Factors Determining Financial Reporting Quality: An Empirical Study on the Publicly Listed Food & Allied Companies of Bangladesh

In an aim to assess financial reporting quality and its determining factors, this empirical research examined a randomly selected sample from food and allied sector of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), Bangladesh. As a rapidly growing industry of Bangladesh, the food and allied sector of DSE grabs a significant portion of market capitalization and attentions from security analysts. To make valuable decisions in relevant domains, the financial reporting quality of this sector matters for policymakers, investors and regulators and for corporate managers also. In this research, the financial reporting quality (FRQ) has been measured using the popular model developed by Dechow, Sloan and Sweeney, also known as Modified Jones Model (1995). A documentary analysis of the available audited financial statements and annual reports of randomly selected sample companies for six consecutive years (2015 to 2020) has been used as the primary data sources. Popular statistical tools like correlation studies, regression analyses etc. have been applied to find the statistical significance of the explanatory variables of this research. Fourteen factors have been examined for their effects on the quality of financial reports using a classical linear regression model. This research finds firm size, firm age, foreign ownership and leverage positively significantly determine financial reporting quality while the growth and board independence negatively significantly influential. The findings recommend managers to emphasize their attention on the significant factors to improve their financial reporting quality. Security analysts shall evaluate firms’ value based on the factors found significant in determining the quality of financial reports.