings management: A perspective”, Managerial Finance, 27 (2001), 3-17.
[4] Cheng, Q. and Warfield, T., “Equity incentives and earnings management”, The Accounting Review, 80 (2005), 441-76.
[5] Davidson, W., Xie, B., Xu, W. and Ning, Y., “The influence of executive age, career horizon and incentives on pre-turnover earnings management”, Journal of Management &
Governance, 11 (2007), 45-60.
[6] Meek, G., Rao, R. and Skousen, C., “Evidence on factors affecting the relationship between CEO stock option compensation and earnings management”, Review of Accounting and Finance, 6 (2007), 304-23.
[7] Jiang, J., Petroni, K. and Wang, I., “CFOs and CEOs: Who has the most influence on earnings management”, Working paper, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 2008.
[8] Matsunaga, S.R. and Yeung, P.E., “Evidence on the impact of a CEO’s financial experience on quality of the firm’s financial reports and disclosures”, Proceedings of the 2008 AAA Financial Accounting and Reporting Section Conference, 2008.
[9] Carter, D., Simkins, B. and Simpson, W., “Corporate governance, board diversity, and firm value”, The Financial Review, 38 (2003), 33-53.
[10] Erhardt, N., Werbel, J. and Shrader, C., “Board of director diversity and firm financial
performance”, Corporate Governance: An International Review, 11 (2003), 102-10.
[11] Farrell, K. and Hersch, P., “Additions to corporate boards: The effect of gender”, Journal of Corporate Finance, 11 (2005), 85-106.
[12] Rose, C., “Does female board representation influence firm performance? The Danish evidence”, Corporate Governance: An International Review, 15 (2007) 2, 404-13.
[13] Campbell, K. and Minguez-Vera, A., “Gender diversity in the boardroom and firm financial performance”, Journal of Business Ethics, 83 (2008), 435-51.
[14] Adams, R. and Ferreira, D., ‘‘Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance’’, Journal of Financial Economics, 94 (2009), 291-309.
[15] Powell, M. and Ansic, D., “Gender differences in risk behaviour in financial decision-making: An experimental analysis”, Journal of Economic Psychology, 18 (1997), 605-28.
[16] Jianakoplos, N. and Bernasek, A., “Are women more risk averse?”, Economic Inquiry, 36 (1998), 620-30.
[17] Byrnes, J., Miller, D. and Schafer, W., “‘Gender differences in risk taking: A meta-analysis”, Psychological Bulletin, 125 (1999), 367-83.
[18] Schubert, R., “Analyzing and managing risks on the importance of gender difference in
risk attitudes”, Managerial Finance, 32 (2006), 706-15.
[19] Watson, J. and McNaughton, M., “Gender differences in risk aversion and expected retirement benefits”, Financial Analysts Journal, 63 (2007) 4, 52-62.
[20] Riley, W.B. and Chow, K.V., “Asset Allocation and Individual Risk Aversion”, Financial Analysts Journal, 48 (1992), 32-37.
[21] Peng, W.Q. and Wei, K.C.J., “Women Executives and Corporate Investment: Evidence from the S&P 1500”, Working Paper, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, 2007.
[22] Krishnan, G.V. & Parsons, L.M., “Getting to the bottom line: An exploration of gender and earnings quality”, Journal of Business Ethics, 78 (2008) 1/2, 65-76.
[23] [Clikeman P.M., Geiger, M.A. & O’Connell, B.T., “Student perceptions of earnings management: The effects of national origin and gender”, Teaching Business Ethics, 5 (2001) 4, 389-410.
[24] Baldry, J. C., “Income tax evasion and the tax schedule: Some experimental results”, Public Finance, 42 (1987), 357-383.
[25] Fallan, L., “Gender, exposure to tax knowledge, and attitudes towards taxation: An experimental approach”, Journal of Business Ethics, 18 (1999), 173-184.
[26] Cullis, J., P. Jones and A. Lewis, “Tax framing, instrumentality and individual differences: Are there 2 different cultures”, J. Econ. Psychol., 27 (2006) 2, 304-320.
