The relationship between board characteristics and earnings management in Nigerian listed companies

Board characteristics have been affecting companies‟ earnings due to managers‟ efforts
to employ several strategies intentionally to manipulate firms‟ earnings in order to match
their predetermined target, and such characteristic may influence the possibility of
mispresentation of the reported earnings by managers. The objective of this study is to
examine the relationship between board characteristics and earnings management in the
Nigerian listed companies. A total of 79 listed companies in Nigerian Stock Exchange are selected and analyzed. Data are solely obtained from secondary sources, using annual reports and accounts of the sample companies for the financial year 2012. The results show that the board size positively and significantly affects earnings management. However, audit committee size is found negative and marginally significant with earnings management. The results suggest that larger board size is not efficient to minimize the tendency of managers to manage earnings and audit committee size should be increased in order to minimize the likelihood of earnings management.