What does this research mean for the field?

Female governance is predominantly associated with reduced earnings management, particularly accrual-based manipulation, though this effect is highly dependent on contextual factors such as strategic roles, financial expertise, and achieving a critical mass. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.SYNTHESIS. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

Synthesize empirical research on the relationship between female corporate governance and earnings management practices across board, executive, and oversight roles.

August 22, 2026Journal of Accounting Literature

Does female governance constrain earnings management? A thematic literature review and future research agenda

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Authors

MHMohamed Hessian RHRania Sherif Hassan IOIsraa Omran

Discussion

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Overview

Thematic literature review reveals that female corporate leadership reduces accrual-based earnings management, indicating that gender diversity strengthens corporate financial reporting integrity.

Key Points

Synthesize empirical research on the relationship between female corporate governance and earnings management practices across board, executive, and oversight roles.
Conducted a structured thematic literature review of 98 empirical studies published between 2010 and 2024 from Scopus and Web of Science.
Categorized earnings management into accrual-based manipulation, real earnings management, and earnings classification shifting across diverse market contexts.
Female governance demonstrates a predominantly negative association with earnings management, exhibiting the strongest constraint against accrual-based accounting manipulation.
Women in key monitoring and strategic roles, such as CFOs and audit committee members, consistently enhance financial reporting quality, particularly when achieving a critical mass or holding financial expertise.
Findings for real earnings management and earnings classification shifting remain mixed across studies, reflecting potential substitution effects and dependence on external institutional environments.

Cite This Study

Hessian et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a895ffeca7ade938187ef95 https://doi.org/10.1108/jal-10-2025-0542

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August 22, 2026Journal of Accounting Literature

Does female governance constrain earnings management? A thematic literature review and future research agenda

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

MHMohamed Hessian RHRania Sherif Hassan IOIsraa Omran

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Thematic literature review reveals that female corporate leadership reduces accrual-based earnings management, indicating that gender diversity strengthens corporate financial reporting integrity.

Key Points

Synthesize empirical research on the relationship between female corporate governance and earnings management practices across board, executive, and oversight roles.
Conducted a structured thematic literature review of 98 empirical studies published between 2010 and 2024 from Scopus and Web of Science.
Categorized earnings management into accrual-based manipulation, real earnings management, and earnings classification shifting across diverse market contexts.
Female governance demonstrates a predominantly negative association with earnings management, exhibiting the strongest constraint against accrual-based accounting manipulation.
Women in key monitoring and strategic roles, such as CFOs and audit committee members, consistently enhance financial reporting quality, particularly when achieving a critical mass or holding financial expertise.
Findings for real earnings management and earnings classification shifting remain mixed across studies, reflecting potential substitution effects and dependence on external institutional environments.

Cite This Study

Hessian et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a895ffeca7ade938187ef95 https://doi.org/10.1108/jal-10-2025-0542

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark