Corporate governance mechanisms and accounting conservatism: evidence from Egypt

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of corporate governance (CG) mechanisms (board size, board independence, separation of chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) roles and external auditor type) on accounting conservatism in Egypt. Design/methodology/approach: Archival data relating to CG and accounting conservatism are collected and analysed using multivariate regression techniques. Findings: The findings indicate that board independence is positively associated with accounting conservatism. By contrast, board size and auditor type are negatively associated with accounting conservatism, while separating the chairperson and CEO roles has no significant relationship with accounting conservatism. Originality/value: To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the first empirical attempts at providing evidence on the relationship between CG and accounting conservatism in Egypt.