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The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of earnings management on financial performance. In addition, the authors investigate whether corporate social responsibility has a moderating effect on the impact of earnings management on financial performance.

The empirical study is based on a sample of French companies listed on the CAC-All-Tradable index over the period 2008–2018. Feasible generalized least square regression method is used to estimate the econometric models.

Based on panel data of 3,003 French firm-year observations, the authors demonstrate that earnings management has a negative and significant impact on financial performance. Indeed, corporate social responsibility moderates positively the negative impact of earnings management on financial performance in the French context.

The findings have several implications for regulatory, investors and academic researchers. For regulators, it is appropriate to promote more several standards related to corporate social responsibility and earnings management. For investors, considering societal issues is very important in making decisions. For academic researchers, the results show that it is important to discover how corporate social responsibility can influence the relation between earnings management and financial performance.

The existing literature has generally focused on the impact of earnings management on financial performance and the empirical tests did not yield similar results. The study shows that corporate social responsibility has a moderating role in determining the impact of earnings management on financial performance.

In financial literature, dividend payout decisions are determined by factors such as debt, liquidity, profitability, size and risk. The purpose of this paper is to identify the effect of earnings management measured by discretionary accruals based on Dechow et al.’s (1995) model on dividend policy.

This research will use panel data analysis to test the effect of earnings management on dividend policy. The authors selected 280, French non-financial companies, listed on the CAC All Tradable index for the 2008-2015 period.

Using a sample of 2108 firm-year observations, the authors find a positive impact of earnings management on dividend policies of firms. Besides, there is a positive/negative relationship between the size of the firm and the dividend policy. Moreover, this paper has dealt with some factors such as debt, the risk of the firm and liquidity which may affect the corporate dividend policy. The results are robust as the authors adopted an additional measure of dividend policy.

The findings may have important implications for analysts, investors, regulators and academics. First, the study shows that earnings management is a common practice in the French context and constitutes a major objective of dividend policy. Better still, identifying the other variables that influence the dividend policy provides a clearer understanding of dividend policy for investors, analysts and academics alike. Second, the study provides ample evidence of agency problems between various partners in French capital markets, highlighting the necessity to establish new corporate governance mechanisms. This is highly relevant for policymakers in their quest for a better financial market.

This study extends the literature on the impact of dividend thresholds on earnings management by showing that firms run earnings to inform the market that the company can distribute dividends.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on dividend policy in the French context. In addition, the authors seek to determine if the individual components of CSR influence dividend policy.

This study uses panel data methodology for a sample of French non-financial firms between 2008 and 2018. Generalized least squares method is used to estimate the models.

Using panel data methodology for a sample of 825 observations for the period 2008–2018, this study finds a positive impact of CSR practices on dividend policy. The authors also find that individual components of CSR positively influence dividend policy. To check the robustness of the results, this study further runs a sensitivity tests, including an alternative measure of dividend policy, all of which confirm the findings.

This study has examined the impact of CSR on dividend policy in France and may have implications for regulatory, investors, analysts and academics. First, the involvement in CSR best practices encourages companies to pay more dividends to investors. Therefore, investors are more motivated to invest in socially responsible firms than socially irresponsible firms. Second, given the association of CSR with the quality of accounting information and financial markets, regulators should step up recommendations relating to the different societal dimensions of CSR.

While little previous work has focused on the causal link between CSR and dividend policy, this research is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to have looked at the impact of CSR on dividend policy in France.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the ISO 26000 (global corporate social responsibility standard) adoption and financial performance. The current study aims to explore whether ISO 26000 social responsibility standard adoption has an impact on financial performance.

The study is based on a sample consisting of French companies listed on the CAC-All-Tradable index for the period 2010-2017. This study is motivated by using panel data estimated feasible generalized least squares method.

The results show that that good corporate governance can improve the financial performance. This positive impact is also noticed in the case of labor relations and conditions, environment and community involvement. However, it does not apply to human rights, fair operating practices and consumer issues, as there is no significant relationship between these dimensions and the financial performance.

The findings may be of interest to the academic researchers, investors and regulators. For academic researchers, it is interested in discovering how the adoption of ISO 26000 can improve financial performance. For investors, the results show that it is appropriate for different countries to adopt the ISO 26000 guidelines and introduce societal practices in their activities.

This paper extends the existing literature by examining the effect of the ISO 26000 standard for financial performance in the French context. The study of corporate social responsibility through its seven societal dimensions has enabled us to understand the guidelines relating to the ISO 26000 standard.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between CEO overconfidence and earnings management examined by the discretionary accruals and if this relationship is moderated by business ethics.

