Earnings management and ownership structure : Evidence from France

The aim of our research is to study the link between ownership structure and earnings management among French companies. The study is performed on a sample of SBF 250 listed companies over the 2004-2008 period. The ownership concentration, measured by the holding of the ultimate shareholder, is negatively associated with earnings management until a certain threshold, and positively over the threshold (curvilinear relationship). Moreover, the fraction owned by the second shareholder seems to be negatively associated with earnings management. As far as the nature of ownership is concerned, analyses pinpoint that the weight of family and industrial ownership limits the intensity of earnings management. One explanation could be in the long-term investment horizon of these agents, which does not induce executives to perform earnings management.