The effect of audit quality on the relationship between governance, social and environmental (ESG) disclosure and dividend policy

Today, with the increase in public awareness, the expectations of non-financial reporting have gradually increased, and it is expected that society's pressures will lead to an increase in non-financial reporting. In the current research, the relationship between governance, social, environmental and dividend payment of the company with the moderating role of audit quality has been studied. A sample consisting of 149 companies present in the stock exchange during the years 2013 to 2014 were selected using the systematic elimination method (screening). In this research, the problem of governance, social and environmental disclosure has been investigated on the company's dividend payment and whether audit quality moderates the relationship between governance, social, environmental disclosure and the company's dividend payment. Data panel method and EViews software were used to estimate the research model and test the research hypotheses. The results of the research show that the governance, social, and environmental disclosures have a positive and significant effect on the dividend payment of companies. Also, audit quality has a significant moderating role in the relationship between governance, social, environmental disclosure and company dividend payment.