CORPORATE STRUCTURE AND EARNINGS MANAGEMENT OF LISTED OIL AND GAS FIRMS IN NIGERIA

This paper investigates the relationship between corporate structure and earnings management of listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria for the period 2006 to 2015. Data was obtained from a sample of seven firms out of the population of nine firms through their annual reports and accounts. Corporate structure as an independent variable was proxied by leverage, tangibility, firm size and firm age, while the residuals from the modified Jones Model by Dechow et al (1995) was used to represent earnings management. The study adoptedordinary least square multiple regression technique in analyzing the data. The findings revealed that leverage, tangibility and firm size have negative impact on earnings management, while firm age has significant positive impact. It is recommended that the firms should increase the percentage of debt in their capital structure and also increase their investment on fixed assets as well as expanding the size of their operations, since the result provides evidence that leverage, tangibility and firm size have negative effect on earnings management.