فصلنامه دانش حسابداری
پیاپی 45 (تابستان 1400)

increasing complexity and competitive in business has led to emphasize on organizations to provide a higher volume and more qualitative information in order to promote transparency and reduce information asymmetries. These changes have meant that the usefulness of the information provided by the traditional financial statements to their potential users becoming less and less valuable, leading to a higher demand of relevant information and an effort by standard regulators to improve quality and timeliness of the information. Risk information play an important role in the decision-making process and evaluation of the company. In this sense, the information about risks can contribute to manage changes, reduce the cost of capital, report on the future path of the business model, and allow companies to communicate the risk messages that they wholly understand their own risks and have developed practices to manage them. In addition, information about risk helps investors to valuation of the firms and in the assessment of management's work. Accordingly, this study explores establishing a theoretical and comprehensive framework for risk disclosure for the firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), and determines various risks empirically.  

For this purpose, a quantitative survey research methodology was exerted, and the attitude of auditors, academics, and financial analysts, towards the framework for risk disclosure were investigated. Required data were obtained by questioner from sample of 203 preceding individuals in 2016, 2017 and analyzed by using comparative, T test, Wilcoxon, and Friedman tests.  

Results showed that risks information need to be provided to different stakeholders including investors, financial analysts, creditors, government, managers, suppliers resources (non-financial) and customers. The purpose of providing this information should be aimed at assisting decision making and disclosure of risks information must be mandatory. Qualitative characteristics of risk disclosure including relevancy, reliability, comparability, understandability, and materiality and costs- benefits should also be determined. In regard to qualitative or quantitative risk disclosures, a concise and approved guideline is required for quantitative disclosure and different quantification techniques to risk disclosures also required. In addition, for assimilation of risk information, forward-looking and backward- looking and negative and positive information about risk must be considered with focusing on negative and forward-looking information.  

According to research findings, all types of risk, including financial, strategic, operational, integrity and empowerment are required and must be prioritized according to their importance and impact. This research identifies a number of issues for regulator and standard setter to establish requirements for risk disclosure. In addition, the findings can be used by professional associations to provide suggestions for risk disclosure.

One of the most important accounting information is the earnings and its components, which is probably part of the information for investors' decision making. Changes in the way earnings are reported in the evolution of accounting show that earnings and their components have been important to the financial reporting audience, and there is little doubt that earnings are an important output of the accounting system. One of the most important features of accounting earnings is its persistency, which is considered by users when making economic decisions. Earnings persistency means the continuation of past earnings in future periods. By knowing the nature of accounting earnings persistency, we can better predict the financial aspects of the company that are associated with this figure. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the persistency and reversibility of accounting earnings status using Markov processes.  

In order to investigate the persistency and reversibility of the accounting earnings situation, the mathematical methods of Markov processes have been used using the data of 308 companies listed on the stock exchange in the period 1393 to 1397. In this research, in order to test the hypotheses, first, the transfer probability matrix is formed using the items of net income to sales ratio and operating profit to sales ratio, and the hypotheses are tested with the help of concepts in the field of Markov chains. For this purpose, the data is entered into Excel software and then mathematical calculations are performed through MATLAB software.  

The research findings show that current year earning is related to next year earning and this issue provides the basis for using Markov process methods to study the characteristic of earning persistency. The results show that since Markov chains related to transfer probability matrices are irreducible for all years, all earnings states in the Markov chain will be reversible. The reversibility of the earnings states means that any earnings state will be repeated in the future. The results also show that the transfer probability matrices calculated based on the net income to sales index and the operating profit to sales index are regular for all years and the sum of years. Therefore, it can be concluded that the effect of the initial situation of accounting earnings on the long-term forecast of accounting earnings persistency is decreasing. In other words, the effect of the initial accounting earnings status on the long-term forecast of accounting earnings decreases over time. Other findings show that the reversibility of accounting earning status based on operating earning to sales ratio and net income to sales indicators are not significantly different.  

Using current year earnings to predict future earnings has informative content. However, when the longer time horizon is considered, the information content of current year earnings decreases over time, and in the long run there will be virtually no difference between using operating profit and net profit as indicators to assess the persistrncy and reversibility of accounting earnings.

