Corporate Governance and the Earnings Quality of Nigerian Firms

Abstract

The focus of the study is to examine the impact of corporate governance on earnings quality in listed firms in Nigeria. The specific objective is to investigate the effect of board size, board independence and board gender diversity on earnings quality. This study was carried out with secondary data retrieved from corporate annual reports of the sampled companies and the data was analysed using panel regression on a sample of 37 quoted manufacturing companies for the period 2011-2017. On the overall, the result reveals that Board size, board independence and board gender diversity used for measuring corporate governance show significant impact on earnings quality. In addition, corporate governance variables appear to be quite sensitive to the measure of earnings quality used. Based on the findings, the study recommends the need for comprehensive evaluation of corporate governance systems of companies. The study recommends the need for more level of board independence. The diversity issue though is gaining momentum in corporate governance literature can still be regarded as not as dominant as compared to others especially as it relates to protecting shareholder rights and framing dividend policy. The significance of the variable nevertheless suggests that companies should thrive to achieve an appropriate diversity mix.