[27] Hinz, R. P., McCarthy, D. D., & Turner, J. A., “Are women more conservative investors? Gender differences in participant-directed pension investments”, Working paper, University of Pennsylvania, 1997.
[28] Bajtelsmit, V. L., & Bernasek, A., “Why do women invest differently than men?”, Financial Counseling and Planning, 7 (1996), 1-10.
[29] Sunden, A. E., & Surrette, B. J., “Gender differences in the allocation of assets in retirement savings plans”, American Economic Review, 88 (1998), 207-211.
[30] Estes, R., Hosseini, J., “The gender gap on wall street: an empirical analysis of confidence in investment decision making”, The Journal of Psychology 122 (6) (1988), 577-590.
[31] Jiekun Huang, Darren J. Kisgen, “Gender and Corporate Finance”, USC FBE Finance Seminar, 2008.
[32] Gibbons, R., and Murphy, J. K., “Optimal incentive contracts in the presence of career concerns: Theory and evidence”, Journal of Political Economy 100 (1992), 468-505.
[33] Homstrom Bengt, “Moral hazard in teams”, Bell Journal of Economics 13, 324-340, 1982.
[34] Ahmad, M., Anjum, T., Azeem, M., “Investigating the impact of corporate governance on earning management in the presence of firm size; evidence from Pakistan”, International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 3 (2014) 2, 84-90.
[35] Dechow, P. M., & Dichev, I. D. The quality of accruals and earnings: the role of accrual estimation errors. The Accounting Review, 77 (2002), 35-59.
[36] Waweru, N & Riro, G, “Corporate governance, firm characteristics and earnings management in an emerging economy”, Jamar, 11 (2013) 1, 43-64.
[37] Fung, S & Goodwin, J, “Short term debt maturity, monitoring and accruals- based earnings management”, Journal of contemporary accounting and economics, vol.9, no.1, pp. 67-82, 2013.
[38] Jones, J.D., Lang, D.W., Nigro, P.J., Agent bank behavior in bank loan syndications. The Journal of Financial Research 28, 385–402, 2005.
[39] Francis, J.R. and J. Krishnan Accounting accruals and auditor reporting conservatism, Contemporary Accounting Research, Spring, 135-165, 1999.
[40] Basu, S., Hwang, L. and Jan, C.-L,. Differences in Conservatism between Eight and Non-Big Eight Auditors, Paper presented at the Fourteenth Symposium on Auditing Research University of Illinois, 2000.
[41] Bartov, E & Gul, F & Tsui, J, “Discretionary accruals models and audit qualifications”, Journal of Accounting and economics, vol.3, no.3, pp 421-452, 2000.
[42] Yasar, A. “Big Four Auditors’ Audit Quality and Earnings Management: Evidence from Turkish Stock Market”, International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4 (17), 153-163, 2013.
[43] Shah, S. & Butt, S., “Governance and Earnings Management an Empirical: Evidence Form Pakistani Listed Companies”, European Journal of Scientific Research, 26 (2009), 4, 624-638.
[44] Soliman, M & Ragab, A, ‘Audit Committee Effectiveness, Audit Quality and Earnings Management: An Empirical Study of the Listed Companies in Egypt’, Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, vol.5, no.2, pp. 155 - 166, 2014.
[45] Geiger, M. and North, D., “Does hiring a new CFO change things? An investigation of changes in discretionary accruals”, The Accounting Review, 81 (2006) 4, 781-809.
[46] Salleh, N. & Haat, M., “Audit committee and earnings management: Pre and post MCCG”, International Review of Management and Business Research, 3 (2014), 1, 307-318.
[47] Feng, M., W. Ge, S. Luo, and T. Shevlin, “Why do CFOs become involved in material accounting manipulations?”, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 51 (2011), 21-36.

Keywords: Executive, Gender, CEO, CFO, Earnings management

References

[1] Holthausen, R., “Accounting method choice: Opportunistic behavior, efficient contracting,
and information perspectives”, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 12 (1990), 207-18.
