Management Demographic Characteristics, Auditor Choice and Earnings Quality: Empirical Evidence from Iran

Subject Areas : Financial Accounting

Mehdi Safari Gerayli ^{1 *} , Davood Hassanpour ² , Hasan Valiyan ³

1 - Department of Accounting, Bandargaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandargaz, Iran
2 - Department of Accounting, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran
3 - Department of management, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran

Received: 2019-01-01 Accepted : 2019-03-12 Published : 2019-07-01

Keywords: auditor choice, earnings quality, Demographic characteristics of management,

Abstract :

Recent accounting and management literature shows that demographic character-istics of top management and corporate performance are related. Accordingly, using a two-stage least squares regression model (2SLS), this study examines the relationship between some management demographic characteristics including CEO tenure, gender and level of education with earnings quality and auditor choice. Sample includes the 420 firm-year observations from companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2013 to 2017 and research hypothesis was tested using multivariate regression models. The results show a significant and positive association between managers education level and higher auditor quality choice. In addition, we find that firms with female directors in the composition of the board of directors and with higher education levels, have higher earnings quality. 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 in developing countries including emerging capital market of Iran, but also help investors, capital market regulators and accounting standard setters to make in-formed decisions.

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