DOES EARNINGS MANAGEMENT EXERT PRESSURE ON FIRMS’ RETURN ON ASSETS AND EQUITY? THE CASE OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Edesiri Godsday Okoro¹ and Confidence Joel Ihenyen²

¹Department of Accounting and Finance, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Delta State University, Nigeria
²Department of Accounting/Finance, Faculty of Management Sciences, Niger Delta University, Nigeria

Regardless of the viewpoints of prior studies on earnings management, no study has been carried out on whether earnings management exerts pressure on firms’ return on assets and equity, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa in a single study. Drawing inferences from the existing earnings management models, a dissimilar model of earnings management, unlike those used in prior studies, which may match the peculiarity of Sub-Saharan Africa is developed in this paper. The data used were obtained from the Stock Exchange database of Sub-Saharan African countries by employing the fixed and random effects statistical technique. Using the proposed earnings management model, the study finds the intriguing results that may contribute to knowledge and magnify the literature that, notwithstanding the fact that earnings management exerts significant pressure on firms’ performances, it is even more so deemed as high in South Africa, only to be followed by West Africa, and low in East Africa. Interestingly, the study finds that the size of a firm plays a vital role in moderating the nexus between the earnings management and performances of Sub-Saharan African firms.

Keywords: earnings management, return on assets, return on equity, financial statements, Sub-Saharan Africa

JEL Classification: M41, M48