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The present article aims at systematizing the literature on EM that spans over three decades (1987–2023) to analyze the growth and development in the EM research following changes in reporting standards, economic conditions and legislations over the period.

The study covers 3,742 articles on earnings management (EM) indexed in SCOPUS and the Web of Science databases from 1987 to 2023. The study aims at the systematization of bibliometric data using R Studio, Biblioshiny and VOS Viewer software.

The study reveals that the research in the pre-SOX era gave more thrust to the development of cross-sectional models for the detection of accrual EM proxies, whereas research on EM had shifted to managerial discretions based on real transactions in the post-SOX era. Later, in the post-GFC era, the focus of EM research was redefined towards investor protection due to the collapse of the global economy that led to the erosion of investors’ wealth. In the modern era, research on EM focuses on ethical aspects such as CSR compliance, ESG framework and so on.

The findings of the study will aid the policymakers in addressing the EM based on real transactions and also incorporate the variations and changes in multiple green reporting standards to ensure fairness and transparency in reported figures.

The study contributes to the existing literature by quadrisecting the entire research on earnings management to analyze the growth and development in EM research and makes novel suggestions that future research on earnings management can be expanded towards the role of non-financial disclosure in managerial discretions and also the insider biases in green reporting.

Despite the criticality of financial inclusion, population growth and energy intensity in shaping production and consumption, economic and environmental sustainability, less attention has been directed to their collective and integrating role as pathways to sustainable development. This study therefore examines the critical link between financial inclusion and sustainable development in Nigeria, taking into account the role of population growth and energy intensity.

The study employs the Kernelized regularized least squares (KRLS) machine learning approach and Granger causality test to investigate the pathways of financial inclusion, population growth and energy intensity on sustainable development.

Financial inclusion path to sustainable development is not statistically significant. This is because the potential of financial inclusion are eclipsed by broader economic problems Population growth and energy intensity have significant dampening effects on sustainable development. These results have broad ramifications for environmental sustainability and macroeconomic strategies to Nigeria’s quest for achieving sustainable development.

Policies such as improvement of financial literacy and development of responsible financial behavior among the underserved populations can enhance the role of financial inclusion in sustainable development. Similarly, investment in education and human capital development, and adoption of renewable energy technologies can mitigate the effects of population growth and energy intensity.

The present study focuses on the pathway of financial inclusion to sustainable development, taking into account key variables of population growth and energy intensity.