Empirical Evidence on Managerial Ownership, Conservatism, Audit Quality, and Opportunistic Reporting
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62794/ijober.v4i3.267Keywords:
Accounting conservatism, Audit quality, Earnings management, Leverage, Managerial ownership.Abstract
This study explores the moderating role of managerial ownership in the relationship between accounting conservatism, leverage, and audit quality on earnings management within Indonesia's raw materials sector. Employing panel data regression with a fixed effects model and Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA), the research analyzes 72 firm-year observations from raw material companies during the 2020–2025 period. The findings reveal that accounting conservatism exerts a significant positive partial effect on earnings management, whereas leverage, audit quality, and all interaction terms with managerial ownership do not demonstrate statistical significance. These results suggest that the influence of governance mechanisms on earnings management is nuanced, with conservatism emerging as the only consistently significant determinant. The absence of significant moderating effects highlights the complexity of managerial ownership's role and cautions against drawing conclusive claims regarding its effectiveness compared to external governance mechanisms. Instead, the study positions managerial ownership as an exploratory dimension that warrants further empirical investigation. By distinguishing statistically supported findings from non-significant tendencies, this research contributes to the literature on corporate governance and earnings management, offering preliminary evidence on governance interactions in Indonesia's raw materials sector and encouraging future studies to refine the analysis with broader samples and alternative methodological approaches.
References
Ahmad, A. M., Kwanbo, L. M., Hassan, S. U., & Umar, M. S. (2023). Moderating Effect of Audit Committee on the Relationship Between Audit Quality and Earnings Management of Listed Non-Financial Services Firms in Nigeria. Gusau Journal of Accounting and Finance, 4(1), 216–236. https://doi.org/10.57233/gujaf.v4i1.208
Alia, M. A., Ismail, R., Taha, B., & Takrore, N. (2020). The Relationship between Accounting Conservatism and Earnings Management in the Palestinian Corporations. Journal of Al-Aqsa University, 24(2), 55–79. https://doi.org/10.34065/1262-024-002-003
Alodat, A. Y., Salleh, Z., Hashim, H. A., & Sulong, F. (2022). Corporate governance and firm performance: empirical evidence from Jordan. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, 20(5), 866–896. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRA-12-2020-0361
Alsmady, A. (2023). The moderating role of audit quality between earning management and sustainable investment opportunities: Evidences from gulf cooperation council countries. International Journal of Applied Economics, Finance and Accounting, 16, 18–32. https://doi.org/10.33094/ijaefa.v16i1.874
Alves, S., & Carmo, C. (2022). Audit Committee, External Audit and Accounting Conservatism: Does Company'S Growth Matter?. Journal of Governance and Regulation, 11(3), 17–27. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv11i3art2
Amah, N., Taufiq, A. R., & Diyanto, A. O. P. (2023). Peran Mediasi Manajemen Laba Diantara Struktur Modal Dan Kinerja Keuangan. Jurnal Reviu Akuntansi Dan Keuangan, 13(3), 614–633. https://doi.org/10.22219/jrak.v13i3.27712
Amin, A., & Kurniadiati, I. (2022). The Effect of Accounting Conservatism on Earnings Management with Risk Management as Intervening. International Journal of Economics, Business and Management Research, 6(07), 266–279. https://doi.org/10.51505/ijebmr.2022.6719
Ang, J. S., Cole, R. A., & Lin, J. W. (2000). Agency costs and ownership structure. The Journal of Finance, 55(1), 81–106. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-1082.00201
Ardiany, Y., Lukviarman, N., Hamidi, M., & Luthan, E. (2023). Conservatism as a moderating variable on the determinants of earnings management. Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 20(4), 323–334. https://doi.org/10.21511/imfi.20(4).2023.26
Arellano, M. (1987). Computing robust standard errors for within-groups estimators. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 49(4), 431–434. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.1987.mp49004006.x
Arhinful, R., & Radmehr, M. (2023). The effect of financial leverage on financial performance: evidence from non-financial institutions listed on the Tokyo stock market. Journal of Capital Markets Studies, 7(1), 53–71. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCMS-10-2022-0038
Baltagi, B. H. (2021). Econometric analysis of panel data (6th ed.). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-53953-5
