Corporate and Strategic Information Disclosure and Earnings Management: Evidence from Listed Firms at the Uganda Securities Exchange

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of corporate and strategic information disclosure on earnings management among listed firms at the Uganda Securities Exchange. We conduct our survey on a census of 9 non-financial listed firms spanning a period of 6 years (2012-2017). The study uses the magnitude of discretionary accruals obtained from the De Chow, Sloan and Sweeney (1995) model as a proxy for earnings management. The study’s results show a negative and significant effect of corporate and strategic information disclosure on earnings management. The implication of this finding is that information disclosure related to corporate and strategic information constitutes a constraint to the proliferation of earnings management. The study could benefit regulatory bodies that are considering making disclosure regimes effective. For instance, we find that the disclosure of corporate and strategic information drives EM downwards. In addition, the results of this study might assist regulators and policy makers in understanding better the interconnections between corporate and strategic information disclosure and earnings management practices in Uganda. This study, however, has some limitations. First, because the study uses a self-constructed disclosure index, certain information items employed in prior studies might be omitted. Second, whereas hand collecting the necessary data on corporate and strategic information from the narrative section of the annual reports allows for a data set containing rich information, the exercise is costly and time-consuming.