Assess graduate-level understanding of how board independence and executive compensation structures influence earnings management in publicly listed firms; scope includes theoretical frameworks (agency, stewardship, managerial power), key measures (proportion of independent directors, CEO pay-performance sensitivity, discretionary accruals, real activities manipulation), empirical strategies (regression models, endogeneity/addressing selection, IVs, diff-in-diff, robustness checks), interpretation of causal mechanisms and empirical findings, and implications for corporate governance policy and research design.