Women in top management and earnings management: Exploring the impact of corporate environmental sustainability
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Ebrahim Mohammed Al-Matari 
, Nasareldeen Hamed Ahmed Alnor , Hela Turki , Mona Hassabelrasoul Mohammad , Zahra Tajuddin Abdelgader Ali, Omer Alsir Alhassan Mohammed
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
The current study aims to explore the relationship between women’s participation in top management (TM) positions and earnings management (EM) practices. Besides, this study aims to examine the impact of corporate environmental sustainability (CES) as a moderating variable in this relationship. The study sample comprised 917 observations related to companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange over a seven-year period. Moreover, this study recognised a statistically significant positive correlation between the participation of women in TM and EM practices. Furthermore, the findings indicated a negative correlation between CES practices and EM; however, this correlation was not statistically significant, suggesting that the influence of CES is constrained or indirect in this context. Furthermore, the research suggests that CES does not serve as a moderating factor in the relationship between women’s representation and EM. The study’s novelty and scientific significance stem from its amalgamation of female governance, CES, and accounting methods within a mostly conservative regulatory framework, therefore addressing a critical need in the regional financial and management literature.
Keywords: Diversity in the Top Management, Earnings Management, Corporate Environmental Sustainability, Saudi Market
Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — E.M.A.-M., N.H.A.A., and H.T.; Formal Analysis — N.H.A.A.; Resources — Z.T.A.A. and O.A.A.M.; Visualization — M.H.M.; Writing — Original Draft — E.M.A.-M.; Writing — Review & Editing — E.M.A.-M., N.H.A.A., H.T., M.H.M., Z.T.A.A., and O.A.A.M.
Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
JEL Classification: G34, L25, Q56
Received: 02.09.2025
Revised: 02.12.2025; 23.02.2026
Accepted: 12.03.2026
Published online: 16.03.2026
How to cite this paper: Al-Matari, E. M., Alnor, N. H. A., Turki, H., Mohammad, M. H., Ali, Z. T. A., & Mohammed, O. A. A. (2026). Women in top management and earnings management: Exploring the impact of corporate environmental sustainability. Journal of Governance and Regulation, 15(2), 131–141. https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv15i2art11
