Accounting Conservatism, CEO Attributes, and Earning Quality: New Insights From Vietnamese Non-financial Listed Firms

This study investigates the determinants of earning quality by using a sample of 354 non-financial listed firms on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) from 2010 to 2023. We contribute to the existing literature by emphasizing the role of accounting conservatism and CEO characteristics on earnings quality. The empirical evidence indicates that accounting conservatism positively impacts earnings quality. Conservative accounting practices may minimize the manipulative behavior of management, thereby increasing trust in the accuracy and reliability of financial information. Additionally, we found that CEO attributes affect earnings quality in different ways: while the CEO’s duality, gender, income, and tenure have a significant negative relationship with earnings quality, the CEO’s age and ownership have contrasting results. Furthermore, we also discovered that other factors such as a firm’s size, leverage, ROA, loss, and sales growth are positively associated with earnings quality. Our findings are useful references to provide executives, financial managers, and investors with insights into factors that improve firm’s earnings quality.