The Effect of Financial Distress on Earnings Volatility

The present study investigates the effect of financial distress on earnings volatility in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. To measure financial distress, two criteria of Altman's financial distress model have been modified and Article 141 of the Commercial Code has been used. Profit fluctuations are equal to the standard deviation of 4 years of net profit. The research method is applied research in terms of nature and methodologically, it is a causal (post-event) correlation. The statistical population of the study is all companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange and using the systematic removal sampling method, 114 companies were selected as the research sample and were examined in an 8-year period between 2015 and 2020. The method used to collect information is library and the relevant data for measuring variables were collected from Codal site and audited financial statements of companies and then to test the research hypotheses, Stata software and regression analysis were used. The results showed that financial distress based on Altman's modified model has a negative (inverse) effect on earnings fluctuations. Also, according to Article 141 of the Commercial Code, financial stability has no significant effect on profit volatility.