SYNERGISTIC SHIELD OR OPPORTUNISTIC SMOKESCREEN? ESG PERFORMANCE, ACCOUNTING CONSERVATISM, AND ACCRUAL-BASED EARNINGS MANAGEMENT

Abstract

The link between corporate sustainability and the quality of financial reporting is still conceptually controversial, especially in emerging countries. This research analyzes the impact of ESG performance on future accrual-based earnings management, and the moderating role of accounting conservatism in the Indonesian capital market, period 2019 to 2024. Fixed-effects panel regressions show that greater ESG performance leads to a significant reduction in opportunistic earnings management. Importantly, conditional conservatism creates a synergistic monitoring environment that complements sustainability measures. By contrast, unconditional conservatism produces a detrimental substitution effect by generating opaque accounting slack, enabling managers to weaponize their sustainable reputation to conceal financial manipulation. This study contributes to the literature by overcoming the theoretical tension between the agency and stakeholder perspectives on corporate sustainability. Thus, sustainability metrics and unconditional conservatism should be simultaneously assessed by investors and regulators to prevent managerial wealth expropriation.