Investigating the effect of earnings quality on the company's trade credit with an emphasis on the moderating role of accounting information comparability

The most important concern of credit providers is the timely payment of obligations by clients, since most clients pay their obligations late. For this reason, they should have accurate information from their buyers. The basic question is whether the information is provided to creditors through financial reporting or through other channels of information. Thus, the aim of present study is to investigate the effect of earnings quality on trade credit considering the moderating role of accounting information comparability. To achieve this goal, the financial information of 77 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2019 was used. Also, to test the research hypotheses, regression models with panel data structure were used. The results showed that the earnings quality has a positive effect on trade credit. The results also indicated that by increasing the accounting information comparability, the effect of earnings quality on trade credit is intensified.