The Impact of Chief Executive Officers on Earnings Management of Listed Companies in Vietnam

Abstract

Profit is one of the indicators reflecting the growth in the operation of the business and is the fundamental goal in evaluating the manager's success. Thus, this study examines the impact of Chief Executive Officers (CEO) on the earnings management of companies listed on the Vietnam Stock Exchange. Using panel data of 485 listed companies in HOSE and HNX in the period 2016 - 2020, the results of multivariate regression according to the fixed effect model found that CEO expertise and founder are positively correlated with earnings management, and CEO age harms earnings management. However, there is insufficient evidence to prove that CEO gender impacts earnings management. In addition, the study also admits that net cash flow from operating activities, Financial Leverage is related to earnings management. This study's findings contribute to the existing literature regarding the scientific debates about CEOs' characteristics, earnings management, and discretionary accruals in an emerging economy. Finally, the author proposed that managers engaged in earnings management for personal gain by using their influence to interfere in applying policies for the earnings management of listed companies in Vietnam.