Corporate governance and earnings quality : international evidence

We examine the relationship between corporate governance and earnings quality worldwide. Results suggest a substitute relationship between corporate governance and earnings quality. We find that the country effect is extremely relevant in shaping this relationship. Indeed, this relation is more pronounced in developed countries, in countries with strong investor protection. Our findings are consistent with the view that poor accounting information may force firms to adopt costlier corporate governance mechanisms, in particular in environments in which they are effective. Likewise, in such environments, firms with better quality accounting information may not need to invest so much in costly governance mechanisms.