Abstract: This research aims to test the effect of financial statement comparability on the cost of equity capital of the company, and whether there are differences in this relationship that can be attributed to the level of managerial ability of executive managers. The study sample consisted of 24 companies listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange for the period from 2010 to 2024, with a total of 360 observations (firm/year). The results of the analysis indicate that financial statement comparability has a negative and statistically significant effect on the cost of equity capital, such that high comparability reduces the information risk faced by investors, and consequently reduces their required rate of return. Meanwhile, there was no statistically significant effect of managerial ability on the relationship between comparability and the cost of equity capital. This may be attributed to the low level of financial and accounting expertise of corporate management and their lack of effective involvement in accounting work, which weakens the element of accountability that could be enhanced by managerial ability.

Keywords: Financial Statement Comparability, Cost Equity Capital, Managerial Ability, Firm Size, Financial Leverage, Return on Assets

Pages: 625-633