IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/advacc/v35y2016icp114-124.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Complementary relationship between female directors and financial literacy in deterring earnings management: The case of high-technology firms

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Ester
  • Gavious, Ilanit

Abstract

We explore whether the presence of female directors on the boards of high-technology firms has an impact on the boards' monitoring and oversight of earnings management. Using difference-in-difference analyses, we utilize an exogenous change in Israel to examine the changes in, and the effects of, female director representation in constraining earnings management in a changing accounting environment that increased managers' ability to report earnings opportunistically. We find that a high representation of women on the board does not make an incremental contribution to the explanation of earnings management over and above the presence of a female director with financial literacy. However, the presence of one financially literate female director on the board does have a significant effect on restraining earnings management. Moreover, financially literate female directors are more effective than their financially literate male counterparts in deterring earnings management. Our results are robust to controlling for firm characteristics related to the selection of a woman to participate on the BOD as well as to the selection of a financially literate woman in particular. We conclude that financial literacy is complementary to female representation on the board in constraining earnings management. An important economic implication of our findings is that a regulatory move to increase the representation of women on corporate BODs should refer specifically to the inclusion of at least one woman with financial literacy on the board.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Ester & Gavious, Ilanit, 2016. "Complementary relationship between female directors and financial literacy in deterring earnings management: The case of high-technology firms," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 114-124.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:advacc:v:35:y:2016:i:c:p:114-124
    DOI: 10.1016/j.adiac.2016.06.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0882611015300122
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.adiac.2016.06.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bin Srinidhi & Ferdinand A. Gul & Judy Tsui, 2011. "Female Directors and Earnings Quality," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1610-1644, December.
    2. James J. Heckman, 1976. "The Common Structure of Statistical Models of Truncation, Sample Selection and Limited Dependent Variables and a Simple Estimator for Such Models," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 4, pages 475-492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Steven Kaplan & Kurt Pany & Janet Samuels & Jian Zhang, 2009. "An Examination of the Association Between Gender and Reporting Intentions for Fraudulent Financial Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 15-30, June.
    4. Beatriz García Osma & Belén Gill‐de‐Albornoz Noguer, 2007. "The Effect of the Board Composition and its Monitoring Committees on Earnings Management: evidence from Spain," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 1413-1428, November.
    5. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    6. Iris Vermeir & Patrick Kenhove, 2008. "Gender Differences in Double Standards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(2), pages 281-295, August.
    7. Aloke Ghosh & Antonio Marra & Doocheol Moon, 2010. "Corporate Boards, Audit Committees, and Earnings Management: Pre‐ and Post‐SOX Evidence," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(9‐10), pages 1145-1176, November.
    8. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 1988. "The Determinants of Board Composition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(4), pages 589-606, Winter.
    9. Gus De Franco & Ilanit Gavious & Justin Y. Jin & Gordon D. Richardson, 2011. "Do Private Company Targets that Hire Big 4 Auditors Receive Higher Proceeds?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 215-262, March.
    10. Janne Chung & Susan McCracken, 2014. "Understanding the Restatement Process," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(4), pages 253-281, December.
    11. Powell, Melanie & Ansic, David, 1997. "Gender differences in risk behaviour in financial decision-making: An experimental analysis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 605-628, November.
    12. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
    13. Bresnahan,Timothy & Gambardella,Alfonso (ed.), 2004. "Building High-Tech Clusters," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521827225.
    14. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    15. David C. Burgstahler & Michael J. Eames, 2003. "Earnings Management to Avoid Losses and Earnings Decreases: Are Analysts Fooled?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 253-294, June.
    16. Schrand, Catherine M. & Zechman, Sarah L.C., 2012. "Executive overconfidence and the slippery slope to financial misreporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 311-329.
    17. Berlin, Mitchell & Loeys, Jan, 1988. " Bond Covenants and Delegated Monitoring," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 43(2), pages 397-412, June.
    18. Fama, Eugene F., 1985. "What's different about banks?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 29-39, January.
    19. Krishna Palepu, 1985. "Diversification strategy, profit performance and the entropy measure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 239-255, July.
    20. Georges Haour, 2005. "Israel, a powerhouse for networked entrepreneurship," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(1/2), pages 39-48.
    21. Shivdasani, Anil, 1993. "Board composition, ownership structure, and hostile takeovers," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-3), pages 167-198, April.
    22. (Xuefeng) Jiang, John & Petroni, Kathy R. & Yanyan Wang, Isabel, 2010. "CFOs and CEOs: Who have the most influence on earnings management?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 513-526, June.
