Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Mahdi Saghafi ¹
• Azam Pouryousof ¹
• Fatemeh Dastgerdi ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, Payame Noor University, Iran

² MSc Accounting, Department of Accounting, Payame Noor University, Iran

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine the impact of knowledge heterogeneity among board members on the optimistic tone of explanatory reports, as well as to investigate the mediating role of earnings management in this relationship. It is expected that differences in the characteristics of a company’s management team may influence the quality of both quantitative and qualitative financial reporting. To test the research hypotheses, panel data from 125 companies listed on the stock exchange over a 9-year period (2014- 2022) were used. The research models were estimated using multivariate regression analysis. The results show that the heterogeneity of managerial knowledge has a positive and significant effect on the optimistic tone of explanatory reports. Additionally, earnings management also has a positive and significant impact on the tone of explanatory reports. Ultimately, earnings management is shown to mediate the relationship between the heterogeneity of managerial knowledge and the optimistic tone of explanatory reports. The findings offer a new perspective on the role of executive management teams and contribute valuable insights to the literature on the strategic leadership of senior managers and annual board report disclosure.
Introduction
Given the explanatory reports are approved by a company’s senior management team, and the views of board members are communicated to information users, it is likely that differences in the knowledge of senior managers influence the tone of disclosure in these reports. It is expected that variations in the characteristics of a company's management team affect the quality of both financial (quantitative) and explanatory (qualitative) reports. Accordingly, this study investigates the relationship between senior managers' knowledge heterogeneity and the tone of explanatory reports, with a particular focus on the mediating role of earnings management. The importance of this research lies in its aim to raise stakeholder and user awareness of how managerial knowledge influences disclosure tone. It offers empirical evidence highlighting the relationship between managers' knowledge differences and the tone of their explanatory reports. Additionally, the study examines earnings management as a factor influencing this relationship. Since no prior research has specifically explored this topic, this study is the first to assess the impact of knowledge heterogeneity among senior managers on the tone of annual explanatory reports, emphasizing the mediating effect of earnings management. This research contributes to the development of the Iranian accounting literature from several perspectives. It advances the understanding of qualitative financial information, particularly the tone of management disclosures. Furthermore, it employs textual analysis methodology, a systematic and quantitative approach to interpreting communication content and understanding internal managerial attitudes. As this method is still emerging in the field of accounting, the study is also innovative from a methodological standpoint.
According to the main question of the research and the presented theoretical framework, the hypotheses of the research are presented as follows:
H1: The heterogeneity of managers' knowledge affects the tone of explanatory reports.
H2: The heterogeneity of managers' knowledge affects earnings management.
H3: Earnings management affects the tone of explanatory reports.
H4: The heterogeneity of managers' knowledge affects the tone of explanatory reports through the mediating role of earnings management.

2. Methodology

This research is classified as quantitative, applied, and post-event in nature. Data were collected through document mining, using the new Rahavard software, and by reviewing audited financial statements of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The statistical population consists of all companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the study period from 2014 to 2022. Companies meeting the following criteria were selected as the research sample:

Their financial year ends in March, to ensure data comparability.
They did not change their financial reporting period during the 9-year study window.
Complete data for all variables used in this research were available.
They are not banks, insurance companies, or investment companies.

Based on these criteria, 125 companies were selected as the final sample. To test the research hypotheses, multivariate regression models were employed using the panel data method. All data were analyzed using Stata statistical software.

3. Results and Discussion

The findings related to the first hypothesis indicate that heterogeneity in managers' knowledge significantly influences the optimistic tone of management's explanatory reports. In other words, the greater the knowledge diversity among managers, the more frequently a positive tone is used in annual reports. This may be attributed to such managers being more risk-averse; concerned about the company’s future, they may attempt to present conditions in a more favorable light to stakeholders. This heterogeneity in managerial knowledge can lead to the presentation of an overly favorable or distorted image of the company’s situation to information users. The results of the second hypothesis show that knowledge heterogeneity among managers also has a significant positive effect on earnings management. That is, as the diversity in knowledge among managers increases, the likelihood of engaging in earnings management also rises. These results are consistent with the contractual incentives (reward) of managers. The findings of the third hypothesis of the study indicate that earnings management has a positive and significant effect on the tone of annual explanatory reports. This means that the lower the quality of financial reporting in companies, the more positive words managers use in their annual reports. In other words, managers seek to hide their possible undesirable performance by distorting users’ perceptions. This finding aligns with the opportunistic theory of managers. The findings of the fourth hypothesis indicate that earnings management can play a mediating role in the relationship between the differentiation of managers' knowledge and the tone of annual explanatory reports. This means that earnings management significantly reflects the effect of managers' knowledge heterogeneity on the tone of financial reports. This issue highlights the self-interest of such managers, who seek to reduce users’ ability to analyze information by disclosing it in an unrealistic manner.

4. Conclusion

The results of the present research, while offering a new perspective on the role of the executive management team within companies, provide useful insights that enrich the existing literature on the strategic leadership role of senior managers and the disclosure of annual board reports. These findings contribute to optimizing the structure of senior management teams and can help companies make better decisions to improve overall performance.

Keywords

• Earnings Management
• Financial Reporting
• Managerial Knowledge Heterogeneity
• Tone of Explanatory Reports

Main Subjects

• stock exchange