The Moderating Effect of Audit Quality on the Relationship Between Discretionary Accruals and Stock Returns

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Abstract

Accounting earnings and its components are considered in decision-making of capital market stakeholders. Researchers, in their study, have found the accrual component of earnings on investment decisions in the stock price and subsequent stock returns effective. But since discretionary accrual, control or influence the management and the issue of conflict of interest between ownership and management, it is possible that discretionary accruals are manipulated by managers. One of the effective ways to control discretionary accruals manipulation by management is the audit process. The purpose of this study was investigating the moderating effect of audit quality on the relationship between discretionary accruals and stock returns in the Tehran Stock Exchange. In this study, the metrics for evaluation of audit quality and auditor tenure was used. The results showed that the largeness of the audit firm has a bearing on the relationship between accruals and stock returns, leading to an increased association between accruals and stock returns. Audit quality and the auditor tenure criterion of the firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange demonstrate no significant impact on the relationship between discretionary accruals and stock returns.

Keywords