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Religiosity at the top: does it interact with accounting expertise to limit real earnings management?

Author

Listed:
  • Saeed Rabea Baatwah
  • Adel Ali Al-Qadasi
  • Abood Mohammad Al-Ebel

Abstract

Purpose - Research investigating the association between religiosity and earnings management has concentrated on accruals-based earnings management, relying heavily on society’s religiosity, but it has neglected the interaction between religiosity and formal monitoring mechanisms. This study aims to examine how the religiosity and accounting expertise traits of top leaders are associated with real earnings management (REM) and how they interact to eliminate these practices. Design/methodology/approach - Using a sample of 943 year-observations from more religious settings, this paper collects data for four measures of REM, and for religiosity and accounting expertise of audit committee (AC) chair and chief executive officer (CEO). Multivariate regression is used to test the study hypotheses. Findings - The findings are consistent with the predictions that religious top leaders are not associated with lower REM, while top leaders with accounting expertise, in some cases, are associated with lower REM. This paper also finds that a leader with religious belief and accounting expertise dramatically lowers REM. These findings are robust under a battery of sensitive analyzes. In an additional analysis, this paper observes the interaction effect between these two traits is strengthened if the board chair is religious, and persists even for larger firms or those with a highly concentrated ownership structure. Originality/value - The paper provides evidence that may serve a variety of decision-makers. It is the first to show that the interaction between religiosity and expertise is crucial in curbing REM. It also provides the first evidence for the role of the AC chair in relation to REM.

Suggested Citation

  • Saeed Rabea Baatwah & Adel Ali Al-Qadasi & Abood Mohammad Al-Ebel, 2020. "Religiosity at the top: does it interact with accounting expertise to limit real earnings management?," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(9), pages 1343-1377, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:majpps:maj-12-2019-2521
    DOI: 10.1108/MAJ-12-2019-2521
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Xia, Hui & Lin, Shu & Li, Shuo & Bardhan, Indranil, 2024. "The effect of audit committee financial expertise on earnings management tactics in the post-SOX era," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Diana Elisabeta MATICA & Lucian CERNUȘCA & Sorina-Ioana MOCIAR COROIU, 2022. "Ethics In The Romanian Accounting Profession. A Gender And Religion Comparative Study," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 2(2), pages 131-142, December.
    3. Mubashar Tanveer & Mohsin Altaf & Zahid Ali Akbar & Uzma Nisar, 2022. "Influence of Advertising Intensity on Real Earnings Management: Evidence from Four Sectors of Pakistan," Journal of Economic Impact, Science Impact Publishers, vol. 4(1), pages 158-164.
    4. Ahsan, A.F.M. Mainul & Bose, Sudipta & Ali, Muhammad Jahangir, 2024. "Does Islamic religiosity influence professional accountants' judgments? Evidence from global convergence of IFRS," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

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