The Impact of Board Diversity on the Accounting Conservatism of Listed French Companies

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to explore the impact of board demographic diversity on the accounting conservatism of French companies pertaining to SBF 120 index during from the period 2015 to 2018. Four demographic characteristics of directors were studied: gender diversity, education level, average age, and nationality diversity. After measuring accounting conservatism by the accruals method, the results of the panel data regressions indicate that gender and nationality diversity have a positive and significant effect on accounting conservatism. The age of directors does not have a significant effect on accounting conservatism. The results also show that the level of education has a negative and significant effect on accounting conservatism. The results of this study affirm that it is necessary to take into account the diversity of the board when selecting board members, as it influences the behavior of directors towards different issues related to accounting practices.