Purpose – This paper aims to assess the relationship between a knowledge-based economy and fraudulent financial reporting. Design/methodology/approach – The study is descriptive-correlation based on published information from enlisted firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2013–2019 with a sample of 178 firms (1,246 observations). The method used for hypothesis testing is linear regression using the panel data. Findings – The results show that a knowledge-based economy is associated negatively and significantly with financial reporting. Moreover, robust testing has also examined the hypotheses (including fixed effects, OLS and t þ 1) that confirmed the study’s preliminary results. Originality/value – As the study was carried out in the emergent financial markets, like Iran, to figure out the relationship between knowledge-based economy and financial reporting, it can provide helpful information for the practitioners in this field.

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