Intellectual capital and earnings quality: a comprehensive investigation

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship among intellectual capital (IC) and its components and earnings quality for nonfinancial companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Moreover, we examined the role of financial performance as a mediator effect on the impact of IC and its components on earnings quality. Our findings show that IC and its components have significant impact on earnings quality. Also, financial performance mediates the effect of IC and its components on earnings quality. Therefore, it is concluded that IC and its components affect earnings quality through improving financial performance. As the existing studies on the relationship between IC and earnings quality have not used comprehensive measure of earnings quality, and they did not consider the financial performance as a mediator factor, this study contributes to the literature by filling these gaps in the literature.

intellectual capital; earnings quality; financial performance; Tehran Stock Exchange; VAIC.