Voluntary disclosure of information reduces the uncertainty of the information environment, thereby increasing information asymmetry and investor confidence in the management of the company, and businesses that have more Tax aggressiveness activities may increase their disclosure to eliminate information uncertainty and information asymmetry. On the other hand, voluntary disclosure of information can clarify the goals of Tax aggressiveness activities and the motivation for the benefit of individuals within the organization. Agency theory introduces voluntary disclosure as a mechanism to assure managers of stewardship and support for shareholders and may reduce the company's opportunistic behavior and reduce information asymmetry. Accordingly, voluntary disclosure of information is expected to affect the relationship between Tax aggressiveness activities and information asymmetry. In fact, voluntary disclosure quality can prevent management opportunities from pursuing their own personal interests through policies and Tax aggressiveness activities, reducing information asymmetries and thus increasing information transparency. Empirical evidence shows that voluntary disclosure of information can moderate the relationship between Tax aggressiveness activities and information asymmetry. More importantly, disclosure of companies' information has an impact on their analysis and consequently management forecasting and at the same time play an important role in reducing information asymmetry. As a result, Tax aggressiveness policies increase information asymmetry at the company level by ambiguity and complicating the information situation, and then voluntary disclosure can reduce the company's opportunistic behavior and reduce information asymmetry. Therefore, this study aims to examine the moderating effect of voluntary disclosure on the relationship between tax aggressiveness and information asymmetry.  

This research is an experimental research method of post-event type and is in the category of positivist approaches. Statistically, it is a correlational research and we utilized multivariate linear regression to test research hypotheses. The information collected is based on actual stock market information, financial statements and notes accompanying corporate financial statements.To achieve the purpose of the research, 174 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the period 2012-2018 are examined. To test the hypotheses, the method of panel data analysis and multiple linear regression are used.  

The research findings show that there is a positive and significant relationship between tax aggressiveness and information asymmetry. In addition, these findings indicate that voluntary disclosure of information does not have a significant effect on the relationship between tax aggressiveness and information asymmetry.  

Tax planning increases the value of the company through tax savings, but if this planning is too aggressiveness, it leads to the downfall of the company and this leads to ineffective communication with shareholders and creditors of the company. In such circumstances, the problems are caused by information asymmetry become more apparent. On the other hand, managers are expected to use voluntary disclosure to reduce the negative effects of complex financial statements and the information environment, But in the case of Iran, due to capital market inefficiencies and limited cases of voluntary disclosure of information by companies, the quality of voluntary disclosure of information is not necessarily sufficient to have a significant impact.

In recent years, corporate social responsibility has become a widely accepted trend in the business world. Due to the growing importance of corporate social responsibility in the operations and performance of the company and its impact on society, corporate social responsibility has become an important issue in the accounting and management literature and societal concerns about environmental and social issues have increased sharply. The scope of these concerns has also shifted to the corporate environment, as companies are expected to focus on environmentally friendly activities and social responsibility. Over the past years, the number of companies volunteering in the field of corporate social responsibility has increased dramatically and this issue has attracted the attention of researchers. On the other hand, The business strategy is a reflection of a company's actions and decisions to understand and adapt to the environment and find the desired position in society in order to achieve the highest level of performance. a company's strategy shapes the underlying economic logic of resource allocation management decisions. Prospective companies are trying to focus on a structural strategy that has the most economic benefits in the long run. In contrast, defender firms tend to pursue a retention or withdrawal strategy, which aims to maximize profits for the current period in exchange for future economic benefits. Therefore, the present study examines the impact of business strategy on the level of corporate social responsibility disclosure.  

A sample of 127 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2014 to 2018 was selected. For this purpose, to determine the type of business strategy of companies, the combined scoring system of Ittner et al. (1997) was used and to measure social responsibility, a checklist consisting of 39 disclosure items was used and the research hypotheses were tested using a multivariate regression model based on the panel data technique.

The research findings indicate that companies with aggressive business strategy (prospectors) are more inclined to disclose corporate social responsibility than defenders. In other words, using an aggressive business strategy increases the disclosure of corporate social responsibility. Also, the results of sensitivity analysis test showed that the use of alternative criteria to measure the company's business strategy has no effect on the main results of the research and the research results are robust.  

