نقش بورس اوراق بهادار در کیفیت سود: شواهد از منطقه MENA The role of stock exchange efficiency in earnings quality: Evidence from the MENA region

1. Introduction Over the past two decades, there has been a substantial increase in corporate governance-related reforms in some parts of the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). For example, new stock exchanges, such as the Iraq Stock Exchange, Damascus Stock Exchange, and Saudi Stock Market have been established. Securities legislation has also been amended in some countries to require all listed companies to prepare their accounting reports in accordance with International Financial Accounting Standards (IFRS) in order to improve transparency (e.g. Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Oman and United Arab Emirates (UAE)). Investment law has also been reformed to encourage foreign direct investments and to grow domestic investments in Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. These new investment laws provide equal treatment to both foreign and domestic investors, allowing foreign investors to engage in any economic activity. Further, while there are significant similarities, there is also substantial variation in economic growth and stock market features across countries in the region and across time within each country. Despite the fact that a recent economic and financial integration through mechanisms such as the Arab Federation of Exchanges has boosted development of stock exchanges in many countries across the region; the variation in economic growth and stock market features is expected to significantly influence market efficiency (e.g. El Mehdi, 2007; Jefferis & Smith, 2005). Prior empirical research has predominantly explored Asian economies as emerging markets, with emerging markets in the MENA region being largely overlooked. Moreover, a number of studies document an association between earnings quality and external governance mechanisms, including takeovers (e.g. Scharfstein, 1988); analysts following (e.g. Mei & Subramanyam, 2008); banks (e.g. Ahn & Choi, 2009); and institutional ownership (e.g. Ajinkya, Bhojraj & Sengupta, 2005). However, the efficiency with which the stock exchange 3 undertakes this role in ensuring the quality of reported earnings is not well understood. For this reason, this paper aims to examine whether the quality of reported earnings is related to the MENA stock exchanges efficiency.