Value Relevance

Compared with net earnings, the components of earnings are more informative in companies whose components have different qualities of persistence and volatility. We examine the issue of whether net earnings together with their components have more information content than only net earnings. We construct a model to describe the effect of components volatility and their persistence through disaggregation of earnings value relevance and predictability. The analyses in our study are based on 600 firm-year observations in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) for the period 2005- 2019. Data are derived from RAHAVARD NOVIN Iranian software and firms' financial statements. The statistical tests for data analyses are the difference of means test (t-test) and regression analyses. The results of the current study indicate that as the persistence and volatility of selected components of earnings (sales, employee expenses, other selling, general and administrative expenses, and income taxes) increase, earnings disaggregation can improve earnings predictability. Furthermore, when the volatility of employee expenses increases, disaggregated earnings can improve earnings value relevance. As the value relevance of net earnings has been declined over the past decades, the results of the current study suggest that earnings disaggregation plays a major role in improving earnings value relevance and their predictability.

Sustainability reporting is an important tool for decreasing information asymmetry, according to the stakeholders' demands for transparency. On the other hand, increasing transparency allows investors to have more appropriate evaluations of firms' activities and direct their investments to companies with more enthusiasm. In the organizational context, information asymmetry creates conflict between owners and managers. Managers tend to reduce the gap between themselves and stakeholders, particularly shareholders, by producing and delivering reports. Companies use sustainability reports to connect with their society and environment, as well as a way to manage interactions with various stakeholders for societal approval and activity continuation. The primary purpose of this study is to provide a model for measuring the quality of sustainability reporting and the determinants. In terms of methodology, the current study is qualitative, deductive, cross-sectional, applied, and exploratory. The criteria were identified and extracted, then evaluated and prioritized using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making approaches including Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory Analytic Network Process-based. The FAHP test revealed that of the six indicators, the GRI's reporting guidelines for sustainability Checklist were placed highest. Internal Controls Reporting, Sustainability Innovation Performance, and Earnings Quality rated first to third, respectively, among the 25 criteria affecting the quality of sustainability reporting, according to the FDANP.