Income Diversification Strategy and Market Performance: The Moderating Role of Voluntary Disclosure in Iran's Banking Industry

The value of bank shares influences the banks' intermediation capacity, the implementation of monetary transmission mechanisms, and their ability to attract investment in innovative projects. Therefore, examining the performance and its driving factors is crucial for understanding the resilience of the banking sector. Developing a diversified income portfolio and voluntary information disclosure are strategies available to bank managers to enhance their performance. However, no research has yet examined the impact of these two strategies on the market performance of Iranian banks. This study aims to investigate the relationship between income diversification strategy and market performance in banks and the moderating effect of the level of voluntary disclosure on this relationship. Our research sample includes 20 banks listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2023. To test the hypotheses, a multivariate regression model using the Generalized Least Squares (GLS) method was employed. Our results indicate that the income diversification strategy improves the market performance of banks. Additionally, voluntary disclosure strengthens the positive relationship between income diversification strategies and the market performance of banks. Our research, for the first time, provides evidence of market performance by addressing income diversification strategy in the banking industry. Our findings indicate that income diversification in banks can be used as an indicator for assessing the proper performance of banks