Corporate Governance and Earnings Management of Listed Insurance Firms in Nigeria
The study investigates the effect of corporate governance on earnings management in listed insurance firms in Nigeria for the period 2010-2019. The data were obtained from 15 purposively sampled insurance companies listed on the Nigerian exchange group as at 31st December, 2019. The study employed descriptive statistics and panel least squares method to analyze the data obtained from the financial report of the selected companies. The result shows that the explanatory variables director equity interest, corporate governance disclosure index and audit committee has positive but insignificant effect on earnings management. The board structure has negative but insignificant influence on earnings management while the result further indicates that firm size has positive but significant impact on the earnings management of the selected insurance companies in Nigeria. The study concluded and recommended that the relevant regulatory authority ensure establishment and strict compliance with relevant corporate governance structure that will reduce the inclination of earnings smoothing by insurance firms in Nigeria. Keywords: Corporate Governance, Insurance, Earnings Management, Nigerian exchange group, Nigeria JEL Classification codes: M4; M41