Purpose The structure of corporate governance, as one of the important elements to be considered based on the different characteristics than other companies, such as women, expertise, tenure and management is different. But two measures for the presence of women in the board of directors and the size of director’s board are considered as corporate content characteristics that can affect corporate tax strategies in avoiding tax or taxes timely pay off. The purpose of this paper is to understand the demographic characteristics of the board of directors structure on the board and tax avoidance in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Design/methodology/approach Sample includes the 505 firm-year observations from companies listed on the TSE during the years 2012–2016 and research hypothesis was tested using multivariate regression model based on panel data. Findings The results indicate that female presence on the board of directors reduces the corporate tax avoidance. Additionally, firms with a larger size of board of directors are associated with more tax avoidance. Originality/value The current study is almost the first study which has been conducted in Iran, so the findings of the study not only extend the extant theoretical literature concerning the tax avoidance in developing countries including emerging capital market of Iran, but also help investors, capital market regulators and accounting standard setters to make informed decisions.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between financial reporting quality and information environment (IE) in firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Design/methodology/approach In this study, composite measures were used as the proxy to measure financial reporting quality and IE. In this regard, a sample of 1,490 firm-year observations of the firms listed on the TSE during the years 2008 to 2017 and a multivariate regression model was used to examine the research hypothesis. Findings Findings indicate that financial reporting quality has a positive relationship with firms’ IE. This result is robust to the alternate measure of financial reporting quality and endogeneity problem. Originality/value The present study is the first study to develop a composite measure for the firms’ IE in the Iranian capital market. As a result, it not only expands the theoretical literature on the firms’ IE but also helps policymakers, regulators, investors and financial reporting users make informed decisions.

PurposeThe present study sets out to examine the effect of auditor's report and audit firm size on the value relevance of accounting information of the companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2008–2017.Design/methodology/approachThe study includes a sample of 1,530 firm-year observations drawn from the listed companies, and the research hypotheses were analyzed using multivariate regression model based on panel data.FindingsThe findings reveal that auditor's report and audit firm size are positively and significantly correlated with two indicators of the value relevance of accounting information including value relevance of earnings and book value per share. Also our results exhibit robustness to the alternative measure of auditor's attributes.Research limitations/implicationsAs far as we know, this is the first study to analyze the association between auditor's attributes and value relevance of accounting information in emerging capital markets, thereby generating certain implications for investors, managers, capital market policy makers and audit profession regulators in general and those in emerging markets in particular.Practical implicationsOur findings have implications for policy makers, regulators, managers and investors. Our evidence on the positive association between auditor's size and value relevance of accounting information should help policy makers and regulators which they improve value relevance of accounting information and financial reporting by integrating small audit firms and setting up larger audit firms.Originality/valueA rise in the value relevance of accounting information deserves further attention while drawing investment, selling the stocks of existing firms and increasing investor's decision-making ability. The way how auditor's attributes can promote the value relevance of accounting information is still open to new research.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the association between certain audit committee characteristics like independence and financial expertise with financial reporting quality (FRQ) of the firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE).Design/methodology/approachThe sample includes the 558 firm-year observations from companies listed on the TSE during the years 2012–2017, and the study’s hypotheses were tested using multivariate regression model based on panel data.FindingsThe authors find that audit committee independence has no significant effect on corporate FRQ, whereas audit committee's financial expertise significantly improves firms' FRQ. In other words, higher financial expertise of an audit committee can lead to an increase in its FRQ. The findings of the study are robust to alternate measures of FRQ, individual analysis of the research hypotheses for each year and endogeneity problem.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the association between audit committee characteristics and FRQ in emerging capital markets, and so, the findings of the study not only extend the extant theoretical literature concerning the audit committee in developing countries including emerging capital market of Iran but also help investors, managers, capital market regulators, policymakers and audit profession regulators to make informed decisions.

