Article Details
  • Published Online:
    July  2026
  • Product Name:
    The IUP Journal of Corporate Governance
  • Product Type:
    Article
  • Product Code:
    IJCG020726
  • DOI:
    10.71329/IUPJCG/2026.25.3.22-45
  • Author Name:
    Rajashri Chatterjee, Debdas Rakshit and Ananya Paul
  • Availability:
    YES
  • Subject/Domain:
    Management
  • Download Format:
    PDF
  • Pages:
    22-45
Volume 25, Issue 3, July-September 2026
How Female Directors and ESG Performance Moderate the Earnings Management-Corporate Governance Relationship: A System GMM Analysis
Abstract

The paper investigates the moderating impact of female directors on the earning management-corporate governance (EM-CG) linkage in Indian companies. It also explores the moderating role of firms’ Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance in the EM-CG nexus among Nifty 500 companies. Firms’ EM practices are measured using Raman and Shahrur model, and Bloomberg ESG score is used to gauge firms’ ESG performance, employing two-step system GMM analysis. The results disclose that the moderating impact of women directors on board diligence and CEO duality can significantly reduce EM, whereas the impact of firms’ ESG performance on board size and board independence can significantly restrain EM. These results would immensely help corporate stakeholders understand the importance of genderdiverse boards and firms’ ESG performance in reducing managerial opportunism in Indian firms.

Introduction

In economies worldwide, corporate stakeholders have been hugely impacted by financial scams at various points in time. Research studies on developed and developing economies over the years have hence focused on the association between corporate governance (CG) mechanisms and earnings management (EM) practices by firms (Chatterjee & Rakshit, 2023).