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The purpose of this study is to establish the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) power, audit committee effectiveness and earnings quality in regulated firms in Uganda.

The authors employed cross-sectional and correlational research designs, based on a sample of 136 regulated firms in Uganda. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from Chief Finance Officers and Chief Audit Executives. Data were analyzed using a Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling.

Results indicate that CEO power causes negative variances in earnings quality. The results also reveal that audit committee effectiveness positively relates relatively similarly with earnings quality. In addition, CEO power and audit committee effectiveness are negative and significantly related. The results further indicate that CEO power and earnings quality are mediated by audit committee effectiveness.

CEO power creates an opaque accounting environment which may leave the stakeholders unable to evaluate the true economic reality of the firm. Audit committee effectiveness is an important enabler for reporting high-quality earnings even in the presence of a powerful CEO.

This study contributes toward a methodological stance of using perceptions to understand earnings quality in regulated firms in Uganda. This is probably the first study that has specifically explored earnings quality using only the fundamental qualitative characteristics of accounting information (as proxies) as enshrined in the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting 2018 particularly in Uganda since Her adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in 1998. Second, the indirect effect of audit committee effectiveness and CEO power is tested.

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of and impact of gender diversity and intellectual capital on compliance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting standards by Uganda manufacturing companies.

Data were collected from manufacturing firms in Uganda using a questionnaire survey to find out their perception of compliance with the GRI standards. Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences, Microsoft Excel and smart partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS–SEM).

The results indicate that on average, manufacturing firms in Uganda comply with GRI sustainability reporting standards to the extent of 59%. The results further indicate that manufacturing companies comply more with the GRI 200 (economic performance disclosures) to the extent of 63% as compared with 55% for GRI 300 (environmental performance disclosures) and 58% for GRI 400 (social performance disclosures). The results also indicate that intellectual capital has a significant impact on the GRI-based sustainability performance disclosures in Uganda. However, board gender diversity has no significant effect. In terms of the control variables, only firm size is significant, while firm age, capital structure and auditor type are not.

This study provides first time evidence of the extent of compliance with the GRI sustainability reporting standards using evidence from Uganda – an African developing country. This study widens the understanding of the usage of GRI standards in the preparation of sustainability reports by manufacturing firms in an emerging economy. This study also provides first-time evidence on the role of gender diversity and intellectual capital in GRI-based sustainability performance disclosures using evidence from Uganda's manufacturing sector.