Purpose Increasing managerial ownership gives rise to the managerial opportunistic behaviors, among which bad news hoarding has attracted a lot of attention. Nevertheless, there always exists a threshold level at which the accumulated bad news releases abruptly, thereby resulting in corporate stock price crash risk. On the above arguments, this study aims to investigate the impact of managerial ownership on stock price crash risk of the firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Design/methodology/approach Sample includes the 485 firm-year observations from companies listed on the TSE during the years 2012-2016 and the research hypothesis was tested using multivariate regression model based on panel data. Findings The results reveal that managerial ownership increases the corporate stock price crash risk. These findings are robust to an alternative measure of stock price crash risk, individual analysis of the research hypothesis for each year and endogeneity concern. Originality/value The current study is almost the first study, which has been conducted in emerging capital markets, so the findings of the study not only extend the extant theoretical literature concerning the stock price crash risk in developing countries including emerging capital market of Iran but also help policymakers, regulators, investors and users of financial reports to make informed decisions.

Purpose An important part of the effectiveness of a company is related to the stimuli of the organizational voice, which provides the context for participation and the emergence of moral courage in performing organizational tasks. Although individual voice stimulation cannot be easily generalized because of the wide range of criteria affecting it, but in a general category, individual voice stimuli can be separated into internal and external criteria. Therefore, this research first aims to examine internal and external stimuli on individual voice and then examines the effect of individual voice on internal auditors’ moral courage and effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach The target population in this study were internal auditors of capital market companies that were examined in the period of 2020. The research tool was a questionnaire and partial least squares analysis was used to fit the model and test the research hypotheses. Findings The results of testing the hypotheses show that self-efficacy (hope and resilience) as internal drivers and independence of internal audit performance and perceived supervisor support (external drivers) have a positive effect on moral courage and effectiveness of the internal auditor. Originality/value These conclusions suggest that if behavioral incentives are considered, auditors’ level of behavioral audacity in more realistically disclosing the financial performance of their companies can be expected to increase. It should also be noted that the results of this study can increase the level of effectiveness of internal auditors’ functions and their behavioral knowledge in the direction of professional functions.

Purpose The characteristic of managers’ personality is a key factor in their decision-making. One of the most important personality characteristic of managers is overconfidence. Overconfident managers have false trust about their abilities and have a positive view of the firm’s future performance. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the association between managerial overconfidence and internal control weaknesses (ICW) of the firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Design/methodology/approach Sample includes the 480 firm-year observations from companies listed on the TSE during the years 2013–2017, and the hypothesis is tested using multivariate regression model based on panel data analysis. Findings The authors found that managerial overconfidence increases the firms’ ICW. The findings are robust to alternative measure of managerial overconfidence, individual analysis of the research hypothesis for each year and endogeneity concern. Moreover, additional analysis reveals that the positive relationship between managerial overconfidence and ICW is less pronounced in larger firms. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the association between managerial overconfidence and ICW in emerging capital markets and, therefore, can contribute to extend the current literature on managerial overconfidence and ICW in developing countries, especially Iran’s emerging capital market.

Purpose The gender theory demonstrates that women have made significant contributions to the increases of firm performance and monitoring the management. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the association between audit committee gender diversity (ACGD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure of the firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct regression analysis to test the association between the presence of female members on the AC and CSR disclosure. The final sample in this study consists of 693 firm‐year observations from Iranian listed firms over the period 2012–2018. Moreover, to ensure the robustness of the findings, this study uses a series of sensitivity analysis tests. Findings The regression results show that ACGD has a significant positive influence on the level of CSR disclosure. The finding is robust to alternative measure of ACGD, CSR disclosure and endogeneity concern. Practical implications The findings have numerous practical implications for regulators, policy makers, managers and investors. This study has implications for Iranian regulators and policymakers and sends positive signal about recommending or requiring gender diversity on the board and its subgroups such as AC. Furthermore, the findings have implications for the investors, so that they have to make informed investment decisions given both financial factors and ACGD, and eventually invest in those firms with women membership in their AC’s composition. Social implications Concerning with board of directors and the general assembly of shareholders, as the findings suggest the significant role of ACGD in the enhancement of CSR disclosure, boards and the general assembly are to engage women in AC composition to both increase AC efficiency and improve CSR disclosure level. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind that investigates the association between ACGD and CSR disclosure in emerging capital markets, and therefore can contribute to extend the current literature on CSR in developing countries, especially Iran’s emerging capital market.