JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING KNOWLEDGE
Year:2021 | Volume:12 | Issue:1 (44)|Papers Count:8

Objective: This is very important for managers and investors of the company and other stakeholders to investigate the consequences of publishing modified audit reports in Iran. There are many factors affecting the modified audit report and the purpose of this study is not to identify these factors. The results of this study can answer the question of whether in Iran the audit report and the type of auditor's opinion cause a reaction from different groups or not. Also, the role of accounting justification theories (agency hypothesis, information hypothesis and insurance hypothesis) in the economic outcome of the modified audit report was experimentally tested. Given the above, the main issue of the present study is to answer the question that what effect does the audit report and quality audit performance have on the value of the company? The purpose of this study is to identify the economic consequences of a modified audit opinion. Methods: The research data was collected using document mining and were analyzed using a sample of 146 companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2007 to 2018 by Panel data and multivariate regression model. Results: The research findings showed that the number of clauses in the audit report has an economic consequence and, consequently, reduces the sensitivity of investment expenditures to cash flows and the ratio of the tobin's Q. In addition, the role of the three theories of audit assumptions was tested according to Wallace's view. The findings show that the modified audit opinion with the criterion of the number of clauses in the condition was based on the agency theory and the information theory has economic consequences. However, according to the insurance theory, there is no economic consequence. Conclusion: The research findind showed that modifeid audit reports has no economic consequences. The reason for rejecting this claim, which was contrary to the initial expectations of the researcher and the results of other researchers, could be the large volume of modified audit reports versus unmodified reports among the sample companies, which will cause problems in data analysis. Also, it seems that the market and the performance of shareholders do not pay much attention to the type of audit report. On the other hand, the experimental test of the economic consequences of the modified audit report was performed according to the hypotheses justifying the audit performance. The results of testing these hypotheses showed that the audited report with the criterion of the number of condition clauses, based on the assumption of agency theory and information theory has economic consequences. According to the research findings, shareholders and managers in joint stock companies operating on the Tehran Stock Exchange are advised to pay more attention to the type of audit report issued and to eliminate the clauses of the audit report and improve the reporting situation. Because a modified audit report can have negative economic consequences, so it can lead to effective measures to reduce the audit report clauses.

Objective: The purpose of this research is investigating the effect of community social capital on asymmetric behavior of cost. Social capital refers to features of social organization such as norms and networks that simplify cooperation and harmony for mutual benefit. Community social capital captures the strength of cooperative norms and the density of social networks in a region. Cost stickiness is a behavioral property of cost that is substantially based on managerial decisions. In this case of cost behavior, managers are quick to expand resources when demand is increasing, but for a variety of reasons choose to stick with unutilized capacity when sales are decreasing. As such, community social capital is a socio-economic factor that might affect managerial resource adjustment decisions via different channels. Methods: The method of the present research is descriptive-correlation because in this study the principle is to make hypotheses, test them, explain the relationships between phenomena and also analyze the dependent variable based on independent variables. For this purpose, we have collected the financial information related to 191 companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during the period of 2012 to 2018 and measure the community social capital index by different provinces of the country. In order to measure the community social capital index, we used the components of participation rate in elections, labor force participation rate, density of social networks and density of non-profit organizations by quarterly method. We also use multiple linear regression patterns to test research hypotheses. Results: Research findings indicate that, there is a significant relationship between community social capital and the degree of stickiness in selling, general and administrative costs. In this regard community social capital significantly increases the degree of stickiness in selling, general and administrative costs. The findings also show that, there is no significant relationship between community social capital and the degree of stickiness in the total operating costs and cost of goods sold. Hence, we observe an issue related to the personal motivations of managers and their opportunistic behaviors. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the study, it can be argued that community social capital restrains managers from taking opportunistic resource adjustment decisions that would reduce costs stickiness. And this leads to an increase in the degree of costs stickiness. This article confirms the important role of managerial opinion in cost behavior and how local environmental factors show differences in firm’ s cost behavior.

