The relationship between earnings management and volunary disclosure quality in Islamic and non-Islamic banks: The case of Mena Region

Abstract

The aim of the current study is to investigate the relationship between earnings management (EM) and voluntary disclosure quality (VDQ) on Islamic and non-Islamic banks (IBs and NIBs) listed in Middle East and North African (MENA) countries during the period from 2006 to 2015.
In accordance with the empirical work of Kanagaretnam et al., (2004) and Yasuda et al., (2004), the two-stage and modified Jones models were employed as major and alternative models respectively to measure EM practices. The multidimensional method of Beretta & Bozzolan (2008) was developed in order to measure VDQ. The panel regression analysis was utilised for the regression model used in the current study.
The findings show that the VDQ has a negative and significant impact on EM in both IBs and NIBs, which are in line with the perspectives of both signalling and agency theories. In addition, this result remains unchanged after robustness and several additional tests. Furthermore, the findings of the multivariate analysis show that IBs and NIBs behave differently in terms of both EM practices and VDQ. This result was supported by several alternative tests.
Overall, the methodological contribution of this study is the further development of the multidimensional framework of Beretta & Bozzolan, (2008) in order to measure VDQ. It is also the first empirical research, to the best of the researcher’s knowledge, on the relationship between EM and VDQ in the banking industry, especially in Islamic banking. Additionally, it provides empirical evidence on the differences between IBs and NIBs that are listed in MENA countries in terms of EM and VDQ.