Compared to other company strategies that change over time, a company's business strategy is one of its main components that is selected in the start-up phase of any company and by determining the company's business policy, not only creates internal stability, Rather, it aligns the characteristics and strategies of the company with itself. The findings indicate that the performance of corporate social responsibility is formed to some extent through the business strategy adopted at the beginning of the company. Companies with prospectors business strategies are more likely than defenders to invest in corporate social responsibility. In other words, using an aggressive business strategy increases the disclosure of corporate social responsibility. According to resource-based theory, there is competition between companies in terms of having tangible and intangible resources. The company's social responsibility activities also develop the company's intangible resources by improving the company's reputation, promoting innovation and increasing customer trust. On the other hand, prospectors are more in need of promoting their reputation and brand among customers than defenders, as well as maintaining their innovation capacity, and are less concerned with reducing costs, and are more focused on experimentation and innovation. As a result, prospectors with the long-term horizons they draw motivate managers to invest in long-term activities and provide the opportunity to realize the potential values of corporate social responsibility activities and seek to participate in corporate social responsibility activities for better performance. Therefore, corporate social responsibility activities are very important for prospectors compared to defenders.

This study seeks to discover the effect of Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) implementation on Earnings quality. Earnings quality was measured based on the absolute value of discretionary accruals, which is the inverse measure of earnings quality. Discretionary accruals can be divided into short-term and long-term discretionary accruals, so this study examines ERP implementation effects on which part of the discretionary accruals.The study then seeks to examine whether the impact of ERP implementation on earnings quality improves in later years, for example, two years after implementation.  

To test the research hypotheses, the information of 117 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange has been used and the effect of ERP implementing on earning quality in the years 2006 to 2018 in these companies was investigated. Year of implementation of ERP systems is the year in which financial modules are implemented. Hypothesis models of this research were tested using panel data and OLS regression. The Jones model was used to measure the absolute value of discretionary accruals and the Whelan model was used to calculate short-term and long-term discretionary accruals.  

The results of the first hypothesis test showed that ERP implementation had a negative and significant relationship with discretionary accruals and since the absolute value of discretionary accruals is an inverse measure of earnings quality, then ERP implementation has a positive and significant relationship with earnings quality. The second hypothesis test also confirmed that ERP implementation had a negative significant relationship with short-term discretionary accruals. But testing the third hypothesis did not confirm the significant relationship between ERP implementation and long-term discretionary accruals. Test of Fourth Hypothesis showed that the average of discretionary accruals decrease significantly two years after the ERP implementation compared to the two years before.  

The results of the tests generally showed that the implementation of ERP systems improves the earnings quality and its effect on working capital accounts, current assets and liabilities is more evident because it reflects short-term accruals. The effect of ERP implementation on short-term discretionary accruals is quite obvious and reduces the absolute value of short-term discretionary accruals significantly. But this study failed to show that the implementation of ERP systems has an impact on long-term discretionary accruals. The study also showed that the improvements made after the implementation of ERP and its positive impact on earnings quality become even more obvious on two or three years after the implementation of the ERP system The reason for this is that ERP implementation is very important in the correct collection of information, control of access level and entry of information as a process in the whole organization.

Today, identifying the factors affecting the credit rating is of particular importance in terms of comparing the credit risk of one firm with other firms and also in terms of competitiveness of the firm. The purpose of this study was the effect of Social Responsibility on the Credit Rating of Companies due to the Adjusting Role of Low to High Stock Returns  

The present study is an applied research in terms of purpose. Also, in this study, according to the type of data and available analysis methods, the combined data method has been used. Data collection method, document mining method and referring to databases; and the method of data analysis is inferential. In the present study, the required data have been extracted from the new Rahvard software, corporate financial statements and documentation, as well as the Cadal site. The statistical population of the present study is all companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange in the period 2011 to 2020 and the software used to prepare data and estimate models is Eviews 10. Combined data model was used to test the research hypotheses.  

The results of the research hypothesis test show that social responsibility has a positive and significant effect on the credit rating of the company. In other words, increasing the level of importance of the company to the category of social responsibility increases the company's credit rating with creditors. Also, the results showed that Low to High Volatility of Sales Market have a negative and significant effect on the relationship between social responsibility and the company's credit rating. Thus, when companies fluctuate from Low to High Volatility of Sales Market, the implementation of social responsibility clauses will not have much effect on the favorable opinion of creditors, and creditors will reduce the credit rating of companies; Therefore, increasing low-to-high volatility of stock returns leads to a weakening of the relationship between social responsibility and the credit rating of companies.  