Objective: External auditors play an essential role in enhancing the quality of accounting information and reducing the information asymmetry problem between inside & outside stakeholders such as shareholders, creditors and managers. Audit fee is one of the most important indicators for assessing the audit quality. Audit fees consist of two components which are audit resource costs and risk premiums. Audit resource costs are related to the amount of audit efforts took in auditing and the risk premium is a compensation for risk taking. Under risk-oriented auditing, audit risk is that auditors are really concerned about. Audit risk model consists of three components which are inherent risk, control risk and detection risk. In addition, prior studies suggest that the relation between audit market competition and audit quality can be either positive or negative, depending on whether higher concentration results in decreased costs of telling the truth and thus increased audit efforts and audit fees. Numerous studies have examined the impact of audit risk and audit market competition on audit fees with mixed results. This paper analyzed the relation among audit risk, audit market competition environment & audit services fee. So, it investigated the impact of some features related to auditors on the pricing of audit services. The probability of 2nd type error is considered as a proxy of audit detection risk and audit market share is considered as a proxy of audit competition environment. Methods: Statistical analyses include 131 firms which listed in Tehran Securities & Exchange over the period 2013 to 2019. Research data includes 917 firm-year observations. Research hypotheses have assessed through multivariate regression models using panel data with fixed effect and generalized least squares method. Results: According to the findings, there is meaningful and negative relation between audit services fees and 2nd type error as a proxy of audit detection risk. In addition, evidence indicated that there is meaningful and positive relation between audit services fees and audit market share as a proxy of audit competition environment. Other evidences documented that audit services fee is a direct function of auditor opinion, auditor reputation, audit complexity, audit committee independence, board leadership and loss, but it is an inverse function of auditor rotation, board independence, ownership concentration and leverage; however it is not a meaningful function of board activity. Conclusion: As a whole, research evidences suggested that some features related to auditors and some features related to clients rely on supply & demand based perspectives have an important role in determining the effective factors on audit fees. Detection risk results in the auditor's conclusion that no material errors are present where in fact there are. Evidences showed that there is an inverse relationship between detection risk and audit quality: if detection risk is high, lower the audit fee as a proxy of audit quality and if detection risk is low, generally increase the audit fee. Empirically, previous studies examining the association between audit market competition environment and audit quality provide mixed results. It is, therefore, important to understand the various relationships between audit market competition environment and audit quality to prevent regulatory intervention from producing potential unintended consequences. Findings documented that high level of audit market share lead to more the audit fee and low level of audit market share generally decrease the audit fee.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the behavioral characteristics of opportunism (Machiavellianism) on the skepticism of the profession of independent auditors as one of the important components of auditors in detecting significant fraud and distortion in the financial statements. Which can have a negative impact on the judgment and decision of auditors. Methods: This research is an applied research and is one of the descriptive survey research. Required data were collected and analyzed using a questionnaire completed by 466 auditors from the members of Iranian Association of Certified Public, Audit Office, and the Supreme Audit Court. 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. The following standard questionnaires were used for specific questions. 1. Behavioral Characteristics of Opportunism: Christie and Gais (1970) this questionnaire consists of 20 items. The items in this scale have 5 options including strongly disagree, disagree, disagree, agree and strongly agree, which are scored from 1 to 5, respectively. 2. Professional Doubt: Hart (2010) this questionnaire consists of 30 items with 6 components. The components of the questioner's mind are measured by 3 items, interruption in judgment by 5 items, knowledge search by 6 items, interpersonal perception by 5 items, self-confidence by 5 items, and self-judgment by 6 items. The items in this scale have 6 options completely disagree, disagree, slightly disagree, slightly agree, agree and strongly agree, which are scored from 1 to 6, respectively. Results: he results of this study showed that the behavioral characteristics of opportunism have a significant and negative relationship with the skepticism of auditors. This means that as the level of opportunism in auditors increases, so does their professional skepticism. Other results of this study also indicate that opportunism has a significant and negative relationship with the skepticism of independent auditors. In other words, as the level of opportunism in auditors increases, so does the dimension of the questioning mind, the pause in judgment, the search for knowledge, interpersonal understanding, self-confidence, and self-judgment. The evidence of this research is consistent with the theoretical foundations of the research of Azjen (2005), Danley et al. (2003), Schaefer and Wang (2011), Gosh and Curtin (1996) and Beigi Herchgani et al. (2015). In their research, they concluded that personality-behavioral characteristics affect people's judgment and decision-making, and behavioral disorders, including opportunism, reduce the efficiency and performance of auditors. Conclusion: The results of this study show that opportunistic behavioral characteristics in the skepticism of independent auditors reduce the desire and motivation of auditors to collect information and evidence, reduce the proof of management claims in financial statements, reduce independence and impartiality, reduce confidence and motivation of auditors and Decreased mentality and interest of independent auditors. . It is therefore recommended that auditors and supervisory bodies take ethics seriously and by establishing mechanisms that prevent unethical behavior, take an effective step towards improving the economic conditions of the country and thus protecting the public interest.

