Purpose –The present study aims to assess the relationship between the indices of innovation, training and human resources, information infrastructure, communication, and economic and institutional regimes and financial statement comparability and financial reporting quality of Iranian and Iraqi firms. Design/methodology/approach – This paper\\\'s method is descriptive-correlations based on published information from listed firms on the Stock Exchange during 2012-2017 by using a sample of 35 firms for Iraq and 174 firms in Iran. The method applied in hypothesis testing is linear regression using panel data. Findings –The obtained results indicate a positive and significant relationship between the indices of innovation, training and human resources, information infrastructure, connections, and institutional and economic regimes and financial statement comparability and financial reporting quality for both countries. This implies that financial statement comparability and financial reporting quality increase innovation, training and human resources, information infrastructure, connections, and institutional and economic regimes. Originality/value – Since the present study carried out synthetically in the emergent financial markets of Iran and Iraq to figure out the effect of indices of innovation, training and human resources, information infrastructure, connections, and institutional and economic regimes on financial statement comparability and financial reporting quality, it can provide useful information in this field.

Keywords