The Impact of Corporate Governance Mechanisms on Earnings Management: A Case of Indian Stock Exchange Listed Companies

The present study contributes to literature by investigating the impact of corporate governance practices on earnings management. To achieve the objectives of this study, we analysed a sample of 50 large capitalization companies from 10 different sectors viz. automotive, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, cement/construction, chemical, real estate/ retail, food and beverage, technology, engineering and metals and mining listed on BSE for the period 2005–06 to 2015–16. Corporate governance has been quantified through its different attributes, i.e., board size, board committee meeting frequency, board independence, role duality (CEO/chairman), audit committee meeting frequency and audit committee independence. Earnings management is measured by discretionary accruals calculated using modified Jones model developed by Dechow, Sloan and Sweeney (1995). Empirical findings of overall analysis reveal that board size and earnings management are negatively associated whereas board meeting frequency is positively associated with earnings management. In the sector-wise analysis, impact of corporate governance in constraining earnings management was found to be relatively higher and consistent in Oil and Gas sector and Technology sector as compared to other sectors. The findings of the study have important policy implications as they encourage adopting corporate governance practices in firms in order to mitigate earnings management.