Objective: Aggressive financial reporting means that the company delays reporting bad news and shows speed in reporting good news. Although sources of pressure (social pressure and corporate risk appetite) play a large role in this unethical behavior, companies' willingness to provide Aggressive financial reporting can also be influenced by a variety of factors, including psychological, sociological, and ethical motivations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of financial managers' honesty-humility and followership style (with emphasis on sources of pressure) on Aggressive financial reporting behavior. Method: Data was collected using Scenario-based questionnaire, and the data analysis method was inferential. Scenario-based questionnaire was used to test the research hypotheses, taken from the research of Brink (2018) and Bishap (2017). Research time zone of 2020 and Statistical population includes financial managers. The sample of research based on Cohen (2000) table is 160 financial managers. Analysis of variance was used to test the research hypotheses. Results: The results showed that decreasing the honesty-humility of financial managers, the effect of obedience pressure on aggressive financial reporting is less and the effect of aggressive risk appetite on aggressive financial reporting is greater. Also, with increasing honesty-humility of financial managers, the interaction impact of social pressure and risk appetite on aggressive financial reporting is less. In examining the moderating effect of followership style, the results showed that the high tendency of financial managers to follow the style of non-critical, dependent and passive thinking, the effect of obedience pressure and the impact of aggressive risk appetite on aggressive financial reporting is greater but the interaction impact of social pressure and risk appetite on aggressive financial reporting is less. . Conclusion: In sum, the results show that the interaction of social and risk appetite pressure resources on aggressive financial reporting is influenced by the modifiers of follow-up and honesty-humility of financial managers. Recognizing the factors affecting the unethical behaviors of financial managers, can be the basis for proper planning of companies in the process of attracting successful financial managers and the vigilance of board members, the audit committee in the face of suspicious behavior. This can, to some extent, prevent them from presenting aggressive financial reporting. Knowing these factors can also increase the ability of accounting professionals to detect and prevent fraud. The potential for aggressive financial reporting stemming from social pressures from superiors and peers should also be of interest to an organization’ s auditors and audit committee, since both pressures may lead to management override of controls or collusion, which are inherent limitations of any internal control system. Thus, it is imperative for auditors and audit committees to be aware of the presence and possible effects of social pressures and to create mechanisms that increase awareness of, and effectively alleviate, the negative influence of such pressures.

Objective: Previous research has shown that managers invest free cash flow in projects with the negative current value and use earnings management to hide the negative effects of such investments, especially when management oversight is weak manipulates real accounting-related processes to increase profits. The results of this study offer beneficial information for the investors with a similar institutional environment because the study promotes the application of applying audit committee and auditor's expertise as efficient tools to constrain management behavior towards manipulation of the accruals. Thus the purpose of this study is to investigate the moderating role of establishing the audit committee and auditor's expertise in the industry on the relationship between free cash flow and real earnings management with a sample of 133 firms for the years 2009-2018. Methods: The research hypotheses have been tested whit using multivariate linear regression models and with the help of combined data. Chen, et al., (2016) model has been used to measure free cash flow, and Cohen and Zarvin's (2010) model has been used to test real earnings management criteria. Also, the numbers zero and one have been used to measure the moderating variables of the establishment of the audit committee and the auditor's expertise in the industry. Results: The findings indicate a relationship between free cash flow and real earnings management through abnormal production costs and abnormal operating cash flow but were not observed a significant relationship between free cash flow and actual earnings management through abnormal discretionary expenses. Therefore, the moderating variables were tested with two criteria of abnormal production costs and abnormal operating cash flow which were specified establishment audit committee and auditor's expertise in the industry, weakening the relationship between free cash flow and real earnings management through abnormal production costs and abnormal operating cash flow. Conclusion: The existence of an effective audit committee as an intra-agency supervisor can limit management's ability to manipulate financial statements and control its opportunistic behavior to use free cash flow for earnings management through operational decision-making. Also, the auditor's expertise in the industry as external-agency supervisors by overseeing the financial reporting process, both through the audit of financial statements and through the interplay of internal corporate governance mechanisms, can limit the inefficient use of free cash flow by management. Therefore, investors, general assemblies, and the board of directors of joint-stock companies, when choosing an auditing firm, should pay serious attention to the selection of an auditor's expertise in the industry as an effective monitoring mechanism for the work of managers. Besides, decision-makers of companies with significant free cash flow can effectively control the negative effects of free cash flow by hiring an auditor's expertise in the industry. It is also necessary that the board of directors of joint-stock companies have more oversight over the activities of the members of the audit committee so that this committee can do its job properly and accurately.