[2] Christie, A. and Zimmerman, J., “Efficient and opportunistic choices of accounting procedures: Corporate control contests”, The Accounting Review, 69 (1994), 539-66.
[3] Beneish, M., “Earnings management: A perspective”, Managerial Finance, 27 (2001), 3-17.
[4] Cheng, Q. and Warfield, T., “Equity incentives and earnings management”, The Accounting Review, 80 (2005), 441-76.
[5] Davidson, W., Xie, B., Xu, W. and Ning, Y., “The influence of executive age, career horizon and incentives on pre-turnover earnings management”, Journal of Management &
Governance, 11 (2007), 45-60.
[6] Meek, G., Rao, R. and Skousen, C., “Evidence on factors affecting the relationship between CEO stock option compensation and earnings management”, Review of Accounting and Finance, 6 (2007), 304-23.
[7] Jiang, J., Petroni, K. and Wang, I., “CFOs and CEOs: Who has the most influence on earnings management”, Working paper, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 2008.
[8] Matsunaga, S.R. and Yeung, P.E., “Evidence on the impact of a CEO’s financial experience on quality of the firm’s financial reports and disclosures”, Proceedings of the 2008 AAA Financial Accounting and Reporting Section Conference, 2008.
[9] Carter, D., Simkins, B. and Simpson, W., “Corporate governance, board diversity, and firm value”, The Financial Review, 38 (2003), 33-53.
[10] Erhardt, N., Werbel, J. and Shrader, C., “Board of director diversity and firm financial
performance”, Corporate Governance: An International Review, 11 (2003), 102-10.
[11] Farrell, K. and Hersch, P., “Additions to corporate boards: The effect of gender”, Journal of Corporate Finance, 11 (2005), 85-106.
[12] Rose, C., “Does female board representation influence firm performance? The Danish evidence”, Corporate Governance: An International Review, 15 (2007) 2, 404-13.
[13] Campbell, K. and Minguez-Vera, A., “Gender diversity in the boardroom and firm financial performance”, Journal of Business Ethics, 83 (2008), 435-51.
[14] Adams, R. and Ferreira, D., ‘‘Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance’’, Journal of Financial Economics, 94 (2009), 291-309.
[15] Powell, M. and Ansic, D., “Gender differences in risk behaviour in financial decision-making: An experimental analysis”, Journal of Economic Psychology, 18 (1997), 605-28.
[16] Jianakoplos, N. and Bernasek, A., “Are women more risk averse?”, Economic Inquiry, 36 (1998), 620-30.
[17] Byrnes, J., Miller, D. and Schafer, W., “‘Gender differences in risk taking: A meta-analysis”, Psychological Bulletin, 125 (1999), 367-83.
[18] Schubert, R., “Analyzing and managing risks on the importance of gender difference in
risk attitudes”, Managerial Finance, 32 (2006), 706-15.
[19] Watson, J. and McNaughton, M., “Gender differences in risk aversion and expected retirement benefits”, Financial Analysts Journal, 63 (2007) 4, 52-62.
[20] Riley, W.B. and Chow, K.V., “Asset Allocation and Individual Risk Aversion”, Financial Analysts Journal, 48 (1992), 32-37.
[21] Peng, W.Q. and Wei, K.C.J., “Women Executives and Corporate Investment: Evidence from the S&P 1500”, Working Paper, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, 2007.
[22] Krishnan, G.V. & Parsons, L.M., “Getting to the bottom line: An exploration of gender and earnings quality”, Journal of Business Ethics, 78 (2008) 1/2, 65-76.
[23] [Clikeman P.M., Geiger, M.A. & O’Connell, B.T., “Student perceptions of earnings management: The effects of national origin and gender”, Teaching Business Ethics, 5 (2001) 4, 389-410.
[24] Baldry, J. C., “Income tax evasion and the tax schedule: Some experimental results”, Public Finance, 42 (1987), 357-383.
[25] Fallan, L., “Gender, exposure to tax knowledge, and attitudes towards taxation: An experimental approach”, Journal of Business Ethics, 18 (1999), 173-184.
