الفهرس 
Theoretical FrameworkOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Investors depend on audited financial statements as a crucial source of information to assess a company’s financial reporting reliability in order to make resource allocation decisions (Khlif & Samaha, 2014).
Nevertheless, this data is only valuable if it is current and accessible to stakeholders on a regular basis. Hence, any lag in disclosing the auditor’s opinion on the accuracy and fairness of financial information prepared by the firm’s management triggers information asymmetry between managers and shareholders and has a negative impact on the efficiency of the financial system (Naimi et al., 2010a). Furthermore, (Knechel & Payne, 2001) stated the longer audit delays the more reduction of information quality.
Many researchers have been particularly interested in this topic, especially in emerging and recently developed markets where audited financial statements are the unique and credible source of information for decision-makers since developing economies are notorious for their secrecy and lack of transparency (Aldoseri et al., 2021;Raweh et al., 2021). Thus, in economies such as Egypt, timely reporting is so crucial (Al Daoud et al., 2015; Khlif & Samaha, 2014; Samaha & Khlif, 2017; Afify, 2009).
In that circumstance, the main international donor/lending institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank request emerging and transitional countries to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as a part of their reform programs as the implementation
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of internationally accepted standards is necessary for gaining investor confidence. Accordingly, three main reforms have been undertaken by the Egyptian government, including the adoption of: (i) Egyptian Accounting Standards (EAS), (ii) the Egyptian corporate governance code (ECGC) and (iii) Egyptian Standards of Auditing (ESA).
The shorter time between the fiscal year-end and the audited financial statements publication encourages investors to make better resource allocation decisions, improving market efficiency.