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The conditional nature of board characteristics in constraining earnings management in private family firms

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  • Stockmans, Annelies
  • Lybaert, Nadine
  • Voordeckers, Wim

Abstract

The goal of this article is to examine the influence of the board of directors in constraining earnings management in private family firms. We build further on the premise that corporate governance is conditional in nature. Specifically, we propose that the effect of the proportion of outside directors and CEO duality on earnings management is stronger when the family firm faces significant agency problems. Our results find support for the fact that, conditional on the presence of agency conflicts between controlling and noncontrolling shareholders, a higher proportion of outside directors and CEO nonduality may have a constraining effect on earnings management. This is in support of our argument that the relationship between board characteristics and earnings management is moderated by the potential presence of agency conflicts.

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  • Stockmans, Annelies & Lybaert, Nadine & Voordeckers, Wim, 2013. "The conditional nature of board characteristics in constraining earnings management in private family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 84-92.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:fambus:v:4:y:2013:i:2:p:84-92
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfbs.2013.01.001
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    2. Steijvers, Tensie & Niskanen, Mervi, 2014. "Tax aggressiveness in private family firms: An agency perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 347-357.
    3. Stephen J. Smulowitz & Didier Cossin & Alfredo De Massis & Hongze (Abraham) Lu, 2023. "Wrongdoing in Publicly Listed Family- and Nonfamily-Owned Firms: A Behavioral Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(4), pages 1233-1264, July.
    4. Duréndez, Antonio & Madrid-Guijarro, Antonia, 2018. "The impact of family influence on financial reporting quality in small and medium family firms," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 205-218.
    5. Maarten Corten & Pieter Vandekerkhof & Tensie Steijvers, 2021. "The effect of socioemotional wealth diversity within the top management team on earnings management in private family firms: The moderating role of the board of directors," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(7), pages 1886-1896, October.
    6. Feiran Dong & Yongzhen Xie & Linjun Cao, 2019. "Board Power Hierarchy, Corporate Mission, and Green Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-27, September.
    7. Ine Umans & Maarten Corten, 2023. "Ownership succession intentions affecting earnings management in private family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 827-842, August.
    8. Fatima Abdul Hamid & Chaabane Oussama Houssem Eddine & Abdullah Mohamed Ayedh & Abdelghani Echchabi, 2014. "Firms' Financial And Corporate Governance Characteristics Association With Earning Management Practices: A Meta-Analysis Approach," Economic Review: Journal of Economics and Business, University of Tuzla, Faculty of Economics, vol. 12(2), pages 49-72.
    9. Ya-Fang Wang & Yen-Fang Kuo, 2020. "Exploring the Family Effect on Innovative Capacity and Earnings Management," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 13(2), pages 39-61, September.

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