Environmental, Social and Governance Disclosure Impacts on Earnings Management in Indonesia

Authors

  • Iskandar Itan Universitas Internasional Batam
  • Eka Prasetya Nazara Universitas Internasional Batam
  • Handoko Karjantoro Universitas Internasional Batam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37253/gfa.v9i2.11345

Keywords:

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure, Earnings management

Abstract

Purpose - This study aims to analyze the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure on earnings management practices among companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). It explores how ESG transparency influences corporate financial reporting behavior.

Research Method - This study uses data from Thomson Reuters, covering 86 IDX-listed companies that disclosed ESG information during the 2019-2023 period.

Findings - It revealed that ESG disclosure in the environmental and social dimensions is found to reduce earnings management practices, while governance disclosure shows no significant effect. Companies with higher revenue levels are more effective in leveraging ESG disclosure to enhance transparency.

Implication - This study offers a novel contribution by examining the influence of ESG disclosure on earnings management in Indonesia, while also considering company revenue levels as a comparative factor. The findings hold important policy and practical implications, especially for regulators and corporate management, in understanding the broader impact of ESG practices on the integrity of financial reporting.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Almubarak, W. I., Chebbi, K., & Ammer, M. A. (2023). Unveiling the Connection among ESG, Earnings Management, and Financial Distress: Insights from an Emerging Market. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(16). https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612348

Alodat, A. Y., Al Amosh, H., Alorayni, O., & Khatib, S. F. A. (2024). Does corporate sustainability disclosure mitigate earnings management: empirical evidence from Jordan. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 21(1), 165–174. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41310-023-00213-4

Alsayegh, M. F., Rahman, R. A., & Homayoun, S. (2020). Corporate economic, environmental, and social sustainability performance transformation through ESG disclosure. Sustainability, 12(9), 3910. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093910

Ardhaoui, R., Ben Amar, A., & Fakhfakh, I. (2024). Does corporate environmental disclosure affect earnings management? The moderating effect of female board representation. EuroMed Journal of Business, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1108/EMJB-10-2023-0275

Arif, M., Gan, C., & Bataineh, H. A. (2024). Global evidence on the association between environmental, social, and governance disclosures and future earnings risk. Business Strategy and the Environment, 33(3), 2497–2517. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3595

Borralho, J. M., Vázquez, D. G., & Hernández-Linares, R. (2020). Earnings management in private family versus non-family firms. The moderating effect of family business generation. Revista Espanola de Financiacion y Contabilidad, 49(2), 210–233. https://doi.org/10.1080/02102412.2019.1616480

Chen, S., Cai, W., & Jebran, K. (2021). Does Social Trust Mitigate Earnings Management? Evidence from China. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 57(10), 2995–3016. https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2019.1675046

Czaja-Cieszyńska, H. E., & Kordela, D. (2023). Sustainability Reporting in Energy Companies—Is There a Link between Social Disclosures, the Experience and Market Value? Energies, 16(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/en16093642

Dissanayake, S., Ajward, R., & Dissanayake, D. (2023). Whether corporate social responsibility is used to suppress earnings management practices and could corporate governance mechanisms prevent them? An empirical study. Asian Journal of Accounting Research, 8(4), 373–386. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJAR-03-2022-0086

Fan, X., Tang, Z., Fu, Y., & Yan, J. (2024). Environmental information disclosure and corporate financial performance: Evidence from China. Accounting and Finance, 13327. https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.13327

Ferdous, L. T., Rana, T., & Yeboah, R. (2025). Decoding the impact of firm-level ESG performance on financial disclosure quality. Business Strategy and the Environment, 34(1), 162–186. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3982

Festus, O., Bolaji, Y. A., Francis, O., & Surajudeen, I. (2023). Impact of Environmental Accounting Disclosures on the Earnings Management of Selected Industrial Firms. Kardan Journal of Economics and Manangement Sciences, 3950(June). https://doi.org/10.31841/kjems.2023.142

Garel, A., Tourani-Rad, A., & Xu, S. (2022). Corporate Social Responsibility and Capital Allocation Efficiency in Australia and New Zealand. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15030100

Gerged, A. M., Albitar, K., & Al-Haddad, L. (2023). Corporate environmental disclosure and earnings management—The moderating role of corporate governance structures. International Journal of Finance and Economics, 28(3), 2789–2810. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2564

Ghorbani, A., & Salehi, M. (2020). Earnings management and the informational and disciplining role of debt: evidence from Iran. Journal of Asia Business Studies, 14(1), 72–87. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-11-2019-0336

Guo, C., Gao, M., & Li, J. (2023). Research on the Role of Minority Shareholders in State-Owned Enterprises Based on Big Data. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(3), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032355

Hakim, L., Rahayu, D., & Endri, E. (2022). Managerial ability, corporate governance, and IFRS adoption as determinants of earnings management: Evidence from Indonesia. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 20(1), 367–378. https://doi.org/10.21511/ppm.20(1).2022.30

Itan, I., Laudeciska, L., Karjantoro, H., & Chen, R. (2023). Riset Akuntansi dan Keuangan Indonesia URL : http://journals.ums.ac.id/index.php/reaksi/index Corporate Governance and Environmental Corporate Governance and Environmental Disclosure: Assessing The Role of Disclosure: Assessing The Role of Environmental P. http://journals.ums.ac.id/index.php/reaksi/index