Investors and lenders are more interested in companies that perform well in various aspects of social responsibility. This leads to these companies gaining more credit with investors and creditors through the implementation of social responsibility clauses. Also, with the increase of Low to High Volatility of Sales Market, the stock prices crash risk increases, which can cause creditors to be pessimistic about the company for non-payment of their tax obligations; As a result, in such circumstances, the implementation of social responsibility clauses will not have much effect on the favorable opinion of creditors, and creditors will reduce the credit rating of companies. Investors and creditors can use the results of this study to select the right companies to invest. Also, organizations that rank companies can use low to high fluctuations in stock returns and social responsibility as two very important and determining factors in the ranking.

The purpose of this study is to answer the question of whether auditors' commitment to public interest and independence requirements can affect the professional values of auditing firms.  

The aim of this study is the practical type and the present study in terms of the nature of data and the analytical methods is a descriptive survey. in order to test research hypotheses, the information of partners, managers, and supervisors of trusted auditing firms of central insurance organization of Iran with the purposive sampling method in 2020 are gathered and analyzed furthermore, the questionnaire is used to gather the required data that its validity is confirmed by professional experts. Questionnaire questions consist of two parts, general and specific. The public sector questions include the general characteristics of the respondents including gender, place of employment, level of education, age and occupation and etc... the specific part include two variables (attitudes) and auditors ' commitment to the requirement of independence which includes by 11 items, and the commitment to public interests to which includes by 5 items, and analyzing purposes mainly with respect to the model of structural equation and the ratio of three groups ranging from Kruskal-Wallis test and the AMOS 24 and SPSS24 software are used.  

The results of the study confirm the role of auditors’ commitment to public interest and its effect in reducing the level of moral acceptance of unprofessional behavior and the level of participation in unprofessional behavior, as well. In addition, the results show a significance positive relation between auditors’ tendency towards independence enforcement and their public interest commitment. Also considering the results of the Kruskal-Wallis test for comparing the three groups, partners, managers, and supervisors of audit Firms are ranked first to third, respectively, in terms of commitment to public interests and the requirement of Independence enforcement.  

The findings show that auditors’ tendency towards independence enforcement has no meaningful relation with both of acceptance of unprofessional behavior and the level of participation in unprofessional behavior. the more audit Firms in the organization 's strategies and procedures should pay more attention to the principles of ethics and ethics and the more efforts to develop ethical codes and professional behavior, the more attention of employees to the organization is expected to improve the performance of auditing Firms. accordingly, it is suggested that auditing Firms alongside the supervising and governing bodies of audit profession , disciplinary measures, economic actions and workshops about auditing and auditing profession and auditing ethical rules specifically for members of certified public accountants and training courses at the level of directors and supervisors in respect of public interest and more efforts to this ethical issue.

In neoclassic economy, it is assumed that decision-makers behave intellectually and always pursue the maximization of their own favorability, but results of several investigations show that in order to find answers to financial questions, we have to accept this probability that behaviors of decision-makers may not be perfectly intellectual. In other words, personality traits of managers are considered factors being important in making decisions. One of such traits is narcissism. Narcissistic personality is associated with signs or indications of sense of superiority, preoccupation with success vagary, power, aesthetic talents, and belief in being an exceptional and unique person. Narcissistic managers are basically willing to achieve great accomplishments within organisations they take over. They tend to do strategically adventuresome operational activities and risky ventures so that decisions made by them can lead to high amounts of profit/ loss at the end of fiscal periods.Present research was done to examine effects of CEO narcissism on the risk of fraud in financial reporting and the moderating roles the auditors and audit committees play regarding the relationship between CEO narcissism and risk of fraud in financial reporting. On this basis, narcissistic managers seeking to reach the best performance are most likely to perform fraudulent activities because measurement of financial performance, which is considered as reflection of decisions made by managers, is a mechanism for managers to be visible and praised. This can be one of factors manifesting narcissism among managers in order to recognize their honor and magnificence.  

In order to study the subject, data on 90 companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange during 2014-2018 was collected by Rah Avard Novin software from financial statements, attached notes and official site of Tehran Stock Exchange to be used to test research hypotheses based on logistic regressions.  

Findings of present research showed a significantly positive relationship between CEO narcissism and risk of fraud in financial reporting. Findings also signified some moderating effect for efforts made by auditors and for proficiency of auditors and of audit committees' chairmen on the relationship between CEO narcissism and risk of fraud in financial reporting.

As a CEO's personality trait, narcissism may increase likelihood of the risk of fraud in financial reporting. As a part of corporate governance mechanisms, recruitment of diligent and Expert auditors as well as audit committees specialized in finance and accounting can be an obstacle to the fraudulent financial reporting caused by CEO narcissism.