The Relationship between Companies’ Investment Opportunity and Audit Report Lag

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between investment opportunity of companies and audit report lag in companies accepted in Tehran Stock Exchange. In order to measure the investment opportunity, the method of ranking the companies is used which is based on three criteria of the ratio of market value to book value of assets, the ratio of market value to book value of equity and Gross property, plant and equipment ratio. The statistical population of this study included 77 active companies in Tehran Stock Exchange, which was studied during the period 2003-2016. The research hypotheses were tested using regression analysis of data panel. The results of the research show that companies with more investment opportunity than other companies have shorter audit report lag. Moreover, based on the sensitivity analysis, the results confirm a negative and significant relationship between the abnormal investment opportunity of the companies and the abnormal audit report lag.