The Impact of Board Characteristics on the Relationship between Real Earnings Management and Cost of Equity "An Applied Study"

Abstract

This study aims to examine the relationship between real earnings management and cost of equity as well as the impact of board characteristics on this relationship in the Egyptian market. A Panel data method (longitudinal data); which combines the cross-sectional data method and time series data method; is used from 2015 to 2019. This study consists of 29 non-financial companies listed in the Egyptian stock exchange. The result of this study indicated that there is a negative relationship between real earnings management and the cost of equity. This negative result means that investors in Egypt find it difficult to detect real earnings management because it is hard to notice from the reported earnings in the financial statements. They focus only on the current earnings number, as it reflects a better future performance of the firm, that’s why the cost of equity decreases. So, investors in the Egyptian market did not recognize these practices, they cannot detect the consequences of real earnings manipulation by the change in sales, discretionary expenses, and production costs. Concerning the effect of board characteristics on this relationship, we found that board size, board independence, and CEO duality did not influence the relation between real earnings management and cost of equity. Keywords: Real Earning Management, Roychowdhury Model, Cost of Equity, CEO Duality, Board Size, Board Independence.