Value relevance, earnings management and corporate governance in China

This study investigates whether earnings management reduces the level of value relevance and whether good corporate governance restrains earnings management. Using hand-collected data comprising 1012 firm-year observations from all companies listed on the Shanghai SSE 180 and the Shenzhen SSE 100, the results show that the negative impact of value relevance for the companies engaged in earnings management is greater than the companies that have not engaged in earnings management engagement. Furthermore, the companies with good corporate governance practices are more likely to constrain earnings management than those without.