Purpose: As competition in the financial markets expands, companies in the field are more successful in enhancing their dynamic capabilities through the creation of unmatched values and resources, allowing them to gain greater market share. Developing these capabilities, while having potential future returns from a competitive perspective, can also improve the level of interaction of the company with stakeholders and enhance the company's competitive performance. Therefore, focusing on the analysis and evaluation of research and development costs can, as a measurable basis, help to better understand the development capacity of companies and disclose it as an information base in the form of financial reporting. The Purpose of this research is the effect of the dynamic competitive capabilities on financial reporting quality. Method: In terms of purpose, the present study is an applied research and in terms of data collection method, it is a quasi-experimental post-event research in the field of positive accounting research. Eviews software tested the research hypothesis. In this study, 71 companies in Tehran Stock Exchange during the period 2014 to 2018 were studied. In this study, technological capability based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to measure dynamic competitiveness, and the quality of accruals and voluntary accruals was used to measure the quality of financial reporting. Result: Based on the combined data, the F-Limer test was used to determine the significance or tabularity of the data at the significant level of the model. According to the obtained results, the significance level of F-Limer statistic for all models is less than 0. 05, so the null hypothesis of the test is rejected and indicates that the panel data method should be used to estimate the research models. According to the results of this test and its significance level, it was determined that the models should be estimated by the method of fixed effects. According to the results of this test and its significance level, it was determined that the models should be estimated by the method of fixed effects. The results of statistical analysis and testing of research hypothesis showed that technology based on source-based approach has a positive and significant effect on the quality of corporate financial reporting. Conclusion: This result suggests that with the development of dynamic competitiveness, the company will be more capable of creating more sustainable resources at a competitive market level, which can lead to improved quality of corporate financial reporting. Companies with technological capabilities based on investment in research and development seek to create value and maintain the necessary dynamism in a competitive environment and will strive to timely disclose financial functions and investment in research and development to news stakeholders. Communicate to the company to increase the level of trust and confidence in the company to achieve greater returns.

Objective: Auditing as an independent profession has the task of accrediting financial statements and can help build trust for stakeholders. The fees include any charges that are paid to the auditor and the audit firm in accordance with the agreement, on the basis of the contract to the auditor and the audit firm. The impact of audit factors on audit fees is very important because the lack of attention to these factors and audit pricing as a homogeneous and non-competitive commodity can negatively affect the independence and quality of audit work. On the other hand, the ownership structure of the firms by affecting the intensity of the agency problem, size, risk, and complexity of the company will affect the governance of the audit. Institutional owners are more aware of the individual investors on the company and this monitoring reduces the audit fee, reducing the agency’ s problems and improving the quality of the financial reporting and improving the volume of audit operations. Also, the quality of financial reporting is affected by the company's political connections. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between institutional ownership and audit fees and the impact of political Connections on the relationship between institutional ownership and audit fees. Method: The study has been conducted to analysis 114 firms selected using the systematic sampling from among firms accepted in the Tehran stock exchange during 2011-2017. In general, 798 firm-year observations were considered to be analyzed. For surveying the relationship between variables, multivariable regression is used by GLS approach. Also, in order to testing hypotheses we have used Panel Data approach. Results: The findings indicate that there is a negative and significant relationship between institutional ownership and audit fees, but the political relationships in firms do not influence the relationship between institutional ownership and audit fees significations. Conclusion: According to the findings, the auditors are paid less attention to the auditors with increasing institutional ownership, higher company monitoring and lower audit work volume. The negativity of this relationship is based on an effective monitoring hypothesis. Due to the efficient monitoring hypothesis, due to the volume of invested wealth, the institutions manage their investments more actively. One of the reasons that can be expressed does not affect the relationship between institutional ownership and audit fees. The presence of the board and directors with political connections may have sufficient monitoring of financial statements due to the maintenance of their reputations and their good reputation, and to reassure shareholders that the existence of the company's political connections does not undermine the quality of financial reporting. In fact, by specifying the operational expectations and coordination of ownership policies, there is a control over the activities of companies with government shareholders, in fact, because of the careful monitoring of the legislator, the controllers do not need additional auditor assurance.