This study investigates the relationship between Chief Executive Officer (CEO) narcissism and earnings management among 148 listed firms on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) over the period 2010–2025, constituting an unbalanced panel of 2,220 firm-year observations. Drawing on Upper Echelons Theory, Agency Theory, and the Dark Triad of personality, the study hypothesizes that narcissistic CEOs are more likely to engage in both accrual-based earnings management (AEM) and real earnings management (REM) to satisfy their ego-driven performance expectations and external validation needs. CEO narcissism is operationalized through a composite narcissism index comprising relative compensation, media visibility, relative firm size emphasis, and CEO signature size. Earnings management is measured using the Modified Jones Model for AEM and Roychowdhury's (2006) model for REM. Using Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) and Driscoll-Kraay standard errors to address heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional dependence, the results reveal a statistically significant and positive association between CEO narcissism and both forms of earnings management, even after controlling for firm size, return on assets (ROA), leverage, Big 4 auditor presence, board independence, industry effects, and year effects. The findings contribute to the nascent but growing literature on behavioural corporate governance in emerging markets, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and offer substantive implications for investors, regulators, and corporate governance reformers in Nigeria.
Onipe Adabenege Yahaya (Sun,) studied this question.