Moreover, due to the complicated pyramidal and cross-holding ownership structures typical in East Asian companies, a significant number of controlling owners in the region actually possess more control than their equity ownership indicates, which further exacerbates the entrenchment The entrenchment effect of the ownership structure potentially affects firms’ financial reporting. Because the controlling owner oversees the accounting reporting policies and is perceived to have strong opportunistic incentives to hold up minority shareholders, the market expects that the owner will not report highquality accounting information. This market perception will reduce the credibility of accounting earnings reports and consequently the informativeness of those earnings