[26] Cullis, J., P. Jones and A. Lewis, “Tax framing, instrumentality and individual differences: Are there 2 different cultures”, J. Econ. Psychol., 27 (2006) 2, 304-320.
[27] Hinz, R. P., McCarthy, D. D., & Turner, J. A., “Are women more conservative investors? Gender differences in participant-directed pension investments”, Working paper, University of Pennsylvania, 1997.
[28] Bajtelsmit, V. L., & Bernasek, A., “Why do women invest differently than men?”, Financial Counseling and Planning, 7 (1996), 1-10.
[29] Sunden, A. E., & Surrette, B. J., “Gender differences in the allocation of assets in retirement savings plans”, American Economic Review, 88 (1998), 207-211.
[30] Estes, R., Hosseini, J., “The gender gap on wall street: an empirical analysis of confidence in investment decision making”, The Journal of Psychology 122 (6) (1988), 577-590.
[31] Jiekun Huang, Darren J. Kisgen, “Gender and Corporate Finance”, USC FBE Finance Seminar, 2008.
[32] Gibbons, R., and Murphy, J. K., “Optimal incentive contracts in the presence of career concerns: Theory and evidence”, Journal of Political Economy 100 (1992), 468-505.
[33] Homstrom Bengt, “Moral hazard in teams”, Bell Journal of Economics 13, 324-340, 1982.
[34] Ahmad, M., Anjum, T., Azeem, M., “Investigating the impact of corporate governance on earning management in the presence of firm size; evidence from Pakistan”, International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 3 (2014) 2, 84-90.
[35] Dechow, P. M., & Dichev, I. D. The quality of accruals and earnings: the role of accrual estimation errors. The Accounting Review, 77 (2002), 35-59.
[36] Waweru, N & Riro, G, “Corporate governance, firm characteristics and earnings management in an emerging economy”, Jamar, 11 (2013) 1, 43-64.
[37] Fung, S & Goodwin, J, “Short term debt maturity, monitoring and accruals- based earnings management”, Journal of contemporary accounting and economics, vol.9, no.1, pp. 67-82, 2013.
[38] Jones, J.D., Lang, D.W., Nigro, P.J., Agent bank behavior in bank loan syndications. The Journal of Financial Research 28, 385–402, 2005.
[39] Francis, J.R. and J. Krishnan Accounting accruals and auditor reporting conservatism, Contemporary Accounting Research, Spring, 135-165, 1999.
[40] Basu, S., Hwang, L. and Jan, C.-L,. Differences in Conservatism between Eight and Non-Big Eight Auditors, Paper presented at the Fourteenth Symposium on Auditing Research University of Illinois, 2000.
[41] Bartov, E & Gul, F & Tsui, J, “Discretionary accruals models and audit qualifications”, Journal of Accounting and economics, vol.3, no.3, pp 421-452, 2000.
[42] Yasar, A. “Big Four Auditors’ Audit Quality and Earnings Management: Evidence from Turkish Stock Market”, International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4 (17), 153-163, 2013.
[43] Shah, S. & Butt, S., “Governance and Earnings Management an Empirical: Evidence Form Pakistani Listed Companies”, European Journal of Scientific Research, 26 (2009), 4, 624-638.
[44] Soliman, M & Ragab, A, ‘Audit Committee Effectiveness, Audit Quality and Earnings Management: An Empirical Study of the Listed Companies in Egypt’, Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, vol.5, no.2, pp. 155 - 166, 2014.
[45] Geiger, M. and North, D., “Does hiring a new CFO change things? An investigation of changes in discretionary accruals”, The Accounting Review, 81 (2006) 4, 781-809.
[46] Salleh, N. & Haat, M., “Audit committee and earnings management: Pre and post MCCG”, International Review of Management and Business Research, 3 (2014), 1, 307-318.
[47] Feng, M., W. Ge, S. Luo, and T. Shevlin, “Why do CFOs become involved in material accounting manipulations?”, Journal of Accounting and Economics, 51 (2011), 21-36.