Bawuah, I. (2024). Audit committee effectiveness, audit quality and earnings management: evidence from Ghana. Cogent Business and Management, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2315318
Boli, H. A. R. R., & Ferdian, R. I. (2025). The role of corporate governance mechanism, financial distress, and firm performance on earnings management with audit quality as a moderating variable. SINERGI: Jurnal Riset Ilmiah, 2(4), 2023–2044. https://doi.org/10.62335/sinergi.v2i4.1143
Brennan, N. M. (2021). Connecting earnings management to the real World: What happens in the black box of the boardroom? British Accounting Review, 53(6), 101036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bar.2021.101036
Breusch, T. S. (1978). Testing for autocorrelation in dynamic linear models. Australian Economic Papers, 17(31), 334–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8454.1978.tb00635.x
Breusch, T. S., & Pagan, A. R. (1980). The Lagrange multiplier test and its applications to model specification in econometrics. The Review of Economic Studies, 47(1), 239–253. https://doi.org/10.2307/2297111
Chow, G. C. (1960). Tests of equality between sets of coefficients in two linear regressions. Econometrica, 28(3), 591–605. https://doi.org/10.2307/1910133
Drajat, D. P., & Nengzih, N. (2025). The effect of financial distress, leverage, and firm size on earnings management. Journal of Management, Economic, and Financial, 3(2), 68–79. https://doi.org/10.59261/jmef.v3i2.7
Ghazalat, A., Abu-Serdaneh, J., & Majaly, H. (2023). The Relationship between Accounting Conservatism and Earning Management in Emerging Markets: The Moderating Role of Size. Industrial Engineering & Management Systems, 22(2), 132–143. https://doi.org/10.7232/iems.2023.22.2.132
Ghozali, I., & Ratmono, D. (2017). Analisis Multivariat dan Ekonometrika dengan Eviews 10. In Semarang: Badan Penerbit Universitas Diponegoro.
Givoly, D., & Hayn, C. (2000). The changing time-series properties of earnings, cash flows and accruals: Has financial reporting become more conservative? Journal of Accounting and Economics, 29(3), 287–320. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-4101(00)00024-0
Godfrey, L. G. (1978). Testing against general autoregressive and moving average error models when the regressors include lagged dependent variables. Econometrica, 46(6), 1293–1301. https://doi.org/10.2307/1913829
Gunarianto, Puspitosarie, E., & Susilo, S. H. (2023). Company value analysis: Sales, assets, growth opportunities and leverage in LQ-45 companies (Indonesia Stock Exchange). Investment Management and Financial Innovations, 20(4), 385–398. https://doi.org/10.21511/imfi.20(4).2023.31
Hartam, W., & Kresnawati, E. (2022). Accounting Conservatism and Earnings Management: Moderating Effect of the Corporate Life Cycle. Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Innovation Track Accounting and Management Sciences (ICOSIAMS 2021), 201(Icosiams 2021), 295–303. https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.211225.041
Hausman, J. A. (1978). Specification tests in econometrics. Econometrica, 46(6), 1251–1271. https://doi.org/10.2307/1913827
Healy, P. M., & Wahlen, J. M. (1999). A Review of the Earnings Management Literature and Its Implications for Standard Setting. Accounting Horizons, 13(4), 365–383. https://doi.org/10.2308/acch.1999.13.4.365
Hejranijamil, M. (2025). Accounting conservatism and uncertainty in business environments: using financial data of listed companies in the Tehran stock exchange. 5(2), 179–194. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJAR-04-2020-0027
Heling, P., & Lastanti, H. S. (2024). The influence of financial distress, earnings management, and financial performance on firm value with good corporate governance as a moderating variable. Eduvest: Journal of Universal Studies, 4(10), 9375–9393. https://doi.org/10.59188/eduvest.v4i10.1494
Héricourt, J., & Poncet, S. (2015). Exchange Rate Volatility, Financial Constraints, and Trade: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Firms. World Bank Economic Review, 29(3), 550–578. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lht035
Hong, N. T. H., Anh, N. T., Hoang, N. T. V., & Minh, D. N. (2023). Corporate governance, external financing, and earnings management: new evidence from an emerging market. Future Business Journal, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-023-00206-3
Indrawan, V., Agoes, S., Pangaribuan, H., & Popoola, O. M. J. (2018). The impact of audit committee, firm size, profitability, and leverage on income smoothing. Indian-Pacific Journal of Accounting and Finance, 2(1), 61–74. https://doi.org/10.52962/ipjaf.2018.2.1.42
Indriani, S., & Ramli, A. H. (2024). Earnings management, leverage, good corporate governance, and tax avoidance. Jurnal Ilmiah Akuntansi Kesatuan, 12(1), 93–106. https://doi.org/10.37641/jiakes.v12i1.2064.
