Chief financial officer’s educational background from reputable universities and financial reporting quality

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relationship between the educational background of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) from reputable universities and financial reporting quality (FRQ). Educational background is divided into two categories: an undergraduate degree from a reputable university and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from a reputable university.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses data from all companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2019, except for financial companies, and obtains 2,583 research samples. The least-squares regression analysis model was used in this study.

Findings

This study finds that the educational background of CFOs with a bachelor’s degree and CFOs with an MBA from reputable universities has a positive and significant relationship with FRQ. This study also performs an additional analysis with high-low growth and high-low tech and robustness testing with coarsened exact matching method and Heckman to corroborate the results.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides a theoretical contribution to the literature on the relationship between CFOs’ educational background and FRQ in Indonesia. It is also expected to contribute to the implementation of company policies, management and educational institutions in Indonesia.

Originality/value

This study provides a novel measurement of CFO reputation, measured using the ranking of CFO alumni from reputable universities and its association with FRQ.

Citation

Harymawan, I., Minanurohman, A., Nasih, M., Shafie, R. and Ismail, I. (2023), "Chief financial officer’s educational background from reputable universities and financial reporting quality", Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 566-587. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAOC-12-2021-0195