Data from a sample of 246 European firms selected from the Stoxx Europe 600 Index between 2010 and 2022 were used to test the model using panel data and multiple regressions. This paper considered the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) estimation for linear panel data models. A multiple regression model is used to analyze the moderating effect of business ethics on the association between CEO overconfidence and earnings management. For robustness analyses, this paper included the alternative measure of the dependent variable and independent variable.

Using discretionary accruals as a proxy for earnings management, the empirical results show a positive relationship between CEO overconfidence and earnings management. Furthermore, the results suggest that business ethics negatively moderates the relationship between CEO overconfidence and earnings management.

This paper makes a significant contribution to stakeholders such as investors, financial decision-makers and auditors. It underscores the importance of integrating ethical considerations into corporate governance practices for fostering accountability and transparency. In addition, it highlights the moderating role of business ethics in transforming the positive effect of CEO overconfidence on earnings management into a negative impact. This emphasizes the pivotal role of ethical norms in financial decision-making processes and extends implications to standard setters and policymakers in the regulatory domain.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the moderating role of business ethics on the relationship between CEO overconfidence and earnings management in the European context. It is also the first study to document that business ethics can reduce the effect of CEOs’ biased behavior and their scope for discretion, thereby reducing the amount of earnings management. This study fills a research gap by extending the existing literature, which generally focuses on the impact of CEO overconfidence and earnings management.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of corporate environmental disclosure on earnings management and to further examine whether this relationship is moderated by female board.

Our sample includes 264 European companies listed on the STOXX eUROPE 600 for the period 2010 to 2022. We excluded financial companies (banks and insurance companies) due to their specific capital structure and regulatory requirements, and companies with missing data. Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) regression method is used to estimate the econometric models. For robustness analyses, the authors included the alternative measure of the dependent variable, and they applied the simultaneous equation model for the endogeneity test.

Using discretionary accruals as a proxy for earnings management, the results obtained indicated a negative effect of corporate environmental disclosure on earnings management. The results suggest also that women on boards are effective in their monitoring role. Indeed, findings show that the effect of corporate environmental disclosure on earnings management is particularly stronger with the presence of women directors on the companies’ boards.

This study has two limitations. Firstly, the sample size is relatively small, which may limit the generalizability of our findings. Secondly, our earnings management indicator, based on estimates of accruals, may not perfectly reflect all streams of earnings management. Therefore, to reduce potential bias in these estimates, it would be useful to use other indicators, such as real earnings management.

The findings have several implications for regulatory, investors and academic researchers. For regulators, it is appropriate to promote several standards related to corporate environmental disclosure and earnings management. The results advise also the worldwide policy maker to give the importance of female roles to improve engagement firms in corporate environmental disclosure, so to be more transparent in their accounting practices to ensure that they are not engaging in unethical or fraudulent behavior. For investors, the results show that the existence of female directors on the board reduces earnings management. For academic researchers, it is interesting to explore the relationship between corporate environmental disclosure, women on the board, and earnings management.

This paper extends the existing literature by examining the moderating effect of women directors on the relationship between corporate environmental disclosure and earnings management in the European context.

This study aims to examine how digitalization affects the work efficiency of the Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) in Islamic banks.

This study uses panel data analysis of annual report disclosures over the past 10 years. The authors have selected 79 Islamic banks for the period ranging from 2012 to 2021. The criteria for SSB efficiency used in this research are disclosure of Zakat and disclosure in the SSB report.

The econometric results show that digitalization has a positive effect on improving the work efficiency of the SSB in Islamic banks. Accordingly, the authors provide evidence that the higher the bank's digital engagement, the higher the quality of the SSB.

The findings highlight the need to improve the current understanding of SSB structures and governance mechanisms that can better assist Islamic banks in engaging in effective compliance with recent governance and accounting reforms. Moreover, Islamic banks are the most capable and appropriate to implement and activate digitalization because they are based on a vital root calling for development if there are executives believing in it, as well as legislation supporting and serving them.

This paper aims to examine the influence of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption on corporate tax avoidance (CTA). In addition, this study aims to explore whether family ownership moderates the impact of IFRS adoption on CTA.

The authors used a sample of 1,856 firms from various countries around the world, covering the period between 2010 and 2022. To estimate the proposed econometric models, the authors applied both fixed and random effects regression methods.

The present findings show that IFRS adoption has a negative impact on CTA, as measured by the effective tax rate and book-tax differences. This negative impact is more pronounced in “common law” countries than in “civil law countries.” Additionally, the authors found that family ownership plays a moderating role by positively affecting the impact of IFRS adoption on CTA.