    23. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2001. "Boys will be Boys: Gender, Overconfidence, and Common Stock Investment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(1), pages 261-292.
    24. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    25. Avnimelech, Gil & Teubal, Morris, 2006. "Creating venture capital industries that co-evolve with high tech: Insights from an extended industry life cycle perspective of the Israeli experience," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1477-1498, December.
    26. Xie, Biao & Davidson, Wallace III & DaDalt, Peter J., 2003. "Earnings management and corporate governance: the role of the board and the audit committee," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 295-316, June.
    27. Callen, Jeffrey L. & Gavious, Ilanit & Segal, Dan, 2010. "The complementary relationship between financial and non-financial information in the biotechnology industry and the degree of investor sophistication," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 61-76.
    28. Bresnahan, Timothy F & Gambardella, Alfonso & Saxenian, AnnaLee, 2001. "'Old Economy' Inputs for 'New Economy' Outcomes: Cluster Formation in the New Silicon Valleys," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 10(4), pages 835-860, December.
    29. Givoly, Dan & Hayn, Carla, 2000. "The changing time-series properties of earnings, cash flows and accruals: Has financial reporting become more conservative?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 287-320, June.
    30. Pinghsun Huang & Timothy Louwers & Jacquelyn Moffitt & Yan Zhang, 2008. "Ethical Management, Corporate Governance, and Abnormal Accruals," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(3), pages 469-487, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gull, Ammar Ali & Nekhili, Mehdi & Nagati, Haithem & Chtioui, Tawhid, 2018. "Beyond gender diversity: How specific attributes of female directors affect earnings management," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 255-274.
    2. Simon Ho & Annie Li & Kinsun Tam & Feida Zhang, 2015. "CEO Gender, Ethical Leadership, and Accounting Conservatism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 351-370, March.
    3. Felix Schumann & Toni W. Thun & Tobias Dauth & Henning Zülch, 2024. "Does top management team diversity affect accounting quality? Empirical evidence from Germany," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 28(1), pages 137-175, March.
    4. Arun, Thankom Gopinath & Almahrog, Yousf Ebrahem & Ali Aribi, Zakaria, 2015. "Female directors and earnings management: Evidence from UK companies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 137-146.
    5. García Lara, Juan Manuel & García Osma, Beatriz & Mora, Araceli & Scapin, Mariano, 2017. "The monitoring role of female directors over accounting quality," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 651-668.
    6. Mehdi Bouras & Mohamed Imen Gallali, 2017. "Earnings Management, Equity-based Compensation, Economic Conjuncture and Governance Mechanisms: A Comparative Study between France and the United States," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(2), pages 585-600.
    7. Harakeh, Mostafa & El-Gammal, Walid & Matar, Ghida, 2019. "Female directors, earnings management, and CEO incentive compensation: UK evidence," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 153-170.
    8. Belaounia, Samia & Tao, Ran & Zhao, Hong, 2020. "Gender equality's impact on female directors’ efficacy: A multi-country study," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    9. Muhammad Nadeem, 2022. "Board Gender Diversity and Managerial Obfuscation: Evidence from the Readability of Narrative Disclosure in 10-K Reports," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 153-177, August.
    10. Yu Liu & Zuobao Wei & Feixue Xie, 2016. "CFO gender and earnings management: evidence from China," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 881-905, May.
    11. García-Meca, Emma & Ramón-Llorens, Maria-Camino & Martínez-Ferrero, Jennifer, 2021. "Are narcissistic CEOs more tax aggressive? The moderating role of internal audit committees," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 223-235.
    12. Yik-Pui Low, Steven & Foo, Yee-Boon & Gul, Ferdinand A, 2023. "Corporate lobbying: Resource-seeking or rent-seeking? Evidence from audit fees," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    13. Alaa Mansour Zalata & Collins Ntim & Ahmed Aboud & Ernest Gyapong, 2019. "Female CEOs and Core Earnings Quality: New Evidence on the Ethics Versus Risk-Aversion Puzzle," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 515-534, December.
    14. Malik, Muhammad Farhan & Zaman, Mahbub & Buckby, Sherrena, 2020. "Enterprise risk management and firm performance: Role of the risk committee," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    15. Bill Francis & Iftekhar Hasan & Jong Chool Park & Qiang Wu, 2015. "Gender Differences in Financial Reporting Decision Making: Evidence from Accounting Conservatism," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 1285-1318, September.
    16. Young Zik Shin & Jeung-Yoon Chang & Kyeongmin Jeon & Hyunpyo Kim, 2020. "Female directors on the board and investment efficiency: evidence from Korea," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 438-479, September.
    17. Zalata, Alaa Mansour & Tauringana, Venancio & Tingbani, Ishmael, 2018. "Audit committee financial expertise, gender, and earnings management: Does gender of the financial expert matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 170-183.
    18. Husam Aldamen & Janice Hollindale & Jennifer L. Ziegelmayer, 2018. "Female audit committee members and their influence on audit fees," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(1), pages 57-89, March.
    19. Zalata, Alaa Mansour & Abdelfattah, Tarek, 2021. "Non-executive female directors and earnings management using classification shifting," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 301-315.
    20. Chen, Yu & Eshleman, John Daniel & Soileau, Jared S., 2016. "Board Gender Diversity and Internal Control Weaknesses," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 11-19.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:advacc:v:35:y:2016:i:c:p:114-124. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/advances-in-accounting/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.