This table shows the mean, the standard deviation and the minimum and maximum for the total sample variables, differentiating between overall, between and within measures of the statistics (e.g. standard deviation, minimum and maximum). EQ1 to EQ4 as well as EM are the alternative metrics of earnings quality, which are the dependent variables in the main study. These metrics correspond to the measures of earnings quality developed by StarMine, based on a percentile ranking from 0 to 1 of stocks based on sustainability of earnings, with 1 representing the highest rank. These metrics are classified as the overall measure of earnings quality (EQ1), earnings quality corresponding to an accruals measure (EQ2), a cash flow measure (EQ3) and an operating-efficiency measure (EQ4). EM is the measure of earnings quality based on discretionary accruals used in the robustness analyses. By construction, EM takes negative values, with higher values indicating better earnings quality. GD1 to GD3 are the board’s gender-diversity alternative metrics for our first independent variable. BRem1 to BRem4 are the measures of remuneration of the board of directors, related to the hypotheses regarding the directors’ compensation. BOwn is the percentage of the equity capital owned by the board of directors, BIndep is the percentage of independent board members, BSize is the number of directors on the board of directors and BExec is the percentage of executive directors. Size is firm size as the logarithm of total assets. Risk measures the default risk based on Altman’s (1968) Z-score. ROA measures the return on assets, computed as net income over total assets. Lev measures the leverage ratio, defined as the sum of short- and long-term debt over total assets. Finally, GO is a metric of growth opportunities, defined as total assets less total common equity plus the company’s market capitalization, all scaled by total assets.

***Significance of the t test at 1%