Abstract
This study examines whether the gender of the directors on fully independent audit committees affects the ability of the committees in constraining earnings management and thus their effectiveness in overseeing the financial reporting process. Using a sample of 525 firm-year observations over the period 2003 to 2005, we are unable to identify an association between the proportion of female directors on audit committees and the extent of earnings management.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beasley, M.S. and S. S. Salterio: 2001, ‘The Relationship between Board Characteristics and Voluntary Improvements in Audit Committee Composition and Experience’, Contemporary Accounting Research 18(4), 539-570.
Bedard, J., S. M. Chtourou and L. Courteau: 2004, ‘The Effect of Audit Committee Expertise, Independence, and Activity on Aggressive Earnings Management’, Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory 23(2), 13-35.
Bruns, W. J. and K. A. Merchant: 1990, ‘The Dangerous Morality of Managing Earnings’, Management Accounting 72(2), 22-25.
Bushman, R., Q. Chen, E. Engel and A. Smith: 2004, ‘Financial Accounting Information, Organizational Complexity and Corporate Governance Systems’, Journal of Accounting and Economics 37, 167-201.
Cahan, S.: 2002, ‘The Effect of Monopoly Antitrust Investigations on Discretionary Accruals: A Refined Test of the Political Costs Hypothesis’, The Accounting Review 67(1), 77-95.
Chong, G.: 2006, ‘Is Income Smoothing Ethical?’, The Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance 18(1), 41-44.
Chung, H. and S. Kallapur: 2003, ‘Client Importance, Nonaudit Services, and Abnormal Accruals’, The Accounting Review 78(4), 931-955.
Claessens, S., S. Djankov and L. H. P. Lang: 2000, ‘The Separation of Ownership and Control in East Asian Corporations’, Journal of Financial Economics 58(1–2), 81-112.
Clikeman, P. M.: 2003, ‘Where Auditors Fear to Tread’, The Internal Auditor 60(4), 75-79.
Core, J., R. Holthausen and D. Larcker: 1999, ‘Corporate Governance, Chief Executive Officer Compensation, and Firm Performance’, Journal of Financial Economics 51, 371-406.
Dechow, P. and I. Dichev: 2002, ‘The Quality of Accruals and Earnings: The Role of Accrual Estimation Errors’, The Accounting Review 77, 35-59.
Dechow, P., R. Sloan and A. Sweeney: 1996, ‘Causes and Consequences of Earnings Manipulation: An Analysis of Firms subject to Enforcement Actions by the SEC’, Contemporary Accounting Research 13(1), 1-36.
Fich, E. M. and A. Shivdasani: 2006, ‘Are Busy Boards Effective Monitors?’, Journal of Finance 61, 689-724.
Ford, R. C. and W. D. Richardson: 1994, `Ethical Decision Making: A Review of the Empirical Literature', Journal of Business Ethics 13(3), 205–221
Francis, J., R. LaFond, P. Olsson, and K. Schipper: 2004, ‘Costs of Equity and Earnings Attributes’, The Accounting Review 79, 967-1010.
Fudenberg, D. and J. Tirole: 1995, ‘A Theory of Income and Dividend Smoothing based on Incumbency Rents’, The Journal of Political Economy 103(1), 75-93.
Gaa, J. and P. Dunsmore: 2007, ‘The Ethics of Earnings Management’, Chartered Accountants Journal 86(8), 60-62.
Gul, F., B. Srinidhi and J. Tsui: 2007, Do Female Directors Enhance Corporate Board Monitoring? Some Evidence from Earning Quality. Working Paper, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Haw, I., B. Hu, L. Hwang and W. Wu: 2004, ‘Ultimate Ownership, Income Management, and Legal and Extra-Legal Institutions’, Journal of Accounting Research 42(2), 423-462.
Healy, P. M.: 1985, ‘The Effect of Bonus Schemes on Accounting Decisions’, Journal of Accounting and Economics 7, 85-107.
Heckman, J. J.: 1976, ‘The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and A Simple Estimator for Such Models’, Annals of Economic and Social Measurement 5(4), 475-492.
Hribar, P. and D. C. Nichols: 2007, `The Use of Unsigned Earnings Quality Measures in Tests of Earnings Management', Journal of Accounting Research 45(5), 1017–1053
Jensen, M. C.: 1993, ‘The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems, Journal of Finance 48, 831-880.
Jones, J. J.: 1991, ‘Earnings Management during Import Relief Investigation’, Journal of Accounting Research 29, 193-228.
Klein, A: 2002a, ‘Audit Committee, Board of Director Characteristics, and Earnings Management’, Journal of Accounting and Economics 33(3), 375-400.
Klein, A: 2002b, ‘Economic Determinants of Audit Committee Independence’, The Accounting Review 77(2), 435-452.
Kothari, S. P., A. J. Leone and C. E. Wasley: 2005, ‘Performance Matched Discretionary Accrual Measures’, Journal of Accounting and Economics 39, 163-197.
Krishnan, G. V. and L. M. Parsons: 2008, ‘Getting to the Bottom Line: An Exploration of Gender and Earnings Quality’, Journal of Business Ethics 78(1-2), 65-76.
Krishnan, G. and G. Visvanathan: 2008, ‘Does the SOX Definition of an Accounting Expert Matter? The Association Between Audit Committee Directors’ Accounting Expertise and Accounting Conservatism’, Contemporary Accounting Research 25(3):827-857.
Lamsa, A and T. Sintone: 2001, ‘A Discursive Approach to Understanding Women Leaders in Working Life’, Journal of Business Ethics 34, 255-267.
Mason, E. S. and P.E. Mudrack: 1996, ‘Gender and Ethical Orientation: A Test of Gender and Occupational Socialization Theories’, Journal of Business Ethics 15(6): 599-604.
McNichols, M.: 2000, ‘Discussion of the Quality of Accruals and Earnings: The Role of Accrual Estimation Errors’, The Accounting Review 77: 61-69.
Merchant, K. A. and J. Rockness: 1994, ‘The Ethics of Managing Earnings: An Empirical Investigation’, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 13(1), 79-94.
Schminke, M., D. Wells, J. Peyrefitte and T.C. Sebora: 2002, ‘Leadership and Ethics in Work Groups: A Longitudinal Assessment’. Group and Organization Management 27(2), 272-293.
Shivdasani, A.: 1993, ‘Board Composition, Ownership Structure, and Hostile Takeovers’. Journal of Accounting and Economics 16, 167-198.
Skinner, D. J. and R. G. Sloan: 2002, ‘Earnings Surprises, Growth Expectations, and Stock Returns or Don’t Let an Earnings Torpedo Sink Your Portfolio’, Review of Accounting Studies 7(2/3), 289-312.
Vafeas, N.: 2003, ‘Length of Board Tenure and Outside Director Independence’, Journal of Business Finance & Accounting 30(7-8), 1043-1064.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sun, J., Liu, G. & Lan, G. Does Female Directorship on Independent Audit Committees Constrain Earnings Management?. J Bus Ethics 99, 369–382 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0657-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0657-0