Istianingsih. (2021). Earnings Quality as a link between Corporate Governance Implementation and Firm Performance Earnings Quality as a link between Corporate Governance Implementation and. International Journal of Management Science and Engineering Management, 16(4), 290–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/17509653.2021.1974969
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-405X(76)90026-X.
Krismiaji, & Astuti, R. P. (2020). Accounting conservatism and earnings management—Indonesian evidence. Jurnal Bisnis dan Akuntansi, 22(1), 113–120. https://doi.org/10.34208/jba.v22i1.631
Krismiaji, K., & Sumayyah, S. (2023). Audit quality, audit opinion, and earnings management: Indonesian evidence. Journal of Business and Information Systems, 4(2), 103–113. https://doi.org/10.36067/jbis.v4i2.141
Kusumawati, E., Wahyuningtyas, A. P., & Sari, S. P. (2022). the Effect of Growth Opportunity, Profitability, Csr, Firm Size, and Leverage on Earning Response Coefficient. Riset Akuntansi Dan Keuangan Indonesia, 309–320. https://doi.org/10.23917/reaksi.v7i3.22028
Le, L. Q. (2025). The influence of audit quality on real earnings management: Do leverage and cash flow matter? Journal of Economics and Development, 27(2), 144–157. https://doi.org/10.1108/JED-05-2024-0190
Levia, C. M. & Wahyudi, I. (2025). The Influence of Tax Planning, Profitability and Cost Operations For Earning Management. Best Journal of Administration and Management, 3(3), 156–169. https://doi.org/10.56403/bejam.v3i3.271
Li, H. (2019). Conservatism, Earnings Management and R & D Capitalization. International Journal of Financial Research, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.5430/ijfr.v10n2p52
Lubis, R. K., Darmadi, S., Pratiwi, T. A., Falaqia, P., Lutvian, S., Firas, R., Karunia, R., Darmadi, S., Pratiwi, T. A., & Falaqia, P. (2025). Managerial ownership as a corporate governance mechanism in shaping leverage decisions: insights from Indonesia. Cogent Business & Management, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2025.2473043
Luthfiatun Niswah, & Afrizal Nilwan. (2024). Tax Avoidance: an Agency Theory Perspective. International Journal of Accounting, Management, Economics and Social Sciences (IJAMESC), 2(4), 1242–1258. https://doi.org/10.61990/ijamesc.v2i4.306
Mohajan, H. K. (2020). Quantitative research: A successful investigation in natural and social sciences. Journal of Economic Development, Environment and People, 9(4), 50–79. https://doi.org/10.26458/jedep.v9i4.679
Mubaraq, M., Rahayu, S. M., Saifi, M., & Darmawan, A. (2021). Does the implementation of corporate governance moderate the relationships of ownership structure, capital structure and firm values of listed manufacturing companies in Indonesia? In Proceedings of the International Conference on Strategic Issues of Economics, Business and Education (ICoSIEBE 2020) (pp. 163–168). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.210220.029.
