Empirical Investigation of Cost Stickiness in Tehran Stock Exchange

The cost behavior is response to changes in activity level costs. Managers، who understand how costs behave، better predict the costs in different operating conditions. This allows them to better plan activities resulting from their operating income. In the traditional view changes in related costs represent the costs associated with increased and decreased activity level. Recent research consider that cost behavior indicate that the costs are sticky. That is whether costs increase more when activity rises than they decrease when activity falls by an equivalent amount. The main purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the sticky behavior of operating costs in three levels of cost of goods sold، sales administrative and general expenses and other operating expenses in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) during 1384 to 1391. The results indicate that increased in three levels of costs for the same level of increased activity (1%) is bigger than reduced costs levels for the same decrease in the level of activity (1%). The results thus suggest that operating expenses، sales administrative and general expenses، and cost of goods sold have the sticky behavior of costs. Managers can evaluate their exposure to sticky costs by considering the sensitivity of cost changes to reduction in volume and make better decisions. In addition to managers، financial analysts can better compare companies and industries with conception of cost stickiness behavior. Shareholders also can have confidence related to appropriate use of resource by managers.