The study looked at how the way a company is owned and governed in Hong Kong can affect how they manage their earnings. They found that companies with high or low levels of family ownership tend to manipulate their accounting numbers, while companies audited by Big 4 auditors are less likely to do so. This suggests that family-owned businesses may take advantage of minority shareholders through accounting tricks, and having independent non-executive directors on the board doesn't always stop this behavior. This means regulators and standard setters need to do more to protect investors and make sure outside directors have more power on the board.