Connecting earnings management and corporate social responsibility: A renewed perspective

This paper aims at discovering the association between earnings management (EM) and gender diversity in boards of directors as a predictor of the corporate social performance (CSP) of non‐smallmedium‐sized enterprises in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The existence of a broad literature on the topic allows us to assess EM and its relations with CSR. We used an OLS regression analysis and the accrual quality measure as an EM proxy to investigate our sample of 697 Italian non‐small and medium‐sized enterprises. Our main results reveal that the presence of women on boards of directors results in the adoption of fewer EM practices. Therefore, our empirical findings support the notion that boardroom gender diversity as an instrument of CSP reduces the use of EM practices. The results of this paper are of most relevance to policymakers and academic communities focused on promoting CSP and CSR.