The moderating role of dual-class shares and business group on the relationship between corporate governance and accounting conservatism in Turkey

The combination of corporate governance mechanisms, dual-class shares and business group attributes play a significant role on the level of adopting accounting conservatism. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of corporate governance mechanisms (board of directors 'characteristics, audit committee characteristics and audit quality characteristics) on accounting conservatism and to further examine whether corporate governance mechanisms is moderated by dual-class shares and business groups attributes in Turkey. This study employed panel data approach for 146 firms listed on Istanbul Stock Exchange for the period from 201 1 to 2015. The findings show that board size, interlocking directorship, women on board, audit committee expertise, brand name auditor and industry specialist auditor have improved the adaption of accounting conservatism. Meanwhile, the findings indicate that board independence and audit committee independence are not associated with accounting conservatism. In terms of the moderating variables, the findings explain that dual-class shares negatively moderate the relationship between corporate governance and accounting conservatism. The findings reveal that business group attributes (social ties and group affiliation) have a negative impact on the association between corporate governance and accounting conservatism. The results show that the moderating variables have weakened board of directors', audit committee and audit quality to adopt accounting conservatism, which is unfavourable consequence for the minority shareholders. Therefore, this study suggests that regulators should have more stringent law enforcement to improve corporate governance in Turkey to accommodate the unique characteristics of dual-class shares and business group attributes, and offer a protected environment for minority shareholders.