فصلنامه دانش حسابداری
پیاپی 37 (تابستان 1398)

This study aims to analyze the dividends smoothing phenomenon in the Tehran Stock Exchange, TSE, during 2009-2016. Data have been collected and analyzed by referring to the professional databases and using Excel and Stata software. Panel data model was applied to test the research hypotheses. Findings verified dividends smoothing in the TSE and showed when the Lintner model (1956) and cash dividends pattern were used, the level of identified smoothing increases. Also, when the Lintner model and announced dividends pattern were used, the levels of smoothing in two sub-periods are different. In the TSE, there exists dividend smoothing phenomenon, and better understanding of it requires consideration of the type of dividends and the model used.

This study examines the impacts of management ability on financial statement comparability in 120 firms listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange, during 2005-2017. In this study, the measure developed by Demerjian et al. (2012) was used to assess management ability, and the measure introduced by DeFranco et al. (2011) was used to specify accounting comparability. Panel data and multivariate regression models were taken to test the study hypothesis and analyze the results. Also, two alternative proxies for financial statement comparability were specified to re-test the hypothesis. Findings from the above tests verified the findings of the study showing that the management ability has positively significant impact on financial statement comparability. This study suggests that firms can improve their financial statement comparability by employing higher quality managers.

Professional skepticism is among those crucial subjects introduced in auditing. It requires the auditor to enjoy a questioning mind while critically assessing the evidences, and it is affected by personality traits, and hence, personality disorders. According to American Psychiatric Association (APA), personality disorders include behavioral, as well as, mental patterns which are characterized by impairment of recognition and setting excitements that result in impressive anxiety and performance disorder. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of auditors’ personality disorders on their professional skepticism. For this purpose, in a survey study, a sample of 293 auditors, including CPAs and those eligible to sit for CPA exam, are investigated. This study is conducted by using scrolling approach and applying statistical analysis of structured equations and regressions. Hurtt’s (2010) trait skepticism questionnaire is applied for testing participants’ professional skepticism, and their personality disorders are tested by using a brief form of the Personality Inventory for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- fifth edition (PID-5-BF) which is published by APA (2013). The results indicate that all dimensions of auditors’ personality disorders, negatively affect their professional skepticism. Also, the most negative association can be witnessed between personality disorders and interpersonal understanding criterion of professional skepticism.

This study investigates the effects of board of directors' characteristics on environmental, social and corporate governance, ESG, reporting in the companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2012-2016. Data was collected using document mining method and referring to databases. This is inferential with correlation-based statistical analysis research, based on structural equation model. The results showed that among the eight variables explaining board of directors' characteristics, the ratios of non-executive members of the board, corporate ownership in the board, board of directors stability and number of women in the board have positive and significant impacts on ESG reporting; and CEO duality and level of education of the board have negative and significant impacts on ESG reporting. But the variables of the size of the board and the number of meetings of the board are uncorrelated with the ESG reporting. The results of the research hypotheses show many of the board of directors' characteristics have important role in the ESG reporting. This indicates the factors needed to be considered to improve the transparency of information.

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of life cycle on corporate restructuring while in financial distress. This study uses cluster analysis to classify data, and the Dickinson cash flow patterns (2011) to calculate life cycle as well as the Zmijewski modified pattern (2005) to determine financial distress. A sample of 100 companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2010 to 2014 was surveyed. The results indicated life cycle has positive and significant effect on corporate restructuring. Also, life cycle and corporate restructuring have positive and significant effects on the level of financial distress. Additionally, results showed that corporate life cycle has positive and significant effects on financial restructuring, operational restructuring and asset restructuring, whiles life cycle lacks significant effects on managerial restructuring The companies use restructuring during their life cycle, and distressed companies use more restructuring strategies in the last stages of their life cycle. Hence, as companies reach the final stages of their life cycle are more likely to use these strategies. We cannot comment on presence or absence of managerial changes during different stages of the life cycle.

Timely detection of losses versus gains (known as conditional conservatism) may make investment decisions of management efficiently by reducing the information asymmetry between management and investors and providing early signals about the profitability of the accepted projects. This study examines the effects of conservatism on the most important neglected aspect of investment decision, namely investment in manpower. This is a descriptive, correlational and post-event study. The statistical population is all of the companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange, and the sample consists of 161 companies during 2009-2017, or totally 1449 company-years. Findings showed that there is significant and negative relationship between conditional conservatism and manpower investment efficiency. This implies that the conservatism reduced inefficient investment in the labor market by reducing asymmetric information. Based on the findings, conservatism, as the regulatory mechanism and the early signal about the profitability of decisions, reduces damaging practices of bad earning management, and speeds up the identification of bad news earlier than good news.

In this research, different methods of measurement of reporting transparency are identified by reviewing the literature. The methods are ranked by applying the Analytical Hierarchy Process, (AHP). The methods of measuring reporting transparency in this study are the Transparency Index in the Tehran Stock Exchange, TSE, the Bushman et al (2004) framework, and the S&P criterion. A sample of 20 financial managers and experts was selected, and a questionnaire was distributed among them. Then, the experts' views were analyzed by Expert Choice software. Findings indicate that among qualitative properties related to the measurement of reporting transparency, reliability is in the highest rank and timeliness and relevance in the next, respectively. Also, the final analysis showed that the Transparency Index in the TSE is ranked first, the Bushman et al (2004) framework is second, the S&P criterion is third and earning quality is fourth. According to the results, it can be argued that based on the experts' view, the best method of measuring report transparency are the Transparency Index in the TSE the Bushman et al method (2004), and the S & P benchmark. It is due to the simplicity and easy availability of that benchmark, while other methods require more indicators and analyses.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social capital and tax avoidance of the companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange, TSE, in the years 2005-2016. In this study, a sample consisting of 103 companies was reviewed by document mining method, and inferential data analysis method was used to analyze the data. Eviews software and Panel Data method were used to test the research hypothesis. Findings showed that there is no relationship between social capital and tax avoidance in the TSE. The results also indicated that social capital has a negative correlation with tax avoidance based on tax expense. However, this relationship is not significant, and also, social capital is not related to the amount of tax payment of company. The results indicate that companies do not consider the external environment and the society in which they are active, when they are involved in taking internal decisions such as tax avoidance, and that low and high levels of social capital cannot affect the decisions on corporate tax avoidance in the firms.