Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

3 Master of Accounting, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Financial statement comparability improves the quality of financial information and the information environment, and enabling users to identify similarities and differences between different companies, and evaluating the performance of managers and supervising them. So, it is expected that increasing the comparability of financial statements will limit the opportunism of managers. In this regard, in this study, the relationship between comparability of companies and debt maturity has been investigated. The data of the present study were collected using the financial information of 125 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange in the period 2013 to 2019 (882 observation). To analyze the data, a multivariate linear regression model of the generalized least squares type by utilizing combined data was used. The results showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between the comparability of financial statements and the maturity of the company's debt. Therefore, it can be concluded that the Financial statement comparability plays an important role in aligning incentives in the company and by reducing information asymmetry and potential agency costs, can substitute for the use of short-term debt by serving as a corporate governance mechanism.

Keywords

Main Subjects

  1. Barclay, M. J., Marx, L. M., & Smith Jr, C. W. (2003). The joint determination of leverage and maturity. Journal of corporate finance9(2), 149-167.
  2. Brochet, F., Jagolinzer, A. D., & Riedl, E. J. (2013). Mandatory IFRS adoption and financial statement comparability. Contemporary Accounting Research30(4), 1373-1400.
  3. Chen, C. W., Collins, D. W., Kravet, T. D., & Mergenthaler, R. D. (2018). Financial statement comparability and the efficiency of acquisition decisions. Contemporary Accounting Research35(1), 164-202.
  4. Custódio, C., Ferreira, M. A., & Laureano, L. (2013). Why are US firms using more short-term debt?. Journal of Financial Economics108(1), 182-212.
  5. De Franco, G., Kothari, S. P., & Verdi, R. S. (2011). The benefits of financial statement comparability. Journal of Accounting research49(4), 895-931.‏
  6. Do, T. K. (2021). Financial statement comparability and corporate debt maturity. Finance Research Letters40, 101693‏.
  7. Do, T. K., Lai, T. N., & Tran, T. T. (2020). Foreign ownership and capital structure dynamics. Finance Research Letters36, 101337.
  8. Fang, X., Li, Y., Xin, B., & Zhang, W. (2016). Financial statement comparability and debt contracting: Evidence from the syndicated loan market. Accounting Horizons, 30(2), 277.
  9. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). (2010). Statement of financial accounting concepts no. 8: conceptual framework for financial reporting.
  10. Flannery, M. J. (1986). Asymmetric information and risky debt maturity choice. The Journal of Finance41(1), 19-37.
  11. Gomariz, M. F. C., & Ballesta, J. P. S. (2014). Financial reporting quality, debt maturity and investment efficiency. Journal of banking & finance, 40, 494-506.
  12. Gopalan, R., Song, F., & Yerramilli, V. (2014). Debt maturity structure and credit quality. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis49(4), 817-842.‏
  13. Habib, A., Hasan, M. M., & Al-Hadi, A. (2017). Financial statement comparability and corporate cash holdings. Journal of Contemporary Accounting & Economics13(3), 304-321.
  14. Harris, M., & Raviv, A. (1990). Capital structure and the informational role of debt. The Journal of Finance, 45(2), 321-349.
  15. He, Z., & Xiong, W. (2012). Rollover risk and credit risk. The Journal of Finance67(2), 391-430.‏
  16. Huang, K., & Shang, C. (2019). Leverage, debt maturity, and social capital. Journal of Corporate Finance54, 26-46.
  17. Kim, J. B., Li, L., Lu, L. Y., & Yu, Y. (2016). Financial statement comparability and expected crash risk. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 61(2-3), 294-312.
  18. Kim, J. B., Li, L., Lu, L. Y., & Yu, Y. (2021). Financial statement comparability and managers’ use of corporate resources. Accounting & Finance, 61, 1697-1742.‏
  19. Kim, S., Kraft, P., & Ryan, S. G. (2013). Financial statement comparability and credit risk. Review of Accounting Studies18(3), 783-823.
  20. Ortiz-Molina, H., & Penas, M. F. (2008). Lending to small businesses: The role of loan maturity in addressing information problems. Small Business Economics, 30(4), 361-383.‏
  21. Rajan, R., & Winton, A. (1995). Covenants and collateral as incentives to monitor. The Journal of Finance50(4), 1113-1146.
  22. Schipper, K. (2003). Principles-based accounting standards. Accounting horizons17(1), 61.
  23. Sohn, B.C. (2016). The effect of accounting comparability on the accrual-based and real earnings management. Journal of Accounting Public Policy, 35, 513–539.
  24. Zhang, J. H. (2018). Accounting comparability, audit effort, and audit outcomes. Contemporary Accounting Research, 35(1), 245-276.
  25. Ghanizadeh, H., Alipour, S., & Shahvalizadeh, A. (2018). Investigating the comparability of accounting information and the cost of debt financing in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange, 17th National Accounting Conference of Iran, Qom. [In Persian]
  26. Hasan Yeganeh, Y. (2014). Essays on corporate governance, second edition, Tehran Elmi O Farhangi Publications. [In Persian]
  27. Hashemi, S., Samadi, S., & Hadian, R. (2015). The effect of financial reporting quality and debt maturity on investment efficiency. Empirical Studies in Financial Accounting, 11(44), 117-143. [In Persian]
  28. Iranian Accounting Standards Committee (2018). Accounting standards. Tehran: Publications of Audit Organization. [In Persian]
  29. Jafari, A., Maleki, A., & Bidarvand, R. (2021). Relationship between comparability of financial statements and debt maturity structure. Journal of Accounting and Management Vision, 4(46), 1-15. [In Persian]
  30. Mashayekhi, B., & Mohammadpour, F. (2014). Financial Reporting Quality, Debt Maturity and Investment Efficiency. Financial Management Strategy, 2(4), 1-14. doi: 10.22051/jfm.2014.1805. [In Persian]
  31. Mehrabanpour, M.R., Faraji, O., & Sajadpour, R. (2020). The Mediating Role of Financial Reporting Quality on the Relationship between Financial Statement Comparability and Cash Holdings. Accounting and Auditing Review, 27(1), 132-153. [In Persian]
  32. Sajjadi, S. H., & Jafari, A. (2007). Factors affecting capital structure of small and medium companies, Iranian Institute of Certified Accountants, Iranian Journal of Accountancy, 191, 28-35. [In Persian]
  33. Taghizadeh Khanqah, V., & Talebnia, G. (2018). The Impact of Debt Maturity on Stock Price Crash Risk with an Emphasis on Information Asymmetry. Journal of Asset Management and Financing, 6(3), 87-104. doi: 10.22108/amf.2017.21211. [In Persian]