Ger en kvinnlig CFO högre redovisningskvalitet?
The executives of a firm possess considerable influence over a company's financial reports. The numbers can be adjusted in a favorable direction by engaging in Earnings Management, which harms the reliability of the financial reporting. Previous research suggests that Earnings Management can differ between genders. In recent years the debate about a woman's role in the business world has received generous attention in media. Moreover, the presence of women in leading positions has become a relevant issue for firms. The purpose of this paper is to test if having a female CFO leads to lower Earnings Management, thus higher earnings quality. Discretionary accruals are measured by the Modified Jones Model and used as an indicator for the level of Earnings Management in a firm. Results are generated from cross-panel regressions of discretionary accruals and a number of control variables. Our sample consists of firms listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm in 2012. The findings in this study do not support the hypothesis that firms with a female CFO have higher earnings quality than firms with a male CFO. One limitation of the study is the relatively small data sample of Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. This study extends existing research on the association between female CFOs and Earnings Management. Furthermore it widens the research field into the Swedish market.