The findings have practical, regulatory and academic implications for fostering accountability and fairness in taxation. This study suggests that implementing IFRS reduces tax avoidance and emphasizes the need for firms to evaluate the implications of IFRS adoption on their tax-planning strategies. It highlights the importance of aligning financial reporting practices with international standards to enhance transparency and minimize tax avoidance opportunities. The differential impact of IFRS adoption between “common law” and “civil law” countries underscores the role of legal and regulatory frameworks. In addition, family ownership plays a significant role in shaping tax-planning strategies. From an academic perspective, this research provides a foundation for further exploration into the relationship between IFRS adoption and tax avoidance.

The existing literature has predominantly concentrated on examining the effect of IFRS adoption on CTA, and the empirical findings have been inconsistent. This study introduces a novel perspective by considering the moderating influence of family ownership in determining the impact of IFRS adoption on CTA.

Based on the theoretical framework, this paper analyzes the sentiment-herding relationship in emerging stock markets (ESMs). First, it aims to examine the effect of investor sentiment on herding. Second, it seeks the direction of causality between sentiment and herding time series.

The present study applies the Exponential Generalized Auto_Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model to capture the volatility clustering of herding on the financial market and to investigate the role of the investor sentiment on herding behaviour. Then the vector autoregression (VAR) estimation uses the Granger causality test to determine the direction of causality between the investor sentiment and herding. This study uses a sample consisting of stocks listed on the Shanghai Composite index (SSE) (348 stocks), the Jakarta composite index (JKSE) (118 stocks), the Mexico IPC index (14 stocks), the Russian Trading System index (RTS) (12 stocks), the Warsaw stock exchange General index (WGI) (106 stocks) and the FTSE/JSE Africa all-share index (76 stocks). The sample includes 5,020 daily observations from February 1, 2002, to March 31, 2021.

The research findings show that the sentiment has a significant negative impact on the herding behaviour pointing out that the higher the investor sentiment, the lower the herding. However, the results of the present study indicate that a higher investor sentiment conducts a higher herding behaviour during market downturns. Then the outcomes suggest that during the crisis period, the direction is one-way, from the investor sentiment to the herding behaviour.

The findings may have implications for universal policies of financial regulators in EMs. We have found evidence that the Emerging investor sentiment contributes to the investor herding behaviour. Therefore, the irrational investor herding behaviour can increase the stock market volatility, and in extreme cases, it may lead to bubbles and crashes. Market regulators could implement mechanisms that can supervise the investor sentiment and predict the investor herding behaviour, so they make policies helping stabilise stock markets.

The originality of this paper lies in investigate the sentiment-herding relationship during the Surprime crisis and the Covid-19 epidemic in the EMs.

Behavioral finance and market microstructure studies suggest that the investor sentiment and liquidity are related. This paper aims to examine the aggregate sentiment–liquidity relationship in emerging markets (EMs) for both the sample period and crisis period. Then, it verifies this relationship, using the asymmetric sentiment.

This study uses a sample consisting of stocks listed on the SSE Shanghai composite index (348 stocks), the JKSE (118 stocks), the IPC (14 stocks), the RTS (12 stocks), the WSE (106 stocks) and FTSE/JSE Africa (76 stocks). This is for the period ranging from February, 2002 until March, 2021 (230 monthly observations). We use the panel data and apply generalized method-of-moments (GMM) of dynamic panel estimators.

The empirical analysis shows the following results: first, it demonstrates a significant relationship between the aggregate investor sentiment and the stock market liquidity for the sample period and crisis one. Second, referring to the asymmetric sentiment, we have empirically given proof that the market is significantly more liquid in times of the optimistic sentiment than it is in times of the pessimistic sentiment. Third, using panel causality tests, we document a unidirectional causality between the investor sentiment and liquidity in a direct manner through the noise traders and the irrational market makers and also a bidirectional causality in an indirect channel.

The results reported in this paper have implications for regulators and investors in EMs. Firstly, the study informs the regulators that the increases and decreases in the stock market liquidity are related to the investor sentiment, not financial shocks. We empirically evince that the traded value is higher in the crisis. Secondly, we inform insider traders and rational market makers that the persistence of increases in the trading activity in both quiet and turbulent times is associated with investor participants such as noise traders and irrational market makers.

The originality of this work lies in employing the asymmetric sentiment (optimistic/pessimistic) in order to denote the sentiment–liquidity relationship in EMs for the sample period and the 2007–2008 subprime crisis.