Effect of Managerial Ownership and Audit Committee Financial Expertise on Earnings Management of Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

Abstract

Earnings management research has a long and rich history. However, the effect of managerial ownership and audit committee financial expertise on earnings management is rarely conducted in the developing countries like Nigeria. Therefore, this study examines how managerial ownership and audit committee financial expertise on earnings management of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. This study used the Roychowdhury approach to measure real earnings management. Thirty-four (34) manufacturing companies out of seventy-three (73) population that were listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) from 2007 to 2021 was selected as sample size. Data was gleaned from the annual financial reports of the sampled companies for this study. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and quantile regression analysis are the econometric techniques used to test the analysed data and for hypothesis testing. Results from the study showed that managerial ownership significantly affects real-earnings management. When the effect was moderated by the financial expertise of the audit committee, the effect of ownership structure on real earnings management disappears. The result from the study show that managers of manufacturing firms in Nigeria should be encouraged to own more shares in the companies they manage in order to minimize real earnings management. The evidence can theoretically serve as a solid foundation for regulatory action, notably through improving the alignment of managers' and shareholders' interests. The results from this study have important implications for regulators, who will gain from understanding how managerial ownership affects real earnings management and improve the accuracy of financial reporting. The findings will also help policymakers and academics to understand how managerial ownership affects real earnings management in Nigeria.