Mwangi, J. (2024). Effect of audit quality on earnings management practices. American Journal of Accounting, 6(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.47672/ajacc.1783
Nadya, K. (2024). 77 Saham Sektor Bahan Baku di Bursa Efek Indonesia, Papan Utama dan Pengembangan. IDXChannel.Com. https://www.idxchannel.com/market-news/77-saham-sektor-bahan-baku-di-bursa-efek-indonesia-papan-utama-dan pengembangan
Nalarreason, K. M., T S., & Mardiati, E. (2019). Impact of Leverage and Firm Size on Earnings Management in Indonesia. International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 6(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v6i1.473
Nukala, V. B., & Rao, S. S. P. (2021). Role of debt ‑ to ‑ equity ratio in project investment valuation, assessing risk and return in capital markets. Future Business Journal. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-021-00058-9
O’Brien, R. M. (2007). A caution regarding rules of thumb for variance inflation factors. Quality & Quantity, 41(5), 673–690. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-006-9018-6
Ogabo, B., Ogar, G., & Nuipoko, T. (2021). Ownership Structure and Firm Performance: The Role of Managerial and Institutional Ownership-Evidence from the UK. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management, 11, 859-886. https://doi.org/10.4236/ajibm.2021.117053
Paidar-Ardakani, H. (2003). Conservative Effect On Income Management And Capital Structure Of Listed Companies In Tehran Stock Exchange Hossein Paidar-Ardakani, Department of Ardakan, Azad Islamic University. 590–600. https://openurl.ebsco.com/EPDB%3Agcd%3A1%3A6587473/detailv2?sid=ebsco%3Aplink%3Acrawler-gcd&id=ebsco%3Agcd%3A193294955&crl=f&jrnl=22263209&link_origin=www.google.com
Patriandari, P., Rianto, R., & Ristianti, A. (2023). The Impact of Good Corporate Governance on Financial Distress in Transportation Sector Companies in Indonesia. Quantitative Economics and Management Studies, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.35877/454ri.qems1708
Pradipta, A., & Lisnawati, L. (2025). Profitability Under Pressure : The Double-Edged Sword of Leverage and Capital Intensity on Earnings Management. International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies, 4(7), 71–79. https://doi.org/10.56472/25835238/IRJEMS-V4I7P110
Prawida, N., & Sutrisno, S. (2021). Leverage, profitability, corporate governance mecanism and earning management: Cases in manufacturing company in Indonesia Stock Exchange. Asian Management and Business Review, 1(1), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.20885/AMBR.vol1.iss1.art4
Ramsah, H., Sutarjo, A., & Yani, M. (2023). Pengaruh praktik corporate governance dan prinsip konservatisme terhadap manajemen laba (Study empiris pada perusahaan manufaktur yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia). Ekasakti Pareso Jurnal Akuntansi, 1(3), 226–234. https://doi.org/10.31933/epja.v1i3.908
Restuningdiah, N., & Sidharta, E. A. (2023). The Development of Earning Management in Indonesia: A Systematic Literature Review. Asia Pacific Journal of Management and Education, 6(2), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.32535/apjme.v6i2.2094
Ritonga, Z., Inuzula, L., & Mulyadi, M. (2023). The effect of accounting conservatism, company size and good corporate governance on the quality of company profits. JASa (Jurnal Akuntansi, Audit dan Sistem Informasi Akuntansi), 7(1), 23–34. https://doi.org/10.36555/jasa.v7i1.2122
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016). Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach (Seventh Ed). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Sethi, P., Aggarwal, A., Vikram, A., & Saklani. (2022). Corporate governance and earnings management: A survey of literature. Journal of Business Studies, 12. https://doi.org/10.19030/jabr.v29i2.7646
Singh, M., & Davidson, W. N., III. (2003). Agency costs, ownership structure and corporate governance mechanisms. Journal of Banking & Finance, 27(5), 793–816. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-4266(01)00260-6
Sudradjat, Ishak, J. F., & Nugraha, A. A. (2023). Determinants of banking sector audit report lag: Evidence from Indonesia. Jurnal ASET (Akuntansi Riset), 15(1), 167–176. https://doi.org/10.17509/jaset.v15i1.57366
White, H. (1980). A heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix estimator and a direct test for heteroskedasticity. Econometrica, 48(4), 817–838. https://doi.org/10.2307/1912934
Winarno, W. (2015). Analisis Ekonometrika dan Statistika dengan EViews. In Analisis ekonomterika dan statistika dengan Eviews.
Winarno, W. W., Krismiaji, K., Handayani, H., & Purwantini, M. (2022). Earnings management, board of directors, and earnings persistence: Indonesian evidence. Jurnal Akuntansi & Auditing Indonesia, 26(1), 41–53. https://doi.org/10.20885/jaai.vol26.iss1.art5
Wooldridge, J. M. (2010). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data (2nd ed.). The MIT Press.
Zadeh, F. N., Askarany, D., & Asl, S. A. (2022). Accounting Conservatism and Earnings Quality. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 15(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15090413
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Hamdani, Hendra Galuh Febrianto, Dhea Zatira, Onesmo Guty

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
