PurposeThe main objective of the present study is to assess the potential impact of readability of financial statement notes on the auditor's report lag, audit fees and going concern opinion (GCO).Design/methodology/approachThe statistical population of this study includes all listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) for the period of 2012–2017. The systematic elimination method is used for sampling and multiple regression and EViews software are used for testing the hypothesis models.FindingsThe obtained results show that there is a significant and positive relationship between audit report lags and readability of financial statements. Moreover, it is also revealed that readability of financial statements is positively associated with audit fees. Furthermore, the findings suggest a negative correlation between readability indexes and issuing GCOs, denoting hard-to-read statements is considered as a risk factor by auditors. Finally, the observations of our robustness tests suggest that the association between audit report lag and readability of financial statements is robust.Originality/valueThis is the first conducted investigation concerning auditor's response to the readability of financial statement notes in TSE. The outcome of current paper may pave the way for revising and developing Iranian accounting standards in order to give a fairer and clearer picture of financial reports.

One thing that should be considered in environmental considerations and climate change is the transportation sector’s contribution to producing carbon dioxide. Unfortunately, in developing countries such as Iran, due to high tariff support, manufacturers have no incentive to improve the combustion quality of their products. Most likely, significant restrictions on CO2 emissions will be applied in the coming years, and companies whose activities or products are related to high-level greenhouse gas emissions will be affected by these restrictions. Therefore, due to the application of these restrictions, investors are most concerned about the risk associated with the return of purchased shares. Considering these cases, it can be expected that the risk related to carbon emissions will be reflected in the yield level and, thus, the stock price. Therefore, the present study deals with the effect of CO2 gas emissions on the market value, price and stock returns of Iranian automobile companies. The data collected as tabular data include six automobile companies from 2018–2019. By conducting various tests and panel data estimations, especially the dynamic panel data method, it was determined that CO2 emissions reduce stock prices, returns and market value of automobile companies. In addition, the results of the causality test indicate that the direction of causality is only from CO2 emissions to stock returns.

Greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide and non-CO2 gases, are mainly generated by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and agriculture. These emissions disrupt the natural balance of the global ecosystem and contribute to climate change. However, by investing in renewable energy, we can help mitigate these problems by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting a more sustainable future. This research utilized a panel data model to explore the impact of carbon dioxide and non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions on global investments in renewable energy. The study analyzed data from 63 countries over the period from 1990 to 2021. Firstly, the study established a relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and clean energy investments across all countries. The findings indicated that carbon dioxide had a positive effect on clean energy investments, while non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions had a negative impact on all three types of clean energy investments. However, the impact of flood damage as a representative of climate change on renewable energy investment was uncertain. Secondly, the study employed panel data with random effects to examine the relationship between countries with lower or higher average carbon dioxide emissions and their investments in solar, wind, and geothermal energy. The results revealed that non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions had a positive impact on investments only in wind power in less polluted countries. On the other hand, flood damage and carbon dioxide emissions were the primary deciding factors for investments in each type of clean energy in more polluted countries.