The effect of earnings management and cash flow management client, the type of auditor (Empirical evidence: Tehran Stock Exchange)

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of earning management and cash flow management on the selection of the type of the independent auditor in the period of 2008 to 2017. The population of the study consists of all listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. By considering some criterion and using a purposeful sampling approach, 120 firms were selected. In order to test the hypotheses, the logistic regression analysis was employed. Findings of the hypotheses testing showed that those companies which attempt more to implement earning management and cash flow management, have less tendency towards selecting a top-rated independent auditors. Hence, it can be concluded that the extent of earning management and cash flow management of the firm, have a significant effect on the selection of the independent auditor.
1- Introduction
   Recently, the significance of the earnings management and cash flow management has been discussed in the accounting and finance literature. The major purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of earnings management and cash flow management on the selection of the auditor's type in relation to the companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) for the period of 2011-2017. The population of the study encompasses all listed Companies in TSE. By using purposeful sampling, 120 TSE companies were selected.
 
2- Research Hypotheses
H1: the extent of the earning management of the client, has a significant effect on the selection of the independent auditor.
H2: the extent of the cash flow management of the client, has a significant effect of the selection of the independent auditor.
 
3- Methodology
This study is a quantitative research that utilizes a one shot ex-post design. From a statistical analysis, view it is considered a correlation study. The study applies the logistic regression analysis and its related statistics to test the hypothesis. The required information relating to companies were gathered through the documents of the companies including the basic financial statements, and computer packages relating to TSE information. The statistical analysis was performed by using E-Views 9.
 
4- Findings
The empirical findings of the research showed that the extent of both the earning management and cash flow management of the TSE companies have a significant effect on the selection of the independent auditor. That is, clients who have less tendency towards earning management and cash flow management, would use the services of the top-rated auditors, and vice-versa. Hence, in the TSE market, selection of the auditor (where it is not mandatory) has information content regarding earnings management and cash flow management.
 
5- Discussion and Conclusion
The major conclusion of this study is selection of the kind of auditors in the TSE market could reveal the extent of the firm's involvement in earning management and cash flow management. Hence, paying attention to the kind of the TSE auditors, could reveal the reliability and quality of the accounting information in the stock market. In effect, there is a significant relationship between selection of the kind of the independent auditor and the quality of information of the TSE market.
 

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 23 June 2017
  • Revise Date: 04 October 2018
  • Accept Date: 08 June 2019

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