Investigating the Mutual Relationship between the Extent of Disclosure of Corporate Sustainability Reporting Indicators and Earnings Quality

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph. D. Student in Accounting, Department of Accounting, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.

2 Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Since there are no mandatory regulations for disclosure of sustainability reporting indicators in Iran, the extent of disclosure of these indicators for the companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange is at a very low level. Considering the importance of sustainability reporting in the present century, the aim of this study is to investigate the mutual relationship between the extent of disclosure of corporate sustainability reporting indicators and earnings quality.
Method: This research is applied in terms of purpose and is descriptive-correlation regarding the method. The statistical population consists of all companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange in the period of 2013-2017, and then 92 firms were selected after imposing conditions and constraints of the study. The research hypothesis is tested using simultaneous equations and two-stage least squares regression analysis.
Results The results of testing research hypothesis show that there is a mutual and significant relationship between the extent of disclosure of corporate sustainability reporting indicators and earnings quality.
Conclusion: The extent of disclosure of sustainability reporting indicators has positive and significant relationship with earnings quality and companies with high level of earnings quality have paid more attention to the disclosure of sustainability indicators. Thus, investors, creditors, and other users of financial statements should consider sustainability indicators disclosed by companies to make decision based on companies’ earnings quality as well as effective criteria obtained by other studies.

Keywords

References

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