Study of the relationship between corporate governance components, audit factors and information asymmetry with conditional and unconditional accounting conservatism (comparative study of Khan and Watts models, and Givoly and Hayn models)

In this study,we conducted a comparative study of the relationship between corporate governance components, audit factors and information asymmetry with conditionaland unconditional accounting conservatism according to the models presented by Khan and Watts (2009), and Givoly and Hayn (2000). The research period consists of eleven years from 2009 until 2019. Sampling method was Elimination methodand finally 156 companies were selected as sample, and panel data and fixed effects model  were used to analyze the relationship between research variables. The results of the research models test show that the variables of board independence, auditor's tenure and the ratio of voluntary expenses (as an indicator of agency costs) have a positive and significant relationship with both conditional and unconditionalaccounting conservatism. The variables of CEO duality and Concentration of ownership have a negative and significant relationship with conditional conservatism and no significant relationship with unconditional conservatism. Also, variables of board’s size, the percentage of ownership of institutional investors, change of auditor, audit committee independence, information asymmetry and sale’s growth have no significant relationship with both types of accounting conservatism. The main difference between the two models is in the Age of firm and return of assets variables, which have the opposite effect on both models of conservatism. In this way, older companies and high return of assets have a higher level of conditional conservatism, and vice versa, younger companies and less return of assets have a higher level of unconditional conservatism.