Kartal, M. T., Taşkın, D., Shahbaz, M., Kılıç Depren, S., & Korkut Pata, U. (2024). Effects of Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) Disclosures on ESG Scores: Investigating the Role of Corporate Governance for Publicly Traded Turkish Companies. Journal of Environmental Management, 368, 122205. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JENVMAN.2024.122205

Kolsi, M. C., Al-Hiyari, A., & Hussainey, K. (2022). Does environmental, social, and governance performance mitigate earnings management practices? Evidence from US commercial banks. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(8), 20386–20401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23616-2

Li, W., Yan, T., Li, Y., & Yan, Z. (2023). Earnings management and CSR report tone: Evidence from China. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 30(4), 1883–1902. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2461

Mao, Z., Wang, S., & Lin, Y. E. (2024). ESG, ESG rating divergence and earnings management: Evidence from China. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 31(4), 3328–3347. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2748

Meckling, M. C. J. & W. H. (1976). Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs, and Ownership Structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3, 305–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9257-3_8

Menla Ali, F., Wu, Y., & Zhang, X. (2024). ESG disclosure, CEO power and incentives and corporate risk‐taking. European Financial Management, 30(2), 961–1011. https://doi.org/10.1111/eufm.12447

Mohammad, W. M. W., & Wasiuzzaman, S. (2021). Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure, competitive advantage and performance of firms in Malaysia. Cleaner Environmental Systems, 2(January), 100015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cesys.2021.100015

Mohapatra, S., Kumar, A., Mohapatra, M. R., & Srivastava, V. (2025). Does CEO duality moderate environmental, social, and governance performance-earnings management relationship? Evidence from emerging markets. Finance Research Letters, 73, 106616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2024.106616

Ni, X. (2020). Does stakeholder orientation matter for earnings management: Evidence from non-shareholder constituency statutes. Journal of Corporate Finance, 62(January), 101606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2020.101606

Parvin, R., Sohel Rana, M., & Shams, S. (2020). Literature Review on the Association between Earnings Management and Corporate Social Responsibility. International Journal of Accounting & Finance Review, 5(1), 22–31. https://doi.org/10.46281/ijafr.v5i1.489

Pathak, R., & Gupta, R. Das. (2022). Environmental, social and governance performance and earnings management – The moderating role of law code and creditor’s rights. Finance Research Letters, 47, 102849. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.FRL.2022.102849

Patricia M. Dechow, R. G. S. and A. P. S. (1995). Detecting Earnings Management. The Accounting Review, 70(2), 193–225. https://www.jstor.org/stable/248303

Pulino, S. C., Ciaburri, M., Magnanelli, B. S., & Nasta, L. (2022). Does ESG Disclosure Influence Firm Performance? Sustainability (Switzerland), 14(13), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137595

Putri, R. N. (2024). Information Detection of Bid-Ask Spread and Firm Size on Earning Management With Good Corporate Governance As a Moderating Variable. Transekonomika: Akuntansi, Bisnis Dan Keuangan, 4(5), 880–895. https://doi.org/10.55047/transekonomika.v4i5.708

Saleh, I., Abu Afifa, M., & Alkhawaja, A. (2023). Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure, earnings management and cash holdings: Evidence from a European context. Business Ethics, the Environment and Responsibility, 12650. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12650

Sun, W., Chen, S., Jiao, Y., & Feng, X. (2024). How does ESG constrain corporate earnings management? Evidence from China. Finance Research Letters, 61, 104983. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.FRL.2024.104983

Tahir, S., Ehsan, S., Hassan, M. K., & Zaman, Q. U. (2023). Does corporate governance compliance condition information asymmetries? Moderating role of voluntary disclosures. Journal of Asian Business and Economic Studies, 30(1), 2–25. https://doi.org/10.1108/JABES-07-2021-0085

Wu, K., Kong, D., & Yang, W. (2024). Does environmental, social, and governance rating affect firms’ real earnings management. Finance Research Letters, 67, 105764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2024.105764

Yan, H. (2024). Environmental information disclosure, earnings quality and the Readability and Emotional Tendencies of Management Discussion and Analysis. Finance Research Letters, 60, 104913. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.FRL.2023.104913

Yeh, Y. M. C., Chen, H.-W., & Wu, M.-C. (2014). Can Information Transparency Improve Earnings Quality Attributes? Evidence from an Enhanced Disclosure Regime in Taiwan. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 50(4), 237–253. https://doi.org/10.2753/REE1540-496X500414

Yopie, S., & Robin. (2023). Migration Letters The Influence of Corporate Governance System and Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Profit Management Kompas 100. Migration Letters, 20(7), 1327–1346.

Yuan, X., Li, Z., Xu, J., & Shang, L. (2022). ESG disclosure and corporate financial irregularities – Evidence from Chinese listed firms. Journal of Cleaner Production, 332, 129992. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JCLEPRO.2021.129992

Zheng, S. (2023). Research on Impact of Environmental Information Disclosure on Corporate Performance Based on Multiple Linear Regression Computation Model. 2023 IEEE 5th Eurasia Conference on IOT, Communication and Engineering, ECICE 2023, 763–767. https://doi.org/10.1109/ECICE59523.2023.10383090

Downloads

Published

2025-10-31

Issue

Section

Articles