Ownership structure and oppurtunistic accounting: A Case of listed food and beverage firms in Nigeria

Earnings management has been identified by regulators and practitioners as a tool used by managers to mislead investors about the underlying economic conditions of their firms. Although, the relationship between ownership structure and the discretionery behaviour of managers has been considerably discussed in developed countries, an examination into this relationship has only recently attracted the attention of researchers in the developing economies such as Nigeria. This paper examines the impact of ownership structure on earnings management in quoted food and beverage firms in Nigeria. Secondary data were extracted from the annual reports of our sample firms for the period between 2006 to 2010 and OLS multiple regression is used as a tool for data analysis. The result indicates that ownership structure affects earnings management in divergent ways. Specifically, the study documents an inverse relationship between institutional sherholding and discretionery accruals. While ownership concentration and family ownership positively impact on earnings manipulation.