Investigating the Effect of Financial Intelligence on Reducing the Cost of Capital with the Mediating Role of Information Transparency and Financial Disclosure Quality
Keywords:
Financial intelligence, Cost of capital, Information transparency, Financial disclosure quality, Information asymmetry, Thematic analysisAbstract
This study aimed to explain the effect of financial intelligence on reducing the cost of capital through the mediating roles of information transparency and financial disclosure quality among companies operating in Tehran. This study employed a qualitative exploratory design. The participants consisted of 18 financial managers, auditors, capital market analysts, financial technology specialists, and accounting and finance academics in Tehran. Participants were selected using purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Saturation was reached at the sixteenth interview, and two additional interviews were conducted to confirm data adequacy. The interviews lasted between 45 and 75 minutes. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis with the support of NVivo software. Data analysis led to the identification of five main categories: “intelligent integration of financial data,” “enhancement of information transparency and reduction of information asymmetry,” “improvement of financial disclosure quality,” “reduction of perceived risk and financing risk premium,” and “institutional and control prerequisites of financial intelligence.” The findings indicated that financial intelligence is not merely a technological transformation; rather, it represents a restructuring of how financial information is generated, processed, controlled, and disclosed. Participants emphasized that intelligent financial systems enhance timeliness, traceability, reliability, comparability, and readability of financial information, thereby strengthening investor and creditor confidence and contributing to a lower cost of capital. The results suggest that the effect of financial intelligence on reducing the cost of capital operates mainly through improved information transparency and higher-quality financial disclosure. Accordingly, firms that implement financial intelligence alongside data governance, digital internal controls, standardized reporting, and human oversight are more likely to reduce investor uncertainty, enhance market trust, and gain access to cheaper financing resources.
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