An Empirical Investigation of Accounting Outsourcing in Iranian SMEs: Transaction Cost Economics and Resource-Based Views

Abstract

This study aims to identify the factors affect Iranian SME decision to outsource accounting functions in term of transaction cost economics (TCE) and resource- based view (RBV) perspectives in manufacturing sector. Data collected by using a 658 questionnaire survey with SME owner/ managers. Our multiple linear regression analysis shows that higher asset specificity was associated with lower levels of outsourcing of accounting functions. In addition, outsourcing intensity is positively and significantly related to trust in external accountant, degree of competition, and corporate strategy. Besides, when we included control variables such as firm size and firm age, education and experience in our regression equation, the association between outsourcing intensity and four independent variables was remained statistically significant.