Investigating the Impact of Financial Reporting Quality on Corruption (Corruption Perceptions Index, Corruption Control and Accountability) in 8 Middle Eastern Countries

Abstract

: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of financial reporting quality on corruption. The spatial scope of this research has been the companies listed on the stock exchanges of Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Bahrain, Pakistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE and the time domain has been between 2011 and 2018. The research sample includes 1,729 companies listed on the stock exchanges of the mentioned countries. The findings of this study show that there is a significant relationship between the quality of financial reporting and the index of corruption, corruption control and accountability. In other words, by improving the quality of financial reporting, the Corruption Perceptions Index, which strengthens the accounting role in corruption, is reduced. On the other hand, with the improvement of the quality of financial reporting, corruption control and accountability, which are indicators of the role of strengthening accounting in corruption (corruption control and accountability), increase. According to the research results, poor quality of financial reporting can create a situation in which there is no accountability to shareholders, managers will act against the wishes of stakeholders and any misuse of assets will be hidden. Accounting and auditing standards seek to provide transparent and accurate information so that those with economic influence and power are less prone to moral collapse and corrupt practices. As mentioned, increasing the quality of financial reporting has an effective and constructive role in controlling and preventing corruption. The stock exchange organization and the country's legislators should